Our People
Debra Langridge
Head, CCI Program
Deb has worked in the public health and prevention space at all levels of government – Federal, State and Local – and not for profit sectors to contribute to the health and well-being of communities. She has worked to capture the voices of all parts of community including access and inclusion, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, children and young people, mental health, health and community services. Deb has been the Chair of Advisory Groups in both NSW and WA. She has always worked connecting community, government, and community with a well-being focus, and was a representative on WA Sustainable Health Review with this in mind.
Deb’s role leading the Consumer and Community Involvement Program as a platform of the Western Australia Health Translation Network is to connect researchers in WA Universities, Medical Research Institutes, Government, and Health Service Providers with people with lived experience to support and encourage best practice research. Deb is passionate about ensuring research can impact policy, practice and wellbeing of communities and enjoys bringing people together to make a difference.
Briony Abraham
Consumer and Community Involvement Events Officer
Briony is Consumer and Community Involvement Program’s Events Officer and joined the team in January 2017. Briony has held purchasing, finance and administrative roles within the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences since 2015. Prior to this she held roles within the sales industry.
Briony’s role within the Consumer and Community Involvement Program is to promote, plan and organise all events which the Program is requested to run for our various Partner Organisations. She also provides administrative support to the team, and to the Head of Program, Debra Langridge.
Ingrid Laing
Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinator
Ingrid joined the CCIProgram in September 2022 and is the CCI Coordinator for the Department of Health, Office of Medical Research and Innovation, as well as the Harry Perkins Institute. Prior to joining the CCIProgram, Ingrid was a UWA Principal Research Fellow specialising in children’s lung health and diseases, particularly asthma. Most recently, Ingrid has studied why some children get wheezing and asthma attacks causing them to come to hospital for treatment, and is looking at new treatments to prevent asthma attacks in early childhood. Ingrid has served on the board of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand as well as the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Western Australia.
Ingrid also has an extensive lived experience with lung disease, diabetes, kidney failure and as a carer of someone with complex medical needs.
Ingrid will focus on connecting people with lived experience with Partners and researchers to embrace consumer and community involvement in research, and through this support to ultimately improve the health and wellbeing for people in our community.
Jillian Northwood
Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinator
Jillian joined the CCIProgram in August 2022 and is the CCI Coordinator for Murdoch University & Edith Cowan University. Prior to joining the CCIProgram, Jillian worked as a Doctor of Audiology specialising primarily in cochlear implants. Throughout her career she has actively collaborated within multidisciplinary teams in order to provide implant recipients holistic and person-centred care. Jillian moved to Australia from the US in 2015 after accepting a role with Cochlear Ltd as the clinical specialist for Western Australia.
Jillian also brings with her a unique lived experience perspective within the area of perinatal and infant mental health. She actively contributes as a consumer co-chair on the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Sub Network Steering Committee, as well as ongoing consumer involvement in the Infant, Child & Adolescent Implementation Taskforce through the Mental Health Commission. This opportunity has further highlighted the necessity for cohesion and collaboration between healthcare professionals, researchers, relevant government officials and consumers, specifically regarding community health and ongoing research initiatives.
Jillian is looking forward to collaborating with partners in ongoing projects and actively engaging with consumers/persons with lived experience in efforts to form lasting working relationships between consumers and researchers. These relationships ultimately shape, impact and influence the trajectory for community health and health services.
Kat Stewart
Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinator
As a CCI Coordinator, Kat works within the University of Notre Dame. Here she supports collaboration and the development of meaningful relationships between health researchers, consumers, and the community.
With over 10 years’ experience in community focussed roles, including working within local government and not-for-profit organisations, Kat has worked closely with vulnerable and at-risk communities. In addition, she brings an advocacy and education focus through tertiary education in Health Promotion, and her time running community-based health and nutrition workshops.
Kerry Mace
Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinator & Support Officer
Kerry joined the team in August 2019 and is the Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinator at The University of Western Australia. She brings with her over 15 years of involvement in the area of consumer advocacy.
Kerry also supports the Consumer and Community Involvement Coordinators with the day to day administration of the Program and recruits consumers and community members for the open involvement positions. She is the connection between our consumers and our researchers, contacting consumers about their applications and assisting researchers with the process of choosing who they work with.
Kerry’s background is with Arthritis and Osteoporosis WA as their Kids Camp Coordinator and has also been a Support Group facilitator for over 20 years. She is a Loric Self-Management Facilitator and is a member of various committees, including the Musculoskeletal Health Network. Kerry recently retired from the Fiona Stanley Hospital Consumer Advisory Committee after 6 years on the Council, with the last four as their chair.