Our team

World-leading researcher and scientist Prof. Bronwyn Myers has been appointed the foundation Director of Curtin’s enAble Institute. Most recently Deputy Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council, Prof. Myers has worked extensively in enhancing services for people with mental or physical health disorders to improve their quality of life.

Over the last 17 years, Prof. Myers’ research has focused on enhancing access to and the quality of services for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental or physical health disorders. Prof. Myers has published extensively on the topics of mental and substance use disorders, vulnerable populations, and provision of evidence-based practices.

Her expertise on substance use and physical and mental health comorbidities has been acknowledged through invitations to serve on international technical advisory groups for the World Health Organization and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, grant review panels and through her involvement as an associate editor for several international journals.

Associate Professor Mark Boyes is Co-Lead of the Mental Health Research Domain and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Fellow. His research sits at the intersection of health, developmental, and clinical psychology, and aims to shed light on risk and protective factors associated with a variety of psychological, social, educational, and health-related outcomes. Much of his work is with youth who are stigmatised and silenced, including youth affected by HIV/AIDS, youth who self-injure, and children with language and literacy difficulties.

He is particularly interested in cognitive and self-regulatory processes, such as appraisal, coping, and emotion regulation, and their links with mental health. Ultimately, his aim is to inform the development of effective evidence-based interventions promoting mental health among youth and their families.

A/Prof Boyes has published extensively and his work has received multiple awards. He is a regular member of NHMRC Grant Review Panels, an invited member of the European Science Foundation College of Expert Reviewers, and an Executive Board Member of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury.

Professor Peter McEvoy is co-lead of the Mental Health Research Domain and Professor of clinical psychology at Curtin University and a Senior Clinical Psychologist at the Centre for Clinical Interventions.

Prof McEvoy is interested in conducting applied ‘real world’ research that has a rapid and positive impact for consumers and carers. He has a passion for promoting evidence-based practice and is a strong advocate for ongoing outcome monitoring and evaluation in mental health services to ensure every person receives the highest quality of care.

Prof McEvoy is interested in identifying psychosocial determinants of mental health and wellbeing, and much of his research involves developing and evaluating innovative clinical interventions designed to promote mental health.

Prof McEvoy’s expertise and translational research has been recognised by awards such as being named 2020 Researcher of the Year by North Metropolitan Health Service.  His international reputation has led to invitations to serve as an Associate Editor and on editorial boards for several international journals and on grant review panels.

Associate Professor Jonine Jancey is the Domain Lead for Wellbeing and Independent Living and a Teaching Research Academic in the School of Population Health.

A/Prof Jancey is a passionate health promotion researcher, conducting collaborative applied translational research in the areas of alcohol and other drugs, mental health, sexual health and physical activity. Her research leadership, expertise, experience and collaborative skills are evident by her lead roles on competitive (NHMRC, Healthway) and industry grants totalling more than $6.5 million. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles, 40 technical reports, and completed more than 170 national and international conferences presentations.

A/Prof Jancey has a strong commitment to HDR, Masters and Honours supervision and has supervised to completion 9 Doctoral theses (7 as lead), 20 Masters research projects/dissertations (lead) and 8 honours dissertations (lead). She is a Board Member for the Australian Council of Smoking and Health and the Recovery College of WA and on the grant review panel for Healthway.

Associate Professor Eleanor Quested is a researcher in the Curtin School of Population Health, and co-lead of the Well-Being and Independent Living Domain of the enAble Institute at Curtin University. A/Prof Quested’s research applies theories of motivation and behaviour change to empower individuals and communities to foster and sustain health behaviours, and promote well-being, health and quality and longevity of life.

A/Prof Quested is particularly interested in the design, testing and implementation of programs that use sport as a ‘hook’ to engage people in programs that may benefit their health and well-being. For example, she leads the ‘Aussie Fans in Training’ program, a footy-themed weight management, physical activity and healthy eating program for men living with overweight or obesity that is delivered by sport coaches in local football clubs.

A/Prof Quested also conducts research that explores how significant others (e.g., teachers, coaches, healthcare professionals) can optimise the motivation and well-being of those they interact with.

Professor Sonya Girdler is the co-lead of the Neurodiversity, Maternity and Child Health domain and affiliated with the School of Allied Health and Director of the Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG).   She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia and affiliated with the Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

Prof Girdler has extensive experience in the field of autism research and neurodevelopmental disorders more broadly.  She is particularly interested in understanding functioning in autism, the development, evaluation and translation into practice of evidence-based interventions (particularly social skills, strengths-based programs and mental health), and research directed at improving the participation of autistic individuals in major life areas such as employment and education.

Prof Girdler is from country Western Australia and is committed to ensuring her work is translated not just to metropolitan areas, but to those living and rural and remote locations.  She is also passionate about advocating and supporting other women in research in STEMM related fields.