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 most experienced primary care academics, she has worked in both government and tertiary sectors. Her research focuses on health workforce, health system strengthening and nursing education. Professor Mills is one of Australia’s top disciplinary researchers with a Scopus H-index of 32 and Google Scholar H-index of 51. Since 2006, Professor Mills has been the recipient of over $3.9 million in research and consultancy income including an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Primary Health Care.

An internationally recognised grounded theorist, she co-authored with Professor Melanie Birks the popular SAGE publication, Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide, which has furthered the development of fundamental grounded theory methods of theoretical coding and storyline analysis. Professor Mills also has a reputation as an excellent higher degree research supervisor across 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 Byron Perrin

Associate Professor Byron Perrin is Associate Dean, Academic Partnerships in the La Trobe Rural Health School. He commenced the podiatry course when the School formally began in 2010. Since then, he has held a several roles, including Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Head of Department and Graduate Research Coordinator. Prior to that, he worked as the senior podiatrist at Bendigo Health where he started the first regional high-risk foot clinic in Australia to help people with diabetes-related foot complications. Associate Professor Perrin is also the current Chair of Diabetes Feet Australia. He is in the top ten Australian researchers in diabetes-related foot complications, including as a co-author of the national strategic plan to end avoidable amputation in a generation as well as several national clinical guidelines.

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 Brett Gordon

Associate Professor Brett Gordon is Head of the Department of Rural Clinical Sciences in the La Trobe Rural Health School. Associate Professor Gordon's research focuses on optimal methods of prescribing and implementing exercise as part of the health care plan for people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Specifically, he is leading some work to determine if and how the components of exercise can be considered as a whole for prescribing exercise to generate health benefits. Associate Professor Gordon currently serves on the Exercise and Sports Science Australia Research Committee and is a member of the editorial board for Scientific Reports.

Associate Professor Lisa Hanson

Associate Professor Lisa Hanson is Head of the Department of Rural Allied Health Department 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.

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 University Department of Rural Health Executive Officer in La Trobe Rural Health School. Her expertise spans placement coordination, project management, TAFE partnerships and administration.

Frances McInally

Frances McInally is Senior Administrative Coordinator in the La Trobe Rural Health School.