Our Team

Karen May is the Associate Director, Military and Emergency Services Health Australia and also currently working on her PhD at University of Adelaide focussing on a therapeutic model for children of a parent with service related Post-Traumatic Stress. Karen’s background is psychotherapy, participatory action research and community development.

Karen has worked with many communities who have experienced trauma in Australia and developing countries. Since 2015 Karen has worked on building capacity in the military, emergency service and families sector to improve health and wellbeing through research, advocacy and sector collaboration to establish policy, change, models of care and programs.

Henry joined MESHA in August 2020 as the Senior Research Officer. Their primary role involves the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions and preventative programs for trauma with Military and Emergency Services personnel and their families. Additionally, part of their role is ensuring that future researchers have the training and support to work within this industry as the coordinator and supervisor of the Placement and Internship program on site.

They have a history working with early childhood mental health, human-animal interactions, and adjunct treatments which have translational outcomes and implications. In particular, they have a keen interest in developing collaborative, multidisciplinary trauma-informed research which influences clinical practice, treatment delivery, and policy and legislative decision making.

Marie joined MESHA in May 2020 and is a Research Officer, bringing a wealth of knowledge as a registered psychologist with eight years’ experience working as a clinical psychologist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Child Adolescent Mental Health Service. Previous roles also include working in academic settings as a researcher, primarily within mental health, child protection and veteran health.

Her role supports all research activities at MESHA, primary project managing various studies on veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress. Marie enjoys sharing the enthusiasm and common goals with her colleagues in improving the health outcomes of veterans and first responders who give so much to our community.

Hannah Bourne is the Operations Co-Ordinator for MESHA. She has a Bachelor of Health Sciences from University of Adelaide and has worked in various community development and not-for-profit settings. She is a defence kid from the UK and is always up for a chat about military family life. Hannah oversees operations of the research and programs teams, including our student program and lived experience workforce.

Since 2019, Dennis has been a part and lead facilitator of MESHA’s Group Emotional and Relationship Skills (GEARS) Program. He is also a lead facilitator on MESHA’s MindRight and StoryRight programs and is nationally accredited in Mental Health First Aid Training and is a Level 2 accredited member of the Australian Counselling Association. Dennis draws most of his experiences on almost 30 years of service with the SA Police Force and the SA Metropolitan Fire Service and runs his own business in the mental health space.

Kath Whitson is a Research Officer at MESHA. With a dual background in Education and Music, Kath is assisting with studies researching trauma in populations focusing on military veterans, emergency service members, and their families, including studies investigating the use of assistance dogs, Virtual Reality, meditation programs, and suicide postvention strategies. ​

Murray Nankivell is a Research Officer at MESHA. In 2021, he was awarded a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) degree with a focus on men’s health. He has held numerous positions as an RA at the University of Adelaide with experience in men’s mental health, e-mental health interventions, and constructive journalism. He has an extensive family history within military and emergency services.

Leo McKenzie is a Research Assistant for MESHA. Leo holds a Bachelors in Psychological Sciences and Bachelors in Criminology under the University of Adelaide and is currently study an Honours degree in Psychological science. He has assisted in the formulation and analysis of various quantitative and qualitative research projects within MESHA. These projects accumulatively work toward the academic development and mental health betterment of populations focusing on current and former military personnel, emergency service members, and their families.