Jane is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Justice Health Research Program at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney. She completed her PhD in the School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney on the topic of ageing well on the autism spectrum.

Jane's research interests are in social determinants of health, health equity and social justice in marginalised populations, which have primarily included those with criminal justice involvement, older adults, and those with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism or intellectual disability.

Her current projects include improving health and reintegration of justice-involved populations through preventative health approaches. She has a broad range of mixed-methods research experience including qualitative interviews, cross-sector consultation and co-design, longitudinal health data collection, data linkage and digital tool development.

She is an associate investigator with the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, an associate of the UNSW Human Rights Institute, a UNSW Working Group Member for Digital Health Week 2024 and currently serves on the University Human Research Ethics Committee C. Jane is an active member of the Australian Association of Gerontology and is an Executive Committee Member for the NSW Division and Co-chair of the Student and Early Career Group Committee.

My Grants

Research Funding

NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies (Chief Investigator D) - $2,907,874.25. The Ageing in Prison Longitudinal Study (APLUS): health and frailty trajectories of older people in prison (2023-2027)
Joint Disability Innovation and Australian Human Rights Institute Seed Funding (Lead Investigator) - $19,890. PREV ID – Preventing the (Re)Incarceration of People with Intellectual Disability (2023)
NHMRC Investigator Grant (EL1) - $630,150. "No Place to Grow Old": Advancing health care and management of Australia's ageing prisoners (2023-2027)
NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence (Associate Investigator) - $2,500,000. Violence Perpetration: Profiling, Prediction and Prevention (2023-2027)
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Funding Grant (Lead Investigator) - $25,827.61 "Turning on the HEADLITEs" towards the first health and digital literacy intervention for older Australians leaving prison. (2022)
Australian Institute of Criminology, Criminology Research Grant (Lead Investigator) - $38,085.54. Examining the effectiveness of mental health treatment pathways for preventing violent reoffending in at-risk individuals with psychosis (2022-2023)
Australian Association of Gerontology Hal Kendig Research Development Program 2021 (Lead Investigator)- $19,685.22. Understanding the care and service needs of older adults post-incarceration: enabling society’s most disadvantaged to successfully reintegrate and age well (2021-2022)
NHMRC Ideas Grants 2021 (Chief Investigator D) - $844,050. ASCAPE: Audio App-delivered Screening for Cognition and Age-related Health in Older Prisoners (2021-2023)
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Funding Grant (Co-lead Investigator) - $49,292. The Autism ASSIST Project (Aiding and SuStaining Independence through Smart-home Technology (2020)
UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Funding Grant (Co-Investigator) - $29,992. Project Title: “No Place to Grow Old” The Ageing in Gaol Research Study (2019)
Australian Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR) Project Pitch for Early Career Researchers $5,000. Co-design of a visual resource for assisting autistic individuals presenting to the emergency department with self harm (2019)

Commissioned Research

Australian Association of Gerontology (2021-2022) - $20,000. Prison Leavers Project: care and support needs after leaving prison in old age - Preparation of a Background Paper, Position Paper for Government and "Things To Consider" for aged care providers.

My Qualifications

PhD - UNSW School of Psychiatry (2019)

B Psychology (Hons) - Macquarie University (2015)

My Awards

- UNSW School of Population Health Young Investigator Prize 2021

- Best Oral Presentation, Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) Conference 2016, Canberra, ACT, Australia

- Runner up, Best Oral Presentation, Australian Institute for Autism Research Conference, 2016, Perth, WA, Australia

Travel/conference awards

2021 Emerging Researchers in Ageing Bursary for the 54^th Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG) Conference (November, 2021) Digital conference
53^rd Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG) Conference (November, 2020) Digital conference – NSW Early Career Researcher Scholarship
41^st Annual Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR) Conference (November, 2019) Melbourne, VIC, Australia – Interstate travel award
15^th National Conference of Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) (November, 2016) Canberra, ACT, Australia – Conference travel award
International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (August, 2016) Melbourne, VIC, Australia – Travel award
Macquarie University - Psychology Undergraduate Conference Travel Scheme (PUCTS) for attendance at Australian Conference on Undergraduate Research (ACUR) (September, 2014), Canberra, ACT, Australia

My Research Activities

Current Projects

Lead Investigator (NHMRC Investigator Grant 2023-27) ""No Place to Grow Old": Advancing health care and management of Australia's ageing prisoners"
Chief Investigator D - (NHMRC Ideas grant 2021-2023) ASCAPE: Audio delivered screening for cognition and age-related health in older prisoners - innovations in measuring the health and care needs of older prisoners both in prison and upon release
Lead Investigator - "Turning on the HEADLITes" Towards the first health and digital literacy interventions for older Australians leaving prison (UNSW Ageing Futures Institute Seed Funding 2022)
Lead Investigator - Understanding the care and service needs of older adults post-incarceration: enabling society’s most disadvantaged to successfully reintegrate and age well (Australian Association of Gerontology Hal Kendig Research Development Program Funding 2022)
Lead Investigator - Examining the effectiveness of mental health treatment pathways for preventing violent reoffending in at-risk individuals with psychosis (Australian Institute of Criminology Research Grant 2022-23)

Past Projects

ReINVEST trial: a pharmacotherapy RCT for reducing violent behaviour in impulsive men with histories of violent offending
Implementation and evaluation of training modules for improving knowledge and confidence regarding autism in Australian Federal Police (2020-2022)
Autism ASSIST (2020) (Aiding and SuStaining Independence through Smart home Technology) Project - a UNSW Ageing Futures Initiative
NSW Department of Justice funded evaluation of the electronic monitoring of domestic violence offenders (DVEM) program (2019-2020)
Understanding the relationships between psychosis, treatment and reoffending: a NSW data linkage study
PhD - ageing well on the autism spectrum in Australia, a mixed-methods investigation

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

intellectual disability

developmental disability

criminal justice

Areas of supervision

- Justice Health, Offender Health, Ageing Well, Mental Health & Criminal Justice, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Neurodiversity

Currently supervising

PhD - School of Population Health, UNSW. Retaining repeat violent offenders in clinical trials & research

PhD - School of Population Health, UNSW. Cognitive risk factors for criminal behaviour in older people

PhD - School of Population Health, UNSW. ASCAPE: A serious game approach to understand and detect cognitive impairment issues in marginalised populations