Graduations on Yorta Yorta Country

We celebrated the graduation of Dr Raylene Nixon, Dr Tui Crumpen, Dr Sharon Atkinson-Briggs and Dr Karyn Ferguson on Yorta Yorta Country with a fitting community ceremony at the University's Department of Rural Health in Shepparton, Victoria.

Each Graduate was celebrated for their cutting-edge research, exceptional leadership and community-focused research.

L-R: Associate Professor Shawana Andrews,  Dr Karyn Ferguson, Dr Raylene Nixon, Dr Sharon Atkinson-Briggs and  Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Marcia Langton, AO

Dr Karyn Ferguson is a member of the Yorta Yorta Nation with an enduring ancestral and cultural connection to this Country. She is an active and contributing community member with over 20 years of experience in Aboriginal education and health across both the community controlled and mainstream health sectors.

Dr Ferguson is continuing her population data research as a Post Doctoral Fellow with the University of Melbourne.

Dr Raylene Nixon is a descendant of the Gungarri people from Mitchell in south-west Queensland who has dedicated more than 20 years to improving Indigenous health outcomes across Australia. Dr Nixon lectures in Rural Aboriginal Health at the Department of Rural Health, University of Melbourne and is a 2022 Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity.

Dr Tui Crumpen is a Torres Strait Islander woman, based on Yorta Yorta Country. She has worked for 18 years across a broad spectrum of program delivery, consultancy and partnership facilitation in Indigenous affairs.

Dr Crumpen is Director of the Kaiela Institute, a First Nations-led analysis and policy think tank, and a 2022 Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity.

Dr Sharon Atkinson-Briggs is a Yorta Yorta woman who has strong connections to the Indigenous community in Shepparton and surrounding areas. She is an expert in Indigenous primary healthcare, particularly in chronic disease as a result of her extensive work in regional and remote settings.

Dr Atkinson-Briggs developed an integrated Diabetes Education and diabetic Eye disease Screening [iDEES] model of care that brings camera-based diabetic retinopathy screening and diabetes education into a single service.

Congratulations to these trailblazing women!

Prof. Julian Wright, Ms Gwenda Freeman, Dr Raylene Nixon, Dr Karyn Ferguson, Dr Sharon Atkinsons-Briggs, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Dr Marcia Langton AO and Prof. John Prins

L-R: Prof. Julian Wright, Ms Gwenda Freeman, Dr Raylene Nixon, Dr Karyn Ferguson, Dr Sharon Atkinsons-Briggs, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Dr Marcia Langton AO and Prof. John Prins

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