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 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.

Dr. Karthika (MBBS, MPH) is a Research Assistant at Spectrum Personality Disorder and Complex Trauma Service. With a lived/living experience of BPD and clinical experience as a GP, Karthika is passionate about creating a meaningful positive impact in the lives of people diagnosed with severe mental illness through translational research. 

They recently was the co-editor of ‘A practical guide for Area Mental Health Services', a booklet that aims to improve working with and treatment outcomes for people living with borderline personality disorder. 

Karthika is actively working towards obtaining a PhD scholarship in the future with an extraordinary interest in conducting research concerning mental health of trans, gender diverse and non-binary (TGDNB) people.

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.