Our Team

Associate Professor Miranda Van Hooff is the Executive Director of Military and Emergency Services Health Australia and an experienced research scientist specialising in the mental health impacts of bushfires, adverse childhood adversity and occupational trauma. Completing her Bachelor of Arts (Hons Psych) in 1998 she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine at The University of Adelaide in 2010 for her research examining the adult mental and physical health outcomes of childhood exposure to the 1983 Ash Wednesday Bushfires.

Since 1999 she has held various academic appointments at the University of Adelaide under the direction of International PTSD Specialist Professor Alexander McFarlane and was formally the Director of Research at the University of Adelaide Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies. She currently holds adjunct positions at both the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Associate Professor Van Hooff has authored 61 journal articles, 2 book chapters and 31 commissioned reports for the Australian Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs and the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service. Over the course of her career, she has conducted several large-scale longitudinal studies of childhood survivors of the 1983 Ash Wednesday Bushfires, children hospitalised for a significant burn injury, children exposed to the neurotoxic effects of lead in childhood and adults exposed to the 2006 Black Tuesday Bushfires on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Since 2009, she has specialised in the mental health and wellbeing of current and former Australian military and emergency service personnel, as the lead researcher on three landmark studies: Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme, The Military Health Outcomes Programme and the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service Health and Wellbeing Study. These studies were the first in Australia to ascertain the prevalence of ICD-10 Mental Disorder in current and ex-serving ADF members and South Australian Firefighters and have been strong drivers of change in relation to policy and service provision.

Over the last 10 years, Associate Professor Van Hooff has received over $10M in competitive and commonwealth grant funding, with the majority of this funding invested in research designed to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of current and former Australian servicemen, servicewomen and their families. Currently she is a chief investigator on two studies examining the health and wellbeing of emergency service personnel following the 2019/2020 bushfires.

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.

Karin began using Art Psychotherapy at the Repatriation Public Hospital Rehabilitation wards specializing in Stroke, Brain Injury and Amputee patients. Karin has worked with individuals and groups with intellectual and physical disabilities utilising creative processes. She is currently facilitating Art Psychotherapy with Veterans, Emergency responders and their families living with Trauma, as part of the programs MESHA offers as a mental health strategy for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress. Her role at MESHA as an Art Therapist and Counsellor has also collected data for research to further promote the benefits and credentialling of this field in Australia.