Staff

Staff involved in primary health care research

Professor Mark Harris - see full research interests profile >>
Mark Harris is Professor of General Practice within the School and Executive Director of the UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity. He is a leader of primary health care research in Australia and has a broad range of research interests. These include:- 1. Prevention and management chronic diseases especially diabetes cardiovascular disease, in primary care. 2. Health inequalities research including interventions to improve the health status of disadvantaged groups including the unemployed, refugees (asylum seekers) and aboriginal people. Professor Harris was awarded a NHMRC Senior Professorial Fellowship in 2006 to continue his work in chronic disease prevention and management in primary care.

Professor Nicholas Zwar - see full research interests profile >>
Nick Zwar is Professor of General Practice within the School and has extensive experience in general practice and primary health care research. Along with Professor Robyn Richmond he has co-authored national clinical practice guidelines on smoking cessation in general practice. His research interests include chronic disease management in general practice and primary health care, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, intervention on risk factors for chronic disease in particular smoking cessation programs; health promotion in primary care; travel medicine and quality use of medicines.

Professor Robyn Richmond - see full research interests profile >>
Professor Richmond is a national and international leader in development of brief interventions on smoking and alcohol. Her work has had a focus on the role of general practice in providing these interventions and the Smokescreen Program which she developed in collaboraton with colleagues at UNSW has been widely disseminated in Australia and New Zealand. Professor Richmond’s work in smoking has been recognised internationally by prestigious research awards for “exemplary activities in tobacco control and extraordinary contributions in the fight against tobacco”, and “excellence in promoting a smoke-free environment” (Goethe Challenge Trophy), and “in recognition of outstanding effort, leadership and achievement in combating the use of tobacco” (President’s award of the Thoracic Society).

Dr Melina Gattellari - see full research interests profile >>
Dr Gattellari is a senior research fellow with the School and is leading a portfolio of projects on stroke prevention with a focus on primary health care. In collaboration with a team of stroke experts and fellow academics Melina has an NHMRC project grant examining an intervention to improve stroke prevention. This project called DESPATCH is testing a complex intervention to assist General Practitioners in risk assessment and best practice management of patients with atrial fibrillation, a major risk factor for stroke.

Dr Meredith Makeham - see full research interests profile >>
Dr Meredith Makeham is a Senior Lecturer in the school. She is the Course Convenor for Primary Care, Phase 3 in the undergraduate medical curriculum. She is a General Practitioner with a major research interest in Patient Safety. She was a Chief Investigator of the Threats to Australian Patient Safety (TAPS) study, which broadly investigated reports of error in General Practice settings. She has done collaborative research work with a number of organisations involved in Primary Care delivery, including DOHA, NSW Health, the RACGP and the GP Networks (AGPN).

Dr Suzanne McKenzie - see full research interests profile >>
Dr MacKenzie is conjoint Associate Professor in the School. Suzanne has an interest in the intersection of behavioural risk factors and mental health. Suzanne is currently undertaking a PhD on explore the relationship between psychological distress, other risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the study interventions as part of an NHMRC project grant on prevention of vascular disease in general practice.

Dr Sanjyot Vagholkar - see full research interests profile >>
Dr Vagholkar is conjoint lecturer with the School based at the General Practice Unit, Fairfield Hospital. Sanjyot is enrolled in a PhD on the impact of Absolute Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in general practice on the quality of prescribing of cardiovascular and lipid lowering medications. This work links relates to a large project on the feasibility and impact of cardiovascular absolute risk assessment in general practice being led by Professor Mark Harris.

Dr Joel Rhee - see full research interests profile >>
Dr Rhee is senior lecturer in the School. His research interests are end of life care and in particular the understanding and implementation of advance care planning. Joel is undertaking a PhD on the topic of advanced care planning with support from a NHMRC Fellowship and the Primary Health Care Research Capacity Building Program.

Dr Michael Tam
Dr Tam is lecturer in the school in a position jointly supported by the School and GP Synergy. Michael research interests are in detection and intervention on hazardous alcohol use in general practice.

Dr Nicole Clancy
Dr Clancy is a general practice registrar doing an academic term with UNSW. Nicole is examining the interaction of depressive illness with quitting smoking in participants in the Quit in General Practice project.