Chief Investigator

Richard is an Accredited Practising Dietitian working in Health Promotion at the Mid North Coast Local Health District. Richard is coordinating the PICNIC Project as part of his PhD and providing support to Peer Educators in the Hastings Macleay Region.

Associate Investigator

Clare Collins is a Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Professor Collins holds a prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship. She currently holds the position of Co-Director of the Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition.

Clare has published over 300 manuscripts and supervised 25 Research Higher Degree candidates to completion.

Associate Investigator

Professor Gail Whiteford is a Professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Allied Health Science at Griffith University, Queensland. 

Gail is an experienced qualitative researcher and has led several research teams, was a former Research Centre Director and was Australia's first Pro Vice Chancellor for Social Inclusion at Macquarie University.

Gail's recent and current research projects include the Widening Participation project with Aboriginal Elders; as an Evaluator and Monitor for a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded program in Indonesia and as the Evaluation Lead for a refugee settlement service in Queensland.

Associate Investigator

Kerith Duncanson is a Rural Research Program Manager for the Health Education and Training Institute (NSW Health), an Accredited Practising Dietitian, and Lecturer and Course Coordinator in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle. 

Kerith’s PhD studies investigated how and what parents feed their children. Her experience in the Rural Research Capacity Building Program has fueled her interest in the research process, leading to her current role in researcher development for HETI.

Kerith’s current research interests are diverse and include gastrointestinal nutrition, Aboriginal health and nutrition, child feeding and health education.

Associate Investigator

Tracy is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian who is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Her major research areas include dietary assessment, validation methodologies, childhood obesity, food addiction and has published over 80 scientific manuscripts.

Associate Investigator

Dr Andrew Bailey is the District Manager Health Promotion, Mid North Coast Local District (MNCLHD). He is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years' experience in specialist paediatric and family health settings, and has worked in senior management and executive roles in both Health and Family and Community Services. 

Dr Bailey holds a BA (Psychology) (Hons) and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Dr Bailey is currently an Associate Investigator on a number of research programs with extensive experience in developing stakeholder partnerships. He is a representative on NSW Healthy School Canteen Reference Group and the NSW Regional Health Partners Healthy Weight Strategy Working Party.