At the Fiona Wood Foundation, our team is committed to advancing world-leading research and discovery in burns and scarring. By continually growing the body of knowledge, our work will save lives and make a significant difference to the recovery of people who have sustained a burn injury. We bring together the best scientists, researchers, clinicians, and mentor PhD and Honours students to meet our objectives to:
- Improve understanding of burn injury and its interactions with the skin and all body systems
- Develop new technologies and treatments to improve clinical care
- Improve mental health outcomes
- Educate the community
Meet the team who are helping us to bring science to the bedside.
Winthrop Professor Fiona Wood FRACS AO
Director of Research
About Me
Professor Fiona Wood AO is one of Australia’s most respected surgeons and researchers, specialising in burn care and chronic wounds. She was 2005 Australian of the Year, recognising her pioneering 'spray-on skin' technique and support for victims of the Bali bombings. Prof Wood has been at the forefront of international wound care and research for over 30 years.
Associate Professor Mark Fear
Senior Research Manager
About Me
Mark is a dedicated researcher at the Fiona Wood Foundation where his work encompasses all aspects of burn injury, from improving injury assessment through novel technologies to developing advanced wound biomaterials and understanding the biology of scar formation and rehabilitation after injury. His research primarily focuses on the systemic responses to burn injury, particularly the integration of the bone marrow, nervous system, and immune response, and how these factors influence healing outcomes.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Systemic responses; Bone marrow; Nervous system; Immune response; Cortical plasticity; Scar formation; Wound biomaterials; Rehabilitation.
Email
mark@fionawoodfoundation.org.au
Dr Lisa Martin
Research Fellow
About Me
Lisa is a researcher with a background in clinical nursing and public health, focusing on psychosocial recovery, acute burn care, scar prevention, and the physiological effects of burn injury. Since 2009, she has conducted and coordinated burn care research, optimising outcomes for patients and families. Lisa holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia (2018), a Master of Public Health from Edith Cowan University (2011), a BSc in Health Studies from Plymouth University, UK (2004), and a PGDip in Biostatistics from the University of Adelaide (2024). Lisa cultivates a collaborative working environment, valuing and empowering team members to succeed in their research, gain skills, and advance their professional futures.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Optimal recovery after childhood burn injury for children and their families.
Email
lisa.martin3@health.wa.gov.au
Professor Dale Edgar
Research Fellow
About Me
Dale Edgar over 30 years of experience as a physiotherapist and researcher, specialising in burn and trauma rehabilitation. Since 1996, he has focused on improving post-burn care, developing tools during his PhD to enhance long-term outcomes. A leader in the field, he served as President of the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association and now Co-Chairs the ANZBA-Monash Burn Registry. He has mentored many students, earning the Andre Zagame Rehabilitation Specialist Prize twice. In 2022, he returned to clinical work to update his understanding of patient care. Now, with the Fiona Wood Foundation and The University of Notre Dame, he aims to revolutionize rehabilitation by focusing on patient-centric care and leveraging clinical data.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Burn and traumatic injury rehabilitation; Exercise therapy and impact on inflammation; Longitudinal outcome measurement after burn and traumatic injury.
Dr Nat Morellini
Postdoctoral Researcher
About Me
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Dr Andrew Stevenson
Postdoctoral Researcher
About Me
Andrew has been with the Burn Injury Research Unit/ FWF since beginning his research career as a graduate assistant in 2009. After two years, he transitioned to a PhD project titled "The Epigenetics of Scar Cells," exploring why scar cells remain as such throughout life. He successfully defended his thesis in 2016 and stayed on as a postdoc. Since then, Andrew has worked on several projects, including ongoing research on scar cells, helping develop one of the first anti-scarring drugs to reach clinical trials, and collaborating on 3D bioprinting for surgical use. He has published 22 papers, with his PhD work featured in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and scar drug research published in Nature Communications. Andrew regularly represents the Fiona Wood Foundation at national and international conferences.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Skin cell biology and regeneration
Dr Lucy Barrett
Postdoctoral Researcher
About Me
Dr Lucy Barrett is a postdoctoral researcher working with the Burn Injury Research/ FWF team at the Harry Perkins Institute. Her research is focused on the long-term systemic impacts of burn injury on the immune system, with a particular focus on the effect of non-severe burns in paediatric patients, who are over-represented in the Australian burns population.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Immunology and molecular biology
Dr Blair Johnson
Postdoctoral Researcher
About Me
Blair is an early career medical researcher focused on the long-term physiological changes caused by burn injuries. After completing a PhD at UWA in 2023 with support from the Fiona Wood Foundation, Blair continues as a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Foundation. Blair’s research uses samples from a growing paediatric biobank to explore how burn injuries disrupt the immune system and contribute to other diseases. Additionally, Blair is investigating the link between burn injuries and cardiovascular disease, working on both clinical studies and developing a pre-clinical laboratory model to test potential interventions.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Immunology; Platelet Biology; Physiological Impacts of Burn Injury
Dr Amira Allahham
Postdoctoral Researcher
About Me
Amira is a postdoctoral researcher at the Fiona Wood Foundation. Amira’s research explores the impact of burn injuries on the brain and mental health to understand the inflammatory and genetic changes in the brain after a burns. Amira’s research also investigates the quality of life of paediatric burn patients after their injuries and aims to develop mental health interventions that will help burn patients during their recovery journey.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
The impact of burn injuries on the brain
Dee Atapattu
Research Assistant
About Me
Dinithi is part of the Burns Research team at Perth Children’s Hospital, focusing on the Biobank project. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master of Public Health, and has been involved in health promotion and research since 2020. Dinithi is primarily responsible for managing paediatric Biobank recruitments at PCH, with the ambitious goal of establishing one of the world’s largest burn injury biobanks. She enjoys her frontline role, actively engaging with families, providing health information, and recruiting participants for research studies, while also overseeing the PCH database for the Australia-New Zealand Burn Registry.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Burns Biobank Project - Lifelong (Physical and Psychosocial) impacts of a burn injury; Quality of life of paediatric burn patients
Nicole Hortin
Research Assistant
About Me
Nicole is a Research Assistant in the Burn Injury Research Unit under Mark Fear at the Fiona Wood Foundation. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Perth, she gained valuable experience working in the UK within fast-paced academic laboratories. Upon returning to Perth, Nicole joined another research lab before moving to Mark’s team in 2015. With expertise in molecular biology, transgenic technologies, and neuroscience, Nicole contributes significantly to research on wound healing, scar formation, and the long-term effects of burn injuries. Her work is dedicated to advancing research that directly improves patient outcomes.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Biobank management, sample processing, burn injury research, collaborative project coordination, tissue sample collection, student training, research support, and contributing to international scientific data.
Victoria Shoesmith
Research Assistant
About Me
Victoria has a strong background in nursing, health education, research, recruitment, and patient care. She is committed to improving patient outcomes after burn injuries. Since joining the Fiona Wood Foundation in 2020, she has contributed to multiple studies focused on the long-term physical and psychosocial recovery of children with burn injuries. Victoria is known for her genuine and approachable nature and quickly builds rapport with patients, parents, and families. She is actively involved in coordinating studies within the ward and clinic to ensure smooth and effective patient engagement.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Paediatric psychosocial burns research
Michelle Adamson
Clinical Nurse Research Assistant
About Me
I am a Clinical Nurse with a post‐graduate certificate in Wound Care Management from Monash University. After working for 22 years on Burns Unit at Perth Children’s Hospital, I am proud to join the Fiona Wood Foundation as a Research Nurse looking at innovative ways to improve wound management and scar outcomes for our families.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Clinical Nurse Research; prevention; clinical care; children
Graeme McLeod
Digital Innovation
About Me
Graeme has dedicated nearly a decade to the State Adult Burns Unit, starting as an MDT Officer where he excelled in clinic coordination, data analysis, and support. His commitment to innovation is evident in his current role with the Digital Innovation Team at the Fiona Wood Foundation.
With a Post Graduate Certificate in Social Impact and a strong passion for sustainability, Graeme plays a key role in introducing quality improvement solutions that enhance the efficiency of the Burns Unit. His focus is on implementing scalable innovations that can benefit the wider hospital and department.
Graeme’s expertise and dedication are invaluable in advancing the mission of providing exceptional care and pioneering solutions in healthcare.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Digital Innovation
Emily Zhen
PhD Research Student
About Me
Dr Emily Zhen is an anaesthetics registrar working at Fiona Stanely Hospital. She is currently completing a PhD on smoke inhalation injury under the supervision of Professors Fiona Wood, Suzanne Rea and Mark Fear at the University of Western Australia. Emily is particularly interested in translational research. She was the recipient of the inaugural Jo Wheatley PhD Scholarship for her work in this space.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Smoke inhalation injury
Heather Russell
PhD Research Student
About Me
Heather is a second-year PhD candidate with the Burn Injury Research Unit/ Fiona Wood Foundation at the University of Western Australia. She has a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science with Embryology and Developmental Biology from the University of Aberdeen.
Heather moved to Perth in 2023 to undertake her research project focused on elucidating key cells involved in wound healing and scarring, and how these different dermal fibroblast subpopulations are involved and arise. She is particularly interested in the dynamic nature of fibroblasts.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Skin and Fibrotic disease; Fibroblast phenotype
Linley Worth
PhD Research Student
About Me
Linley (she/her) is a third-year PhD candidate with the Burn Injury Research Unit/ Fiona Wood Foundation at the University of Western Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Science, majoring in chemistry and genetics, with honours in genetics. Linley's research focuses on gene therapy and gene delivery in skin, exploring chemical nucleic acid delivery pathways, skin and fibrotic genetic disorders, and stem cell differentiation methods.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Gene therapy and delivery.
Sarah Walsh
PhD Research Student
About
Sarah is a dedicated PhD student at Murdoch University, School of Medical, Molecular & Forensic Sciences. Her research is centred on endometriosis (& adenomyosis), aiming to enhance patient diagnosis and quality of life. With a background in clinical laboratory science, genetics, and molecular biology, Sarah works under the supervision of Dr. Mark Fear within the Burn Injury Research Unit/Fiona Wood Foundation, benefiting from his fibrosis and cellular biology expertise. Her ultimate goal is to translate her findings into tangible improvements for those impacted by endometriosis, aligning perfectly with The Fiona Wood Foundation's mission.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
Endometriosis; Clinical Laboratory Science; Genetics & Molecular Biology.
Johanna Koks
Honours Student
About Me
Johanna is an Honours student with the Burn Injury Research Unit/ Fiona Wood Foundation. She is studying Medicine at the University of Western Australia and is currently undertaking an Honours year to develop her research skills. For her project, Johanna looking into the impact of matrix stiffness on skin fibroblast phenotype.
Research Focus Area / Expertise:
The impact of matrix stiffness on skin fibroblast phenotype
Behind the researcher
The Behind the Researcher series highlights the innovators and change-makers improving the lives of burn patients and their families. Discover the innovative scientific and clinical research happening behind the scenes and meet the dedicated individuals driving these advancements forward.
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