Melinda's research area focuses on understanding vulnerability and resilience in families, particularly in families where there may be parental mental illness (FaPMI) or substance abuse. The central aim is to find ways to promote resilience and reduce the intergenerational effects of vulnerability in families. She is currently the project manager of the Mental Illness Research Fund Project andlsquo;Developing an Australian-first recovery model of parents in Victoria mental health and family services', led by Associate Professor Darryl Maybery.

She has been working closely with Associate Professor Darryl Maybery and Associate Professor Andrea Reupert for the last ten years on a number of projects exploring the needs of families, and the response of the mental health service sector to better meet the needs of families where a parent has a mental illness or a dual diagnosis.

View:

• Melinda's 2014 presentation to the International Bipolar Foundation: Families where a parent has a mental illness: Understanding familiy resilience. (Vimeo 46:32 mins)
• Introduction to the Mental Illness Research Fund project: Developing an Australian-first recovery model of parents in Victoria mental health and family services. (YouTube 2:45 mins)

Melinda also has a background in Behavioural Neuroscience and recently completed her PhD in the aetiology of short-sightedness and long sightedness. Prior to that she completed a Masters of Behavioural Science in the efficacy of a new drug for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

She has a number of publications across all these areas of study and is currently co-supervising three PhD students in the area of parental mental illness.

Before joining MUDRIH as a Research Fellow, she held the position of FaPMI Research and Evaluation Academic at The Bouverie Centre (La Trobe University).