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Professor Denny Meyer

Professor

Biography

Professor Denny Meyer BSc(Hons) Mathematical Statistics (1973) University of Natal, South Africa; MBL and DBL, University of South Africa (1981, 1985). She is currently a member of the executive for the Centre for Mental Health at the Swinburne University of Technology and a member of the Department of Health Science and Biostatistics. Professor Meyer is an applied statistician with particular interests in the area of mental health. 

Professor Meyer’s current research includes the evaluation of eTherapy interventions, risk assessment in areas such as traffic crashes and suicide, using a variety of modelling approaches (machine learning, visualisation techniques, structural equation modelling, time series analysis and multi-level modelling). 

She also studies the engagement of respondents with online services (e.g. mental health services). She has had a significant number of national and international collaborations, more than 240 peer reviewed publications and has supervised 34 PhD and 2 Masters projects to completion. She has been the recipient of major project grants (including Australian Research Council (ARC), Mental Illness Research Fund (MIRF), Medical Research Future Fund and Beyond Blue) with total funding >$5.8 million over her career.

 Alongside  postgraduate teaching, she also offers short statistics courses tailored to the needs of delegates and statistical consulting. Her outreach and engagement areas are varied, with the following current or recent projects:

a) Department of Transportation (previously VicRoads) - Modelling the relationship between driver history and crash risk; Learner Monitor Survey Analysis 1999-2014.
b) NSW Corrections - The dose-response relationship between the Practice Guide for Intervention (PGI) and EQUIPS treatment programs on reoffending
c) Victorian Veterans and Veterans' Families Counselling Service - Evaluation of Online Video Counselling
d) Guide Dogs Victoria - Optimising technology to measure functional vision, mobility and service outcomes for people with low vision or blindness
e) Virgin Pulse - Evaluation of the Global Challenge (GC), a workplace health and exercise program and the development or systems permitting new engagement strategies with participants and the estimation of biological age
f) SiSU Health -  An Evaluation of the Impacts of Health Screening in the Context of an Online Health Platform and Mobile Health Check Stations




Research interests

Advanced Statistics and Big Data; Health research design; Psychological Measurement; Clinical Psychology; Data Visualisation; Housing and Urban Studies

PhD candidate and honours supervision

Higher degrees by research

Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.

PhD topics and outlines

Statistical Modelling: Methods of interest to me includea) Time Series Modelsb) Multi-level Modllingc) Structural Equation Modelingd) Data Mininge) Text Miningf) Variable SelectionApplication areas of particular interesta) Mental Healthb) Leadershipc) Tennisd) Greyfields Redevelopment

Video-counselling: Reading speech and facial expression: Methods of interest to me includea) Time Series Modelsb) Multi-level Modllingc) Structural Equation Modelingd) Data Mininge) Text Miningf) Variable SelectionApplication areas of particular interesta) Mental Healthb) Leadershipc) Tennisd) Greyfields Redevelopmente) Suicide Helpline Servicesf) Road Safety

Honours

Available to supervise honours students.

Honours topics and outlines

Helpline Services: Research involving helpline services

Project title: An Investigation of Changes in Distress Levels for Helpline Service Callers: The focus of this project will be the changes in distress from the start to the end of the call. The objective will be to compare the characteristics of calls and callers where distress levels remain the same (none, low, medium, high) over the duration of the call and where distress levels decline or increase. 

Youth Mental Health During COVID-19: This research will examine the impacts of COVID-19 on youth, building on an ongoing longitudinal cohort study.  The expected outcomes will be important in informing policy options and instituting support programs specific to youth.

Fields of Research

  • Applied Statistics - 490501
  • Business Systems In Context - 350300
  • Applied And Developmental Psychology - 520100
  • Biological Psychology - 520200
  • Clinical And Health Psychology - 520300
  • Cognitive And Computational Psychology - 520400
  • Social And Personality Psychology - 520500

Teaching areas

Advanced Statistics and Big Data

Awards

  • 2020, Swinburne, Research Excellence, School of Health
  • 2019, Swinburne, Vice-Chancellor's Research Excellence Award, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2014, Swinburne, Research Excellence, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design
  • 2011, National, ALTC Citation, Swinburne University of Technology

Publications

Also published as: Meyer, Denny; Meyer, D.; Meyer, Denise; Meyer, D. H.; Meyer, Denise H.; Meyer, Denny H.
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.

Recent research grants awarded

  • 2023: Detecting family violence in male helpline callers *; ON THE LINE FUND SCHEME
  • 2023: Efficacy and safety of two versus three high dose psilocybin-assisted therapy sessions in comparison to an inactive control for treatment resistant major depressive disorder (TR-MDD): A double blind, 3-arm randomised controlled trial *; Woke Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd Fund Scheme
  • 2023: Galen College Full-Service School Research and Development Project: Co-Designing a School Community Wellbeing Model *; Catholic Education Office of Sandhurst
  • 2022: Application of Bayesian Methodology to Aviation Safety Data *; Civil Aviation Safety Authority
  • 2022: Avatar-mediated therapy for hallucinations: superiority trial (AMETHYST) *; Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants
  • 2022: Data science and ML on anaesthesia data to improve post-surgery outcomes *; Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute Intern Program
  • 2022: Do sleep problems predict increased suicidal ideation among people with body dysmorphic disorder? *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2022: RFQ: Safe Driving Program Crash/Offence Outcome Evaluation *; Victorian Department of Transport (for Contracts)
  • 2022: Statistical Support for PolarUs Data Analysis *; University of British Columbia
  • 2022: Survey Methodology Specialist *; Austrade
  • 2022: Using Speech to Identify Co-Morbid Depression in People with Schizophrenia *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: An evaluation of telematics devices for improving the driving behaviour of young drivers *; Road Safety Innovation Fund
  • 2021: An Evaluation of the Child and Youth HOPE program. Does it make a difference to suicidal outcomes for children and young people? *; Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation Innovation Research Grants
  • 2021: Can quantitative speech analysis techniques be used to identify people with depression? *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trial Network (MAGNET) *; MRFF Million Minds Mission
  • 2021: National University of Australia - Global Barometer Survey for Solomon Islands *; The Australian National University
  • 2021: Pilot study investigating TMS for Body Dysmorphic Disorder *; Psyche Foundation Limited
  • 2021: Real-Time Assessment of Suicide Risk in Helpline Services Using Machine Learning *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: The efficacy of adjunctive intranasal insulin for the treatment of neurocognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder: A 12-week double blind randomised placebo controlled clinical trial. *; Baszucki Brain Sciences Fund
  • 2021: Using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Analysis to predict future deterioration in MET patients *; Epworth Healthcare
  • 2020: Global Barometer Survey for Samoa *; Australian National University
  • 2020: Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders *; ARC Linkage Projects Scheme
  • 2020: Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2020: Using oxytocin to treat body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) *; Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund
  • 2020: Using User-guided Design to build, implement and evaluate a clinical decision support system for suicidal risk in general medical practice *; Australian Suicide Prevention Research Fund - Prevention PhD Scholarship
  • 2019: Adaptive trial of Cannabidiol (CBD) for depression and sleep in the setting of Cannabis Misuse Disorder *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2019: Do features of care and change in self-efficacy explain change in suicidal ideation at least six months after accessing a Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement (Hope) team *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2019: Evaluation of Health Outcomes for the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge (Student) *; Virgin Pulse Inc (Get the world moving)
  • 2019: Leveraging digital technology to reduce the prevalence and severity of eating disorders in Australia *; MRFF Million Minds Mission
  • 2019: Partnering with Parents: evaluating a new practice support system to increase the skills and confidence of early childhood educators to work with parents *; Parenting Research Centre_PT
  • 2019: Practice Guide for Intervention (PGI) and EQUIPS treatment programs on reoffending *; Department of Justice, Corrective Services NSW
  • 2019: RFT: Modelling the Relationship Between Driver History and Crash Risk Q2V487460 *; Vic Roads RFT
  • 2018: Bus replacement services for rail passenger service disruptions *; iMOVECRC
  • 2018: Factors affecting success on parole: A multi-level model of parolee outcomes *; Department of Justice, Corrective Services NSW
  • 2018: Innovative Statistical Methods to Evaluate and Model Corporate Physical Activity Programs: The Virgin Pulse Global Challenge. *; Virgin Pulse Inc (Get the world moving)
  • 2017: Investigating the impact of hearing aid use on brain activity *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: Linked Data PolicyHub Stage II: Urban & Regional Planning & Communications *; ARC Linkage Infrastructure and Equipment Scheme
  • 2016: Optimising technology to measure functional vision, mobility and service outcomes for people with low vision or blindness *; Melbourne-Sarawak Collaborative Research Development Scheme
  • 2014: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel trial investigating the neurocognitive effects of a proprietary spearmint extract in healthy older adults *; Kemin Foods LC

* Chief Investigator


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