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A/ProfElissa Burton

Associate Professor

Curtin School of Allied Health

BIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH IMPACT

I am an Associate Professor at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia and the Harken-Brightwater Fellow at Brightwater Care Group. I am currently a WA Government Near Miss Award holder which includes a three-year Fellowship (2026-2028). This work will focus on helping people living with young onset dementia, particuarly those in Western Australia. I am a past National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant holder (2020-2024) conducting a project called  "Balance on the Brain" which was aimed at improving physical health and decreasing falls for people living with mild cognitive impairment. I have also been a Chief Investigator on over $8.5 million of external research funding from competitive sources such as the NHMRC, MRFF, Healthway, MSWA, Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG), Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration, Dementia Australia Research Foundation, Alzheimer’s WA, and the WA Department of Health. I am an ESSA Accredited Level 2 Sports Scientist and a Fellow of the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG). Due to my expertise in exercise and physical activity for older adults, particularly those receiving home and community care or reablement, I have been invited to join research teams in Ireland and Canada, holding a Health Research Board grant (Ireland) and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research grant (Canada). I am the Australian Lead for the International ReAble Network (https://reable.auckland.ac.nz/) and have conducted reablement research with colleagues in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand, including a seminal paper “Development of an internationally accepted definition of reablement” in Ageing and Society. I am the immediate past Western Australian Chair for the WA AAG Division (2018-2022) and a current National Board member of the AAG. I have collaborated with many stakeholders in WA including YODWA Impact Network, community care organisations, retirement villages, hospitals, COTAWA and health organisations in both Western Australia and Australia working to improve health and cognition and reduce falls for older adults in Australia and around the world. I write a free, monthly healthy ageing blog to help disseminate research to older adults, those living with cognition and health professionals working with them.

CURTIN UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENTS

  • Associate Professor
    Curtin University, Curtin School of Allied Health, Perth, Australia2 Jan 2023 - present
  • Senior Research Fellow
    Curtin University, Curtin School of Allied Health, Perth, Australia1 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2022
  • Senior Research Fellow,
    Curtin University, School of Physiotherapy & Exercise Science, Perth, Australia1 Jan 2018 - 31 Dec 2020
  • Research Fellow
    Curtin University, School of Physiotherapy & Exercise Science, Perth, Australia1 Jan 2014 - 29 Dec 2017

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Research Fellow
    The University of Notre Dame Australia, Institute for Health Research, Fremantle, Australia2 Apr 2018 - 31 Dec 2019
  • Research Fellow
    The University of Notre Dame Australia, Institute for Health Research, Fremantle, Australia4 Jul 2016 - 31 May 2017

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Harken-Brightwater Fellow
    Brightwater Care Group, Brightwater Research Centre, Perth, Australia1 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2027
  • Research Officer
    Silver Chain, Research Department, Perth, Australia2 Sep 2013 - 30 Jun 2016
  • Research Assistant
    Silver Chain, Research Department, Perth, Australia3 Aug 2009 - 30 Aug 2013

DEGREES

  • PhD, Health Sciences
    Curtin University, Perth, Australia
  • Graduate Diploma, Health Economics and Policy
    Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  • Master of Business, Sport Management
    Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
  • Bachelor of Science (1st Class Honours), Sports Science
    Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

ROLE

  • Staff

SUPERVISOR LEVEL

  • Level 1 (Primary Supervisor): The lead academic responsible for overseeing the candidate's research and progress.

FIELDS OF RESEARCH

  • 3202 - Clinical sciences
  • 3209 - Neurosciences
  • 4201 - Allied health and rehabilitation science
  • 4202 - Epidemiology
  • 4203 - Health services and systems
  • 4205 - Nursing
  • 4206 - Public health
  • 4207 - Sports science and exercise
  • 5201 - Applied and developmental psychology
  • 5202 - Biological psychology

DEPARTMENT

  • Curtin School of Allied Health