People in the Reproductive Justice HRI

Steering committee

Schools represented on the steering committee include Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH), Melbourne Medical School (MMS), Melbourne School of Health Sciences (MSHS), Melbourne Law School (MLS) and School of Social Political Sciences (SSPS).

Associate Professor Shawana Andrews (MSHS, MDHS)
Associate Professor Andrews is a social work researcher, who’s areas of interest include Aboriginal mothering practices, family violence and Aboriginal feminisms.

Associate Professor Anna Arstein-Kerslake (MLS)
Associate Professor Arstein-Kerslake is a legal academic working in the fields of human rights, disability rights, and gender justice. Her work has particularly focused on the right to exercise legal personhood to make reproductive choices.

Associate Professor Meghan Bohren (MSPGH, MDHS)
Associate Professor Bohren is a social scientist working in maternal, sexual and reproductive health, primarily with communities disadvantaged by systems of power.

Dr Paige Donaghy (Arts)
Dr Donaghy is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is a historian of reproduction, sexuality, and medicine in Europe c. 1550 to 1850.

Professor Heather Douglas (MLS)
Professor Douglas has expertise in family violence with a special interest in reproductive coercion. She has also worked for many years on the regulation of abortion.

Professor Beth Gaze (MLS)
Professor Gaze researches equality and discrimination law. She has a background in health and medical law and in abortion law and religious exceptions to discrimination law.

Dr Naomi Holbeach (MMS, MDHS)
Dr Holbeach has dual qualifications in medicine and law and her areas of interest are obstetrics and gynaecology, surgical innovation, clinical education and health law.

Professor Lisa Hui (MMS, MDHS)
Professor Hui is a maternal fetal medicine specialist with research interests in cell-free fetal nucleic acids, prenatal screening and diagnosis.

Dr Jaya Keaney (SSPS, Arts)
Dr Keaney studies how reproduction is shaped by scientific knowledge practices and regimes of race, gender, sexuality, and coloniality. She has interests in LGBTIQ+ family making, reproductive technologies and the science of maternal-fetal effects.

Dr Shelly Makleff (MSPGH/MDHS)
Dr Makleff is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Her current research focuses on reducing abortion stigma in the health system to improve quality of care and accessibility.

Professor Jenny Morgan (MLS)
Professor Morgan has a long-standing interest in the regulation of abortion and particularly the processes and language of law reform.

Professor Paula O’Brien (MLS)
Professor O’Brien researches in the area of public and global health law, with a focus on the regulation of consumer commodities (such as medicines and medical devices) and access to health care (including reproductive services) for disadvantaged groups.

Associate Professor Michelle Peate (MMS, MDHS)
Associate Professor Peate is a psychosocial researcher who develops evidence-based interventions to empower patients and improve experiences at the intersection of cancer, reproductive health and psychology. She has pioneered work in fertility-related decision aids.

Professor Julian Savulescu (MLS)
Professor Savulescu is a philosopher who researches the ethics of emerging technologies, including new methods of reproduction and enhancement of physical and cognitive performance through drugs or genetic manipulation.

Dr Mridula Shankar (MSPGH, MDHS)
Dr Shankar is a postdoctoral research fellow with research interests that focus on improving understanding of reproductive health behaviours and outcomes, through application of innovative approaches to measurement and study design.

Associate Professor Laura Tarzia (MMS, MDHS)
Associate Professor Tarzia has a background in sociology and her work focuses on the context and dynamics of intimate partner, sexual and reproductive violence.

Associate Professor Michelle Taylor-Sands (MLS)
Associate Professor Taylor-Sands conducts research in health law and bioethics, with a focus on reproductive health and the welfare of the future child. She is also a member of the Victorian Patient Review Panel.

Professor John Tobin (MLS)
Professor Tobin has research interests that cover the broad field of international human rights law but he has a particular interest in children's rights and the right to health.

Professor Jane Tomnay (MMS, MDHS)
Professor Tomnay conducts research focused on improving the sexual and reproductive health of Victorians and increasing access to services for those living in rural areas.