Our Team

Dr Ajesh George (BDS, MPH, PhD) is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University (WSU) and Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at University of Sydney. He is a Dentist with extensive experience in interdisciplinary oral health care and is a leading expert in Australia in providing oral health training to nurses/midwives and translating oral health guidelines into their practice. Dr George is also the Director and Co-founder of the “Centre for Oral Health Outcomes & Research Translation” (COHORT) which is an innovative partnership between WSU and South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) Oral Health Services bringing together Dentists and non-dental professionals for the first time in Australia. Since his PhD Dr George has been initiating and  leading multidisciplinary teams in developing and implementing innovative models of oral health care in the areas of maternity, paediatrics, aboriginal health,  cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, intellectual disability and palliative care. His work has led to the development of Australia’s first midwifery initiated oral health (MIOH) program which has been recognised nationally. He has also been instrumental in providing oral health training to nursing and midwifery students at WSU- another first in Australia.

Since graduating her Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2013, Amy has gained extensive experience as a research assistant across a variety of qualitative and quantitative research projects. She has been working as the research officer for COHORT since its inception, providing support across the many projects currently being undertaken. Her responsibilities include assisting with grant and ethics applications, literature reviews, data collection and analysis, and writing reports and manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. With a particular affinity for quantitative research, she completed a Master of Biostatistics in 2018.

Ariana completed her undergraduate Bachelor of Health Science with Honours and Master of Podiatric Medicine at Western Sydney University in 2016.
She has been involved in a diverse range of research areas. Her honours project focused on developing guidelines in a novel approach to improve the design of foot orthotics (insoles) for people with inflammatory arthritis by using ultrasound as the main metric.

She has been working as a research assistant for four years primarily within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Some of the projects she has been involved in have included evaluating student learning experiences at university, as well as developing interventions pertaining to eating disorders in young people.
As a result, Ariana has a strong interest in translational research, and developing interventions focused on improving the quality and experiences for the broader population.
Ariana is also pursuing a PhD with COHORT.

Ariana completed her undergraduate Bachelor of Health Science with Honours and Master of Podiatric Medicine at Western Sydney University in 2016.
She has been involved in a diverse range of research areas. Her honours project focused on developing guidelines in a novel approach to improve the design of foot orthotics (insoles) for people with inflammatory arthritis by using ultrasound as the main metric.

She has been working as a research assistant for four years primarily within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Some of the projects she has been involved in have included evaluating student learning experiences at university, as well as developing interventions pertaining to eating disorders in young people.
As a result, Ariana has a strong interest in translational research, and developing interventions focused on improving the quality and experiences for the broader population.
Ariana is also pursuing a PhD with COHORT.

Tiffany began her research experience as a summer scholar for Assoc. Prof George in 2014 through the Bachelor of Nursing Advanced program at Western Sydney. Since then, Tiffany has gone on to complete her Bachelor of Medical and Health Science degree and develop further experience in qualitative research methods, systematic reviews and administrative tasks working as a Research Assistant across many research groups at the Ingham Institute. Tiffany is in her final year of her Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. At present, Tiffany is working as a research assistant and pursuing a PhD with COHORT.

Fakhra completed her Masters of Commerce in Organisation and Management from Australian School of Business at University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2010. She has worked in research support roles for multiple health projects at UNSW and is currently employed in School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University.

Her research interest has been in work health and safety practice comparisons of Australian work environment and of those of developing countries. She is aiming to utilize her health research work experience with business studies background and is currently enrolled in Master of Research through SONM. Fakhra’s research question is around experiences of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) of Pakistani and Indian origin, and facilitators and barriers during integration into Australian Healthcare system.

Camila Elena Sanchez is currently studying a Master of Teaching (Primary) and was a Summer Scholar for Dr. Ajesh George for the project, ‘Developing and piloting oral health resources for people with cardiovascular disease and stroke’. Through this project, she developed a brochure entitled ‘Heart Disease and Oral Health’ and, if accepted and endorsed, will be available nationwide and will be free to use and distribute. Camila is passionate about both this project any many other aspects of her life and is striving to continue to work on this and many other endeavours in the future.

Yenna Salamonson (BSc, CCU Cert, GradDipN, EdMA, PhD, RN) is a Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University. She has over 30 years of her academic career creating a positive learning experience for university students. She was successful in securing a number of educational research grants, including a leadership grant. Yenna has been involved in curriculum development and innovations, particularly in the undergraduate nursing program, championing the introduction of web-based learning delivery in the nursing school. Yenna is committed to the capacity-building of both students and clinicians in the workforce, to promote inclusive and positive workplace culture, which is evidenced by my research focus and outputs. In addition to having supervised 21 research students to completion, she is current supervising 10 research students, including students who are focusing on embedding oral health care into nursing education, as well as improving oral health nursing care within various clinical settings.

Lucie Ramjan is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University. She is a qualitative and mixed method researcher who is committed to educational research and mental health research, particularly in the area of young people and eating disorders. Lucie’s most significant contributions to research have been in the fields of eating disorder research; academic literacy and numeracy; and students, retention, transition and success at University. Lucie’s research methodology strength is qualitative research and participatory action research (engaging people with lived experience in participation in applied clinical studies). Lucie notably led a multidisciplinary collaboration to develop and pilot test the first community mentorship program in NSW for people with anorexia nervosa. Lucie is currently co-supervising doctoral students from COHORT who are passionate about interdisciplinary oral health, in populations including people with eating disorders, Aboriginal pregnant women, and children.

Brad is a Lecturer at the La Trobe Rural Health School, and an emerging leader in oral health both in Australia and internationally. He is a dentist with formal public health and epidemiology qualifications. Brad has both Australian and international experience in leading/managing large primary research studies as well as analysing large quantitative datasets. In addition, he is also qualified and experienced in health program evaluation. Brad has participated in prestigious international public health learning experiences – the one year Dental Public Health Residency at the National Institutes of Health, USA and a three month internship at the World Health Organization, Geneva. Brad’s research interest is broadly in the areas of health equity and health services. In this space he leads and co-leads several externally funded research projects. He is a founding member of the Australian Network for Integration of Oral Health and was also instrumental in establishing the Regional Victoria Section of the International Association for Dental Research at the La Trobe Rural Health School.

Brad is also appointed as Adjunct Fellow in the School of Nursing & Midwifery with Western Sydney University.

Leanne Hunt is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing and Deputy Director, Clinical Education (Nursing), in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Western Sydney University and Registered Nurse at Liverpool Hospital Intensive Care Unit.
Leanne began nursing in 1992 as an RN progressing to CNC (trauma) and NUM 1. Leanne worked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Paediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care for 2 years. She has 10 years of education and research experience, and completed her PhD in 2007 titled “The nurses’ role in intra-abdominal pressure monitoring in the critical care setting”. Leanne and is the current chair of the Critical Care Research in Collaboration & Evidence Translation (CCRICET) research group. Leanne is also an affiliate member of the Centre for Applied Nursing Research (CANR), and the Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research. Leanne’s research interests include clinical practice experience, critical care, nursing education and workforce.