Host, Dr. Verity Todd, presented the August 2024 instalment of the Talking Research webinar series, where paramedicine academics shared their experiences and strategies for overcoming research challenges.

This session explored the often-undiscussed obstacles faced on the path to sustaining a research career. Our guests, Prof. Belinda Flanagan, A/Prof. Ben Meadley, and Dr. Louise Reynolds, revealed how they navigated unforeseen hurdles and adapted to overcome them.

Presenter Biographies

Prof Belinda Flanagan

Belinda is the Head of School for the School of Paramedicine at the University of Tasmania, having been an academic in the tertiary sector for 13 years. She is a Registered Paramedic & Registered Nurse/Midwife, and her main areas of research are focused on obstetrics and neonatal care, grief and bereavement and various public health topics. Outside the university Belinda engages in humanitarian work with NGOs in low-income countries. She has worked in Nepal, Timor-Leste and PNG and more recently worked as an Evaluations Manager with Australian Doctors International. This included collaborating with provincial healthcare services to monitor public health campaigns in PNG in response to Covid-19 and resourcing remote healthcare services.

A/Prof Ben Meadley

Ben Meadley is a registered paramedic and Director, Paramedicine at Ambulance Victoria. Ben has worked as a clinician, educator, and researcher in paramedicine for more than 26 years, with the majority of his time as an intensive care flight paramedic. His research interests include respiratory and cardiovascular physiology, point of care ultrasound, human performance optimisation, and selection to specialist paramedicine teams. Ben divides his time between clinical leadership, teaching and research roles. He is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Paramedicine and was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal in 2023.

Dr Louise Reynolds Dr Louise Reynolds began her pre-hospital career as a student paramedic with the South Australia Ambulance Service in 1992, where for the next 10 years she held various operational and non-operational roles before moving into higher education in 2003 at Flinders University. Louise was Australia’s first female paramedic to attain doctoral qualifications, with her thesis describing the emerging professionalism of pre-hospital care practice. She has taught paramedicine at vocational, undergraduate and postgraduate levels across Australia and the UK. Her research expertise draws on a variety of interests using qualitative methodologies in paramedicine education, systems and leadership. In April 2023, she became Victoria's second Chief Paramedic Officer, making her the most senior female paramedic in Australia.

Hosted by: Dr Verity Todd

Dr Verity Todd is a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Paramedicine, supporting postgraduate research. Verity worked for 5 years as the Clinical Research Fellow at Hato Hone St John. Verity is supported by the NZ Heart Foundation as a Co-Investigator on the First Responder Shock Trial (FIRST). Her research interests include low-acuity patients, Early Warning Scores, trauma, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Dr Todd's research background includes a PhD in Genetics and postdoctoral fellowships in Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University and The University of Auckland.