La Trobe Rural Health School Executive

Professor Jane Mills

Professor Jane Mills is Dean of the La Trobe Rural Health School and Pro Vice-Chancellor Health Innovation at La Trobe University. One of Australia’s foremost primary health care academics with proven success in leading and managing teams in both government and tertiary sectors. In 2024 was recognised as Australia's Rural and Remote Health Advocate of the year. An active researcher in the fields of rural health, health workforce, health system strengthening and nursing education, Professor Mills has a Scopus H-index of 38, Google Scholar H-index of 56 and is listed in the Scopus top 2% of nurse researchers worldwide. Since 2006 has been the recipient of over $3.9 million in research and consultancy income including an NHMRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Primary Health Care.

An internationally recognised grounded theorist, in the past decade wrote the popular text, Grounded Theory: a practical guide, which has furthered the development of fundamental grounded theory methods of theoretical coding and storyline analysis. The original text has over 6100 citations and has been reprinted several times since its publication in 2011. A third edition was released in December 2022. A recipient of an Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Learning and Teaching in the area of teaching research. Professor Mills has a reputation as an outstanding higher degree research supervisor across a number of disciplines including public health, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, allied health and social work

Professor Carol McKinstry

Professor Carol McKinstry is Deputy Dean of the La Trobe Rural Health School, Chair of La Trobe University Academic Board and ex-officio member of La Trobe University Council.  She is a Professor of Occupational Therapy, was president of Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA) for four years (2019-2023) and is still a current Board Director. She is a member of OTA’s Program Approval Committee to assess Australian occupational therapy education programs against the World Federation of Occupational Therapy’s (WFOT) Minimum Education Standards.  She is also a WFOT Education Programs Reviewer.

Professor McKinstry leads the workforce stream in the Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research. Her research focuses on telehealth, support for rural mature-aged tertiary students, and sustainable strategies for the recruitment and retention of rural health professionals. She has over 80 peer-review publications and was previously an Assistant Editor of the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. Professor McKinstry is also a Board Director of Bendigo Health and President of Bendigo Football Netball League.

Associate Professor Kirsty Forsdike

Associate Professor Kirsty Forsdike is Associate Dean, Research and Industry Engagement in the La Trobe Rural Health School. A social scientist, she is a Principal Research Fellow in the Reducing Gender Based Violence Research Group in the Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research. She is nationally and internationally recognised as an expert in organisational response to gender-based violence against women in sport and across other public facing organisations, with a particular focus on the experience of rural and regional communities. She specialises in qualitative research methodology, including the use of the World Café Method for multi-stakeholder collaborative co-design, and multidisciplinary mixed-method research study designs.

Associate Professor Corina Modderman

Associate Professor Corina Modderman is Associate Dean, Academic Partnerships in the La Trobe Rural Health School. Based primarily in Shepparton and Albury-Wodonga, Corina is committed to expanding access to higher education for rural and regional communities. With extensive international leadership experience in statutory and community-based child protection across the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia, she brings a strong global perspective to rural health education and practice. Her research focuses on improving health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people, including projects on out-of-home care and responses to child sexual abuse disclosure. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. Beyond academia, Corina contributes to rural health governance as a Board Director with Beechworth Health Service and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Driven by a strong commitment to social justice, she works to create better outcomes for communities across rural and regional Australia.

Associate Professor Jennifer Selkirk-Bell

Associate Professor Jennifer Selkirk-Bell is the Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching in the La Trobe Rural Health School. She was previously the School’s Learning and Teaching Coordinator, Curriculum. Prior to that, she worked at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science and has carried out various teaching and curriculum roles across the University since 2010. Associate Professor Selkirk-Bell is also Academic Program Director for the PSB Academy undergraduate partnership, having worked as an Academic Coordinator for that program since 2015.

Associate Professor Erin Smith

Associate Professor Erin Smith is Head of Department of Rural Allied Health in the La Trobe Rural Health School. A long-time advocate for the mental health and wellbeing of first responders, Erin is a member of the Emergency Services Foundation (ESF) Mental Health Advisory Group, and a former Board Director of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) and the Australian First Responder Foundation. She is the former Convenor of the WADEM Psychosocial Special Interest Group and the Deputy Chair of the WADEM Oceania Chapter.

Erin was the inuagural Coordinator of the Cochrane Collaboration's Prehospital and Emergency Health Field and she has been an Advisory Board member for The Australian Federal Police Shield program, an Ambassador for the Victoria Police Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee, and a mental health consultant for The Code 9 Foundation. She is a member of the Australasian Council of Paramedicine Deans, an independent peak body representing the collective interests of the paramedicine higher education sector in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She is also a member of the Australasian Paramedicine Professoriate Community of Practice (PPCoP).

Erin is an experienced HDR supervisor and thesis examiner and routinely acts as a peer reviewer for a range of prehospital and disaster journals. She is an Editorial Board Director for the journals Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, the Journal of High Threat and Austere Medicine, and the Journal of Addictive Diseases. Her research and expert opinion can be found published widely in academic journals, The Conversation, textbooks and news media, where her commentary on the impact of frontline exposure to disaster has reached a global audience of over 800 million.

Associate Professor Lisa Hanson

Associate Professor Lisa Hanson is Head of the Department of Rural Clinical Sciences in the La Trobe Rural Health School.  An Australian Physiotherapy Association Research Physiotherapist, she has over 20 years’ experience delivering rural-based interventions for people living with chronic conditions, as well as leading and managing teams in the healthcare and tertiary sectors. Her research focuses on the role of exercise and physical activity for people living with cardiovascular disease and how best to provide sustainable health services and models of care for people with chronic conditions. She has led industry-funded evaluations of models of care in both hospital and community health settings and supervises doctoral candidates across physiotherapy, allied health, nursing and community health.

Associate Professor Yangama Jokwiro

Associate Professor Yangama Jokwiro is Head of the Department of Rural Health Sciences in the La Trobe Rural Health School. His research focuses on workforce issues including stress of conscience, compassion fatigue, ethical distress, moral distress and vicarious trauma. As the co-founder of the Vaka Health Foundation, a pioneering and award-winning Australian social enterprise driving digital health transformation in Africa, Associate Professor Jokwiro spearheads initiatives that leverage technology to improve education, healthcare accessibility and quality across the continent. He is now involved in a new partnership, Virtual Hospitals Africa, to bring medical expertise directly into patients' homes.

Shioban Downing

Shioban Downing is the Business Development and Partnership Coordinator at the La Trobe Rural Health School, where she leads strategic partnerships and student recruitment initiatives supporting rural health workforce pathways. Based in Bendigo, she manages the complex admissions and stakeholder processes for Victoria’s first end‑to‑end rural medical pathway, delivered through La Trobe’s Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Medical) in partnership with the University of Melbourne. With more than seventeen years’ experience across project management, stakeholder engagement, and tertiary sector leadership, Shioban brings deep expertise in partnership development, strategic planning, market strategy, student recruitment, and community engagement.

Prior to her current role, Shioban held senior positions in local government and the University of Melbourne, managing the implementation of the inaugural first year of the rural Doctor of Medicine program and leading national grant reporting, clinical partnerships, and admissions processes. Her career has focused on strengthening community–university partnerships, improving pathways for regional students, and advancing rural health education to support local workforce needs.

Tanya Jones

Tanya Jones is Senior Manager in the La Trobe Rural Health School. Prior to this, she was the Administration Coordinator at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia.

Libby Semmens

Libby Semmens is the Executive Officer for the University Department of Rural Health within La Trobe Rural Health School. She brings extensive experience across rural health education, placement coordination, project and program management, TAFE and secondary school partnerships, and complex operational administration. Libby holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is known for bridging strategy with on-the-ground delivery, supporting workforce development, student pathways, and meaningful partnerships that strengthen health outcomes in rural and regional communities.