Double celebration for Epworth research team

A pioneering private healthcare-university research partnership in Victoria has had a double celebration – its founder has received more national recognition for her work while the centre has marked its 25th anniversary.

Professor Jennie Ponsford AO was named as the country's leading researcher in rehabilitation therapy by The Australian newspaper, the latest in a series of awards since she helped to establish the Monash Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre (MERRC) in 2000.

Then a neuropsychologist at Epworth HealthCare, she became MERRC's Founding Director – a role she still holds – soon after joining Monash University's School of Psychological Sciences.

Bringing together the university and the not-for-profit private hospitals group, with funding support from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), the centre's research aims to reduce long-term disability after brain injury and trauma.

Epworth's Group CEO, Professor Andrew Stripp, said MERRC was "something to be proud of".

"MERRC continues to improve outcomes and quality of life for people after brain injury and trauma," he said.

"What we can achieve through MERRC, under Professor Ponsford's leadership and with the support of the TAC, puts Victoria well ahead of the rest of the world."

Prof Ponsford was ahead of her time in the 1980s, when her program began following up Epworth patients who had sustained moderate to severe traumatic brain injury over a 30-year period.

The study captured a comprehensive picture of post-injury changes experienced over time by more than 3,400 patients and their families.

"I am proud of the fact that we've been able to follow up all these patients and identify what their long-term needs are, and then in turn create meaningful treatments that make a difference to them," Prof Ponsford said.

A pioneering partnership

The collaboration between a leading university and a health service has been almost unique in private healthcare.

It aims to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, helping Epworth patients gain access to evidence-based rehabilitation programs informed by decades of data.

At the same time, clinicians are supported with the evidence for the care they provide.

Since its inception, the centre has secured more than $45 million in research grants, published 550 papers, supported 62 PhD students and delivered 600 conference presentations.

Prof Ponsford was also recognised by The Australian for her work in rehabilitation therapy in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and was made Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2017.

In October 2025, she was awarded a $1.4 million Medical Research Future Fund grant to lead a groundbreaking national initiative aimed at improving care for Australians experiencing persistent post-concussion symptoms.

Epworth Group's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Owen Roodenburg, said the stretch of continuous patient-centric research had provided an evidence base for best-practice brain injury rehabilitation.

"A lot of the evidence on how we manage traumatic brain injury at Epworth comes from this longitudinal work," Prof Roodenburg said.

Real-world benefits at home and overseas

Professor Christina Mitchell, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University, said MERRC had initiated new treatments, with an impact both nationally and internationally.

"The strength of this enduring relationship has benefited the Victorian and Australian communities because it has led to real-world impacts," she said.

As well as traumatic brain injury, MERRC has many other research streams including concussion, stroke and telehealth, translational neuroscience, translation and community engagement, multidisciplinary rehabilitation and general trauma.

More than 35 psychologists, and multi-disciplinary clinicians and researchers are employed by, or are associated with, the centre.

Prof Ponsford said the focus remained on expanding treatments nationally and internationally.

"Celebrating this 25-year anniversary has been an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved and look to the future," she said.

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