School of Nursing and Midwifery Executive

Professor Marie Gerdtz

Professor Marie Gerdtz is Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University. A leading academic and practitioner in emergency nursing and healthcare systems improvement, she is known for designing and evaluating organisational strategies that enhance clinical decision-making and improve patient safety and quality of care. Her research focuses on scalable and sustainable healthcare solutions, with significant contributions supported by both Australian and Victorian governments. These include improvements to hospital triage systems and strategies for preventing and managing acute behavioural disturbances in clinical settings. Her work has positioned Australia at the forefront of international policy and practice in these areas. Professor Gerdtz has played a central role in curriculum development and academic leadership, leading comprehensive course redesigns across entry-to-practice, specialty, and advanced nursing programs. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and reports. She holds a PhD from The University of Melbourne (2003), alongside qualifications in Nursing and Adult Education. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Evaluation at the same university. Her clinical background spans more than a decade in emergency nursing and education. Professor Gerdtz’s leadership extends beyond academia. She has served as an Honorary Professor at the University of Otago (New Zealand) and an Honorary Associate Professor at Hong Kong University, with prior executive roles on the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery ANZ. Her professional impact continues to shape nursing education, clinical policy, and workforce development both nationally and internationally.

Dr Catina Adams

Dr Catina Adams is an academic nurse and midwife and Discipline Lead (Nursing Postgraduate) in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. She coordinates the Child, Family, and Community Nursing course and has also developed a Child, Family, and Community Nursing elective stream in the undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing degree. Dr Adams was awarded her PhD in October 2022, exploring how the Enhanced Maternal and Child Health program supports women experiencing family violence. Her research interests include neurodivergence, family violence, perinatal anxiety, child, family and community nursing practice, father- and non-birth-parent inclusive practice, family-centred care, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, telehealth and clinical governance.

Professor Amanda Cooklin

Professor Amanda Cooklin is Director of the Judith Lumley Centre, in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. She is an ARC Future Fellow and leads the Work and Family Research Program at the Centre. She has expertise in the epidemiology of parents' mental health, the social determinants of parenting, and the work-family interface. Her research comprises epidemiological cohort studies and intervention trials, with a focus on establishing the longitudinal relationships between parents' mental health (anxiety, depression, fatigue), parenting and children's outcomes and the role of parents' employment, job quality and work-family balance on parent mental health and parenting. Professor Cooklin has attracted more than $8 million in research funding, resulting in over 70 scientific publications on parents work and wellbeing.

Dr Jenny Davis

Dr Jenny Davis is Associate Dean, Domestic Partnerships and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. She specialises in nursing education and history, health workforce optimisation, advanced practice development and the contribution of nursing and information management to health care quality and leads the School's Digital Health research team. Dr Davis has worked across diverse public health and tertiary education settings to manage research programs which deliver organisational and industry impact. She has postgraduate qualifications in nursing, midwifery, education and information management. She has published several co-edited books and book chapters and over 40 refereed international journal articles and is a reviewer for several multidisciplinary journals. She has been awarded over $2M in collaborative grant funding for projects that delivered organisational and industry impact.

Martine Davis

Ms Martine Davis is the Senior Manager for the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Ms Davis has extensive experience managing administrative teams, including nineteen years higher education sector management experience at La Trobe University and the Universities of Waikato and Auckland in New Zealand. In her role as Senior Manager, she leads the professional administrative staff team, and as primary adviser to the Dean and the School Executive, supports the governance, operations, and strategic planning activities for the School.

Professor David Edvardsson

Professor David Edvardsson is Associate Dean, Academic in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. He is a Registered Nurse with a research Master and PhD in nursing, and a member of the Australian College of Nursing, the Swedish Society of Nurses and the Gerontological Society of America. Professor Edvardsson is an internationally recognised and awarded expert in health promoting nursing, clinical nursing and geriatric/gerontological nursing. He has numerous international peer-review publications, and a h-index of 45 with over 48,000 citations. He is the Associate Editor of Nordic Journal of Nursing Research and former Regional Editor of Health and Social Care in the Community, with a global network of collaborators.

Dr Ken Ho

Dr Ken Ho is Associate Dean, Research and Industry Engagement in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. His research areas include gerontology, wellbeing of migrants and loneliness of various populations. He employs a range of research methodologies, inclusive phenomenology, narrative inquiry, grounded theory, randomised controlled trials and mixed methods design, in research studies. Dr Ho has a track record of successful awards from competitive fundings, publications in high impact journals, and contributing to book chapters. Dr Ho is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and was inducted as a Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Education and Research in Nursing of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing in 2021. In 2022, he was awarded Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. Dr Ho is also part of the research team awarded the Hong Kong ICT 2022 Smart People Silver Awards. He is currently working closely with older adults, volunteers and migrants on a range of projects. He also contributes to the development of nursing scholarship in the capacity of Deputy Editor of Nursing Open, and mentoring HDR students.

Professor Debbie Kirk

Professor Debbie Kirk is Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. With an extensive background spanning 30 years as a registered nurse and 25 years as an endorsed nurse practitioner, Professor Kirk has a diverse clinical portfolio, specialising in hematology/oncology, chronic illness, health promotion and palliative care/symptom management. In addition to her clinical background, Professor Kirk has made significant contributions to academia, excelling in leadership and team development roles. Her scholarly contributions include over 30 refereed manuscripts and approximately 32 book chapters, where she has served as both author and editor with a focus on oncology symptom management and workforce.  Her dedication to excellence in clinical practice, teaching, research and service has earned her international recognition, culminating in her appointment as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Professor Virginia Lewis

Professor Virginia Lewis is Director of the Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing. She is a health services researcher and evaluator with 30+ years' experience. Professor Lewis has been the lead or co-investigator on projects worth over $20 million. She has a special interest in evaluation of policies and programs implemented within complex systems and works across the health sector including comprehensive community-based primary healthcare, mental health, end-of-life care, and health promotion and behaviour change. Professor Lewis shares knowledge and findings through academic publications (100+) and reports to stakeholders (100+).

Associate Professor Gulzar Malik

Associate Professor Gulzar Malik is Associate Dean, International Partnerships in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Associate Professor Malik co-ordinates postgraduate nursing subjects and oversees offshore undergraduate nursing courses and leads the School's Nursing and Midwifery Workforce research team. She specialises in evidence-based practice in clinical settings, voluntary assisted dying, empowering international students, pain management and innovative teaching pedagogies. Associate Professor Malik is a highly experienced Registered Nurse and academic who has over 20 years of experience in healthcare settings and academic institutions both in Australia and overseas. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and contributes to the Psi Zeta At-Large Chapter of Sigma as a counsellor.

Professor Helen McLachlan

Professor Helen McLachlan is Professor and Discipline Lead (Midwifery) in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and is a Registered Nurse and Midwife. She has extensive experience teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery and in higher degree supervision. Professor McLachlan is a national and international leader in maternity care research and has published in a range of areas including innovative models of care, maternal and child health, breastfeeding, postnatal depression, midwifery education and translating research into practice. She has 90 publications in international refereed journals, two book chapters and 200 conference presentations. Professor McLachlan has received over $10M in competitive grant funding and has received multiple awards, proving her ability to lead large, complex projects which have led to substantial policy and practice change in maternity care.

Dr Jason Watterson

Dr Jason Watterson is Discipline Lead (Nursing Undergraduate) in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. He has a background in intensive care nursing, having spent the past 30 years working in various clinical, clinical education and management roles. Dr Watterson's PhD examined alcohol harm reduction in the Royal Australian Navy. His other research interests include simulation applications in the Royal Australian Navy, as well as educational and workforce research. Dy Watterson accepted his commission and undertook his reserve entry officers course with the Royal Australian Navy in 2008. He undertook various roles between 2008 and 2019 including exercise and operational roles, training roles and staff officer appointments. Upon promotion in 2019, he was appointed SO2 – Nursing, on Promotion in 2023 CMDR Watterson was appointed SO1 - Nursing within the Directorate of Navy Health.

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