A/Prof. Semple is a dedicated neuroscientist with a growing national and international reputation for excellence in neurotrauma research. She leads the Paediatric Neurotrauma Group in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University’s Central Clinical School. The team is comprised of research assistants and PhD, Masters and Honours students, all working on various questions regarding the fundamental neurobiology of traumatic brain injuries across the lifespan.  

A/Prof. Semple has received substantial competitive fellowship and grant funding, totalling <$2.5M to date, from the NHMRC, US Department of Defense, Veski, American Australian Association, Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, Monash University and Capstone Editing. With a H-index of 30, her peer-reviewed published research has garnered almost 5000 citations to date.  

A/Prof. Semple sits on the Executive Board for the International Neurotrauma Society, and the Council for the US National Neurotrauma Society (past-Secretary, 2021-22). She is also a coordinating member of the Australasian Neurotrauma Workshop annual scientific conference. A/Prof. Semple sits on several journal editorial boards including Experimental Neurology, Frontiers in Neurology (Neurotrauma) and Neurotrauma Reports.

Locally, A/Prof. Semple is a member of the Central Clinical School’s Consumer and Researcher Engagement (CaRE) program committee, and Chair of the User Group Committee for the Monash Micro Imaging A+ Alliance node. In 2022, She was awarded the inaugural Mid-Career Excellence in Leadership Award from Monash University’s Central Clinical School Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) committee.

A/Prof. Semple completed her PhD at Monash University in 2010, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of California San Francisco (2011-2015) and University of Melbourne (2015-2017), before establishing her independent group at Monash University in 2018.