Our people - University of Wollongong

Get to know the CHSD team

The CHSD is a skilled multidisciplinary team. CHSD staff and fellows have qualifications and expertise in psychology, statistics, economics, public health, management, health planning, health informatics, communications, nursing, social work, education, pharmacy, human geography, medical epidemiology, medicine, occupational therapy, developmental disability, dementia, nutrition and Indigenous health.

The members of our team draw on experience in management, planning and research in health services, community services, social welfare and consumer organisations, and experience as members and chairpersons of intra-government and inter-government committees and organisations and quasi-judicial bodies. The team's stability, experience and expertise provide a sound base for addressing the funding, management and evaluation of services.

Centre for Health Service Development

Robert Gordon, Associate Professor (Health Services Research) and CHSD Director
Conrad Kobel, Senior Research Fellow (Applied Statistics)
Luise Lago, Senior Research Fellow (Statistics)
Nicole Reilly, Senior Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Cristina Thompson, Senior Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Dave Fildes, Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Karen Larsen-Truong, Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Carol Loggie, Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Darcy Morris, Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Anita Westera, Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Pam Grootemaat, Associate Research Fellow (Health Services Research)
Josephine Paasila, Associate Research Fellow (Health Services Research)

Associate Professor Robert Gordon has been an integral member of the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI) for 25 years. Joining shortly after establishment of the Centre for Health Service Development (CHSD) as it was then known, Rob’s contributions were critical to the Centre’s growth, culminating in the formation of AHSRI in 2011. As Deputy Director of AHSRI and Director of CHSD, Rob’s strategic vision and leadership is fundamental to the Institute’s continuing success. Through his commitment to research excellence and impact, Rob has significantly improved health outcomes for individuals and influenced health policy and system reform in Australia.

Dr Conrad Kobel primarily contributes to the ongoing research and development of casemix systems in Australia, feeding into the national activity based funding program. Furthermore, he has provided statistical, technical and health economic expertise in a number of projects investigating and improving costing methodologies, funding model design and strategic management of health services and more recently in the residential aged care sector.

Before joining AHSRI in 2013 he worked as a research fellow at Innsbruck Medical University in Innsbruck, Austria for almost five years. There, he was a key researcher in the EuroDRG project, which compared multiple aspects of several European Diagnosis-Related Group systems. Within the project, Conrad primarily contributed to the methodological framework of the empirical analyses. In addition, he supported clinical research with statistical analyses and taught applied statistics to medical students.

With his international background, he strengthens and broadens the capacity of the quantitative analysis team at AHSRI. Conrad has international collaborations with Canada and Europe and is a faculty member of an annual short course that provides comprehensive skills on the design, implementation and evaluation of casemix-based funding models run by the Patient Casemix Systems International (PCSI).

Conrad has studied mathematics and financial mathematics in Germany and Sweden and has completed the Doctoral Program in Social and Economic Sciences (main focus on health economics) at Innsbruck University in Austria.

Dr Luise Lago is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Service Development. She is currently leading research studies using linked data to improve the health and wellbeing of residents of the Illawarra and Shoalhaven Region in collaboration with academics from University of Wollongong and University of Sydney, and clinicians from the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. Current projects include modelling the impact of non-admitted patient care on hospitalisation for people living with dementia, evaluating an aftercare program for suicide prevention, and a cross-sectoral data linkage study on improving education outcomes and wellbeing for students requiring multi agency support for mental health and wellbeing. Luise is also working with researchers and stakeholders on state and national programs relating to family and carers mental health and residential aged care accommodation.

Luise has more than 20 years of research experience in government and academia, focusing on the use of statistical methods for linked and longitudinal administrative data and complex survey data. Applications are in the areas of health services, survey methods, classifications development, evaluation, and patient outcomes. She received a PhD in 2015 on the use of mixed models for imputation of missing data in household surveys, and is currently a co-supervisor for 3 HDR students . Luise co-chairs the Illawarra and Shoalhaven Epidemiology and Biostatistics Network.

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Nicole joined AHSRI in 2020 and has over 15 years’ experience in perinatal mental health research and policy evaluation. She has a particular interest in population-based prevention, early intervention and treatment programs that are evidence-based and responsive to the needs of pregnant women, new mothers and their families, as well as the health professionals who care for them. Nicole is a current board member of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health, and an executive member of its Australasian chapter.

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Cristina joined the Australian Health Services Research Institute in July 2008. Prior to this she worked for over 25 years in the health system as a clinician and senior manager, in both rural and metropolitan health settings. As a Senior Research Fellow, Cristina works within the Centre for Health Service Development and supports team based research projects in health and social policy, strategic health service development and planning. Cristina has worked on several large-scale evaluation projects and costing studies, with various State and Territory Health Departments. At a national level she has worked with a wide range of Australian Government Departments, agencies and non-government organisations in diverse areas including cancer services; rural and regional community based medical education; costs of transplant services; dementia services and most recently in health workforce reform. Cristina is experienced in mixed methods and qualitative research and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dave Fildes holds a full time position at AHSRI. He conducts literature reviews, contributing to the development of policy options and preparing reports for Government agencies across a range of subject areas as part of his research at the Institute. He is involved in a variety of projects including suicide prevention, men’s health, mental health and community development and assessment. Dave has experienced in mixed methods research and has a keen interest in qualitative research methods such as survey design, interviewing techniques, the conduct of focus groups and consultation sessions. In his current position Dave supports evaluation projects and social policy research projects in program evaluation and policy reform within mental health and aged care. He has a wide range of experience in large to small projects encompassing national to state and local issues. He also has a wide range of interests, skills and experience that bring a broad perspective to evaluation and social policy issues. He has worked with a wide range of stakeholders over many years, including clinicians, managers and policy makers, working for organisations in the government, non-government and private sectors.

Karen is a Research Fellow within the Centre for Health Service Development. Her work focuses on development, implementation and evaluation of novel approaches to public health and health service change. Karen has a particular interest in exploring ways to improve research/practice collaborations through the application of tools and approaches such as Design Thinking and Agile development. Karen has experience conducting research and evaluation in a variety of contexts including aged care, community development, homelessness, mental health and a variety of other public health issues. Karen has particular expertise in systematic reviews, qualitative research, implementation science and evaluation.

Carol has a health information management background, working most previously in casemix classification development on the AR-DRG Classification, and on the ICD-10-AM/ACHI/ACS Classification. Prior to that her experience was in health information across both the public and private health sectors. Carol previously worked at the NCCC as a classification developer, during which time she obtained a Graduate Certificate in Health Services Research and Development, and returned in 2017 as a Casemix Analyst. She is currently a Research Fellow at CHSD.

Darcy has a strong and diverse set of skills encompassing every aspect of research activity. He has extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, and has a particular interest in combining these in mixed methods research. Over almost two decades, Darcy has applied this expertise to a multitude of regional and national health service research, development and evaluation projects covering wide-ranging content areas.

Anita joined AHSRI in 2005 and has extensive experience working in the health, aged and community care sectors in direct service delivery, policy development, research and governance roles. A former longstanding member of the Board of UnitingCare Ageing NSW.ACT, she currently is co-convenor of the Illawarra Chapter of the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG) which aims to foster cross-disciplinary approaches to improved care, research and support for people with dementia and those receiving aged care.

Pam Grootemaat joined the CHSD on a full-time basis in July 2005. Pam previously worked in research and evaluation for mental health promotion. She has academic qualifications in nutrition and public health. Pam supports research projects in health system classification, policy and funding reform within health and community care services.

Josephine Paasila is an Associate Research Fellow at AHSRI. Prior to starting with AHSRI Josephine worked with the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) and the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research within the field of Brain Injury Rehabilitation since 2015. Josephine has worked on multiple projects throughout her time as a researcher, including NSW Health brain injury program service evaluations, mental health outcomes following brain injury as well as employment outcomes following a brain injury. Josephine’s thesis explored psychological protective factors for poor negative psychological outcomes following a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recently won the ‘Kevin Walsh’ award for the most outstanding Master’s degree research at the 2021 Australian Society for Brain Impairment (ASSBI) conference. Josephine is a passionate researcher who has strong interest in working to create an accessible and inclusive healthcare system for people with an intellectual disability.