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Based in Cairns, Queensland, the Jawun Research Centre was officially launched in August 2017. The Centre is co-directed by Professor Adrian Miller and Janya McCalman and is complemented by a team of researchers, research assistants, and Masters & PhD students.
Founded on the basis of an NHMRC funded five-year adolescents resilience project, the work of Jawun Research Centre has expanded to include projects related not only to adolescent mental health but also transition to community control of primary health care services, workforce development, cultural competence, institutional racism, service integration and research impact.
Professor Miller is of the Jirrbal people of North Queensland and is the Deputy Vice President Indigenous Engagement and BHP Chair in Indigenous Engagement at CQUniversity Australia as well as co-chairing the Jawun Research Centre. His previous appointment was Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership at Charles Darwin University. Other previous positions include Academic Director of Indigenous Education and Research and Professor of Indigenous Research at Griffith University, Professor and Head of School at Southern Cross University, Founding Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University and Deputy Head of School at James Cook University. During the past 28 years in higher education, his experience has been in management, leadership, academic program development, teaching and research. He has a research track record in competitive grants with both the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council grant schemes totaling almost $30M. He has a strong interest in applied research and twice been awarded the Australian College of Educators Teaching Award. Professor Miller has strong leadership experience and proven capacity for achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous communities in health and education.
Professor Janya McCalman is co-Director of CQUniversity’s Jawun Research Centre, a Professorial Research Fellow and a public health researcher with a background in health promotion practice. She is recognised for her extensive research on the interactions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians with schools, workplaces, health services and other community contexts which enable resilience, empowerment and wellbeing. She has a Masters of Public Health and a PhD, conferred in 2013 with a Deans Excellence Award.
She conducts multi-method research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders partners, including the areas of Aboriginal mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, youth health, maternal and child health, health services research and implementation research. She has led systematic literature reviews, participatory action research, grounded theory and impact evaluation research projects which seek to inform improvements in resilience, empowerment-based health and wellbeing and the implementation of health programs and services. Her ability to report and publish research is prolific. She has received performance awards for research excellence, external income and publication outputs.
Her PhD was conferred in 2013; for this she won the Dean’s Award for Research Higher Degree Excellence. She currently supervises and mentors several Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal research students.
