Research team

A/Prof Jillian Broadbear is the Head of Research and Innovation at Spectrum Personality Disorder and Complex Trauma Service. She holds a PhD in Biopsychology from the University of Michigan and spent two decades working in the substance misuse and mental health fields conducting pre-clinical and clinical research. 

After returning to Australia, Jillian took up an academic role at Monash University, convening the Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience degree and continuing her psychopharmacology research. She was fortunate to learn about a research position opening at Spectrum ten years ago and has never looked back!

Jillian is passionate about leading research that can be applied through education and advocacy, thereby improving knowledge in the field, and growing services that assist everyone whose lives are affected by personality disorder and complex trauma.

Dr Dinuli Nilaweera is a Research Officer at Spectrum, having previously contributed as a Research Volunteer. Dinuli holds a PhD in Public Health from Monash University, where her research explored the impacts of stressful and traumatic events across the lifespan. Through building greater empathy and understanding of personality disorders, Dinuli aims to advance research that reduces the stigma of complex mental illnesses in clinical settings, academia and the wider community. She has a particular interest in understanding chronic suicidality in personality disorders and improving access to resources for health professionals.

Dr Karthika (MBBS, MPH) is a Research Officer at Spectrum. With a lived/living experience of BPD and clinical experience as a general practitioner, they are passionate about creating a meaningful, positive impact in the lives of people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses.

They are passionate about translational research and innovative and holistic management of BPD. Since joining Spectrum, they have led several projects, for instance, co-editing ‘A Practical Guide for Area Mental Health Services', a booklet designed to enhance collaboration and treatment outcomes for people with BPD. Karthika is currently working towards securing a PhD scholarship, motivated by a deep commitment to improving access to mental health care for trans, gender-diverse, and non-binary (TGDNB) individuals.

Melissa is a Research Assistant at Spectrum. Melissa has completed her Honours year in Psychology and worked in addiction research, staff wellbeing program coordination, and anxiety support. These experiences inform her holistic approach to conducting research at Spectrum across a broad range of topics. Her keen interest in quantifying and improving client outcomes has aided Melissa in leading the Service Evaluation Program at Spectrum alongside the clinical and medical teams. Melissa’s areas of interest include creative therapies, interventions for complex trauma, and promoting interpersonal connection.

Dr Pari Heidari started at Spectrum Personality Disorder and Complex Trauma Service, Eastern Health in mid-2019 as a Research Officer. Pari has been awarded her PhD from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. 

Since commencing at Eastern Health, she has been working on many projects mostly engaging in research tasks including conducting surveys, data analysis and publishing. 

Pari is the Program evaluation lead for the Personality Disorder Initiative (PDI) at Spectrum which is a Victorian Government collaboration.