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WHO WE ARE
Meet the small but dynamic research team that is DEEP.
Our team is composed of early to senior career researchers and academics with a range of skills and backgrounds. We are supported on projects by colleagues in the broader CERIPH research group. Meet our team below.
Justine Leavy
PhD | MPH | BSc (Health Promotion)
Justine is an Associate Professor at Curtin University with expertise in public health and health promotion, particularly drowning prevention, oral health promotion, physical activity promotion and knowledge translation. Outside of Justine's busy academic career, she volunteers for parkrun and is on the Board of Directors for Royal Life Saving Society WA. See Justine's Curtin staff profile here.
Malena Della Bona
MPH | PGDip PublHlth | BSc (Psych)
Malena is a Senior Research Officer, responsible for the external evaluation of RLSSWA projects. She is currently enrolled as a PhD student working on an implementation framework for drowning prevention projects. She has previous experience in the Primary Health setting, particularly General Practice, mental health and chronic disease management. See Malena's Curtin staff profile here.
Nicola D'Orazio
Nicola is a Health Promotion Research Assistant who has been with the DEEP team for over three years now. He is currently in his third year of his double degree, Bachelor of Science (Health Promotion and Nutrition) at Curtin. His work involves systematic reviews of adult and child drowning and evaluation surveys for RLSSWA drowning prevention programs, and was recently awarded the 2023-24 Curtin University Health Science Summer Scholarship. Nicola also volunteered for 12 months with the DEEP team as the Digital Media Dissemination Officer. He has a keen interest in creating healthy and safe environments for all.
Gemma Crawford
PhD | MHlthProm | PGDip PublHlth | BA
Gemma is an Associate Professor at Curtin University. She is a proud pracademic with more than 20 years of experience across research, practice, policy, teaching, advocacy and leadership in public health and health promotion. Her research interests include drowning prevention, STIs and BBVs, workforce and capacity building and migration. She is the national President of the Australian Health Promotion Association. See Gemma's Curtin staff profile here.
Renee Carey
PhD | BA (Psych) (Hons)
Renee is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at Curtin University. After completing a PhD in Psychology in 2011, she has worked across a number of projects examining various aspects of occupational and cancer epidemiology and public health, including occupational exposures, the future burden of cancer, and psychosocial factors at work. Renee has presented her work at a number of conferences and meetings, and her work has been cited as supporting evidence in key strategy and policy documents both in Australia and internationally. See Renee's Curtin staff profile here.
Brooklyn Royce
BSc (Health Promotion)
Brooklyn is a Health Promotion Research Assistant with the DEEP team. She graduated from the Bachelor of Science (Health Promotion) degree in 2022, and is currently enrolled as a Public Health Honours student at Curtin University. She regularly volunteers with Royal Life Saving WA in drowning prevention efforts through community engagement. During her studies, Brooklyn volunteered to assist Malena in the systematic review phase of her PhD which expanded her interest in drowning prevention, and led to her current position in the team.