Research Team

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 Karthika Kasiviswanathan (MBBS, MPH) is a Research Officer at Spectrum with a strong commitment to improving access to timely, appropriate, and evidence-based care for people living with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Since joining Spectrum in 2024, they have led a range of projects that integrate clinical expertise with lived experience perspectives to advance research, policy, and service development.

Their contributions include co-editing A Practical Guide for Area Mental Health Services and producing evidence syntheses on topics such as parenting with BPD and emerging therapeutic approaches. Karthika currently coordinates Spectrum’s pilot trial investigating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for co-occurring trauma disorders and leads a feasibility pilot evaluating Good Psychiatric Management as a post-crisis intervention for people with BPD presenting to Eastern Health emergency departments during mental health crises.

Drawing on both professional expertise and lived experience, their work is grounded in translational research and focuses on bridging the gap between evidence and practice. They are particularly passionate about developing compassionate, person-centred approaches that improve outcomes and reduce barriers to care for people living with BPD.

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

Desna is a Research Assistant at Spectrum. She holds an Honours degree in Psychology, where her research explored the impact of a gender-transformative school-based intervention on adolescent girls in Australia. 

Desna has worked in several Monash University labs, including suicide prevention and sleep health, where she developed a keen interest in conducting holistic research across a broad range of topics. Her commitment to quantifying and improving client outcomes has aided her in leading the Spectrum Client Care Program alongside the clinical and medical teams. Motivated to understand the human psyche, and in turn decrease the prevalence of mental illness and associated stigma, Desna hopes to become a clinical psychologist in the future.

Joe is a Project Officer with Spectrum's Research and Innovation team. Passionate about person-centered care and research that helps us build fulfilling relationships with ourselves and others, he has contributed to research spanning psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, neuromodulation, generalist and specialist psychotherapy, community mental health services and stigma. He is completing an Honours degree in Psychology, with a thesis project examining shared structural neural correlates across obsessive-compulsive disorder and behavioural addictions.

Alisa is a Research Volunteer at Spectrum who has recently completed her Honours degree in Psychology at Monash University. Her Honours research on dimensional personality disorder diagnosis sparked a passion for the field, which continues to drive her work today!

At Spectrum, Alisa is motivated by a genuine desire to improve outcomes for people with a lived experience of personality disorder, believing that good research can make a real difference in people's everyday lives. She is currently aspiring to undertake a Clinical PhD, where she hopes to further expand her research focusing on understanding personality disorder, and develop her clinical skills to work directly with clients to support their mental wellbeing and health outcomes.

Taylor is a Research Volunteer at Spectrum who has recently completed her Bachelor of Psychological Science at the University of New England. She aims to commence her Honours year in 2027. Through her degree, she has developed a love of research and a desire to pursue a career in the field.

Taylor is passionate about research into prevalent yet stigmatised and misunderstood forms of psychopathology such as personality disorder, substance use disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, dissociative disorders and complex trauma. She also has an interest in biological, cognitive and health psychology. Much of her dedication and motivation is deeply personal, and she strongly believes in the value of lived experience. At Spectrum, Taylor is thrilled to be a part of groundbreaking research aimed at improving psychological, social and therapeutic outcomes for people suffering from personality disorder and complex trauma.