Associate Professor Elly Djouma has been appointed Head of the Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology.
Associate Professor Djouma has over 20 years’ experience in research and tertiary education in STEM and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. A neuropharmacologist by training, she obtained her PhD from Monash University before taking up an academic appointment at La Trobe University as a Lecturer in Pharmacology.
Associate Professor Djouma’s research focuses on the mechanisms in the brain that are involved in reward-seeking behaviour and drug addiction, with her work including the supervision of Honours and PhD students.
Recognised for her sustained dedication to teaching excellence, Associate Professor Djouma received the La Trobe Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2011 and 2019; the Pro-Vice Chancellor's Teaching Award in the College of Science, Health and Engineering in 2017; and a La Trobe University Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2017. She was appointed Councillor of The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Education Section in 2023.
She has served as the Director of Academic Partnerships in the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment. She currently serves as a board member of the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists and is Chair of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
Associate Professor Djouma plans to build on the strong leadership of her predecessor and mentor, Professor Grant Drummond, to further galvanise the Department's teaching and research contributions.
"I am excited to lead the Department into its next phase of evolution and growth. I will continue to strengthen the connections between disciplines, help academic staff and graduate students to collaborate more closely, encourage more interdisciplinary research projects and embed employability in course offerings," says Associate Professor Djouma.
“I also believe in the value of teaching-focused positions, so I will have a strong focus on fostering the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching with our academic staff."
“Connection and collaboration are things that I really care about,” she adds. “There is so much that we do well as a Department, and I look forward to building on that to further enhance our research and teaching contributions to the University."
