MEDICALLY COMPLEX PREGNANCIES
Dr Shelley Wilkinson, Project Officer
Department of Obstetric Medicine,
Mater Mothers’ Hospital &
Associate Professor and Senior Principal Research Fellow,
School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland &
Director & Principal Dietician,
Lifestyle Maternity & Lifestyle Perimenopause
Brisbane, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Brisbane, Australia | November 2025
A/Prof Shelley Wilkinson is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, Fellow of Dietitians Australia, and a leading Australian researcher in maternal health and implementation science.
She has over 30 years of experience in the field and holds a PhD in Psychology. Her passion is in health service redesign through co-creation and combining the ‘know-what’ of nutrition with the ‘know-how’ of innovative behaviour change techniques.
Currently, she is involved in the implementation and evaluation of the Obstetric Midwifery Group Practice (“OMGP”) model of care and the “4HER” post-pregnancy cardiometabolic health clinic at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals.
She is also the Director and Principal Dietitian at Lifestyle Maternity and Lifestyle PeriMenopause. Here she delivers women-focussed, evidence-based & innovative care designed to empower women with the skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for their well-being.
Assoc Prof Wilkinson has previously held prestigious fellowships, including the NHMRC TRIP fellowship and the Queensland Government-Health Research Fellowship, which focused on improving dietetic care for women with gestational diabetes and optimising service delivery for healthy gestational weight gain.
She has been recognised for her research excellence with six awards in Evidence-Based Practice and Clinical Research.
Source: Supplied
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Elite athlete physical and mental health impact performance
Understanding the interaction between genes and lifestyle factors in response to stress can lead to potential therapeutic interventions for stress-related disorders. This research is crucial for promoting health and well-being.
Professor Mehta has recently commenced research into elite athlete physical and mental health impact performance, with research at the intersection of statistics, genomics, and mental health. This research is ahead of, and in anticipation of, the Summer Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.
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Treatment pathways for chronic plantar heel pain
Jason Rogers is a Tasmanian physiotherapist clinician-researcher with a longstanding interest in improving musculoskeletal foot and ankle conditions. He completed his PhD at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania in 2022 investigating the clinical and imaging factors associated with a common foot complaint known as chronic plantar heel pain.
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Genetic disease research imitating function and architecture of organs
Professor Wolvetang was among the first to bring the first human embryonic stem cells to Queensland, with his Wolvetang Group at the AIBN now renowned for its work with organoids: growing them, studying them, and using them to try and understand diseases and human development.
Using cutting edge technology, Professor Wolvetang designs and grows organoids both for their own work and for labs across the country, coaxing pluripotent stem cells or tissue samples into 3D structures that mimic the function and architecture of real brains, livers, kidneys, spinal cords, and intestines.
