LEAPing into a career in research
Dr Carly Luke found herself trotting across the globe presenting her research as a PhD student in Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, Chicago and Quebec, Canada.
After four years of clinical assessments; scoring; writing and presenting at many international conferences; Dr Luke successfully completed her final hurdle in her PhD program, her thesis examination, with no changes and top marks in 2024.
Before Dr Luke launched her PhD career, she worked as a paediatric physiotherapist for over 10 years for the Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service, servicing families across the state including regional areas like Townsville and Mt Isa. Working in these locations, Dr Luke developed a passion for equitable paediatric services for regional, rural and remote areas.
“You don’t want children to miss an opportunity purely because of where they live,” Dr Luke said.
“Early detection and identification are so important, the early years provide the best opportunity to optimise brain development. I had seen the impact on children who had cerebral palsy but weren’t diagnosed until later in life. These children were often missed because they lived in an area without specialised services,” Dr Luke said.
It was that passion that led Dr Luke to make a call to QCPRRC’s Scientific Director, Professor Roslyn Boyd. Dr Luke was moving back to Townsville and wanted to enquire if there were any research projects available in her area. After a 45-minute conversation with Professor Boyd, Dr Luke had signed up for a PhD.
“Professor Boyd explained the LEAP project, led by Dr Kath Benfer. The LEAP project encompassed culturally-adaptive services, implementation of early detection programs using the general movements assessment and intervention services. Professor Boyd had presented a project that piqued many of my interest areas,”
“I had previously read much of Dr Benfer’s work and we seemed to have very similar values. Dr Benfer’s work centred around peer-to-peer support and parent coaching models, which resonated with me.”
The LEAP project was a remarkable success. This novel, culturally-adapted, developmental screening program improved engagement and retention of First Nation families with neonatal follow-up in regional, rural and remote areas of Queensland. It also demonstrated the ability of the cerebral palsy early detection tools (General Movements Motor Optimality Score and HINE) to identify other neurodevelopmental differences, such as autism and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. This finding supports these tools as promising early clinical biomarkers for neurodevelopmental differences that are not routinely identified prior to 12 months. Earlier identification means babies and families can be fast-tracked to earlier culturally-appropriate therapy supports to optimise developmental trajectories.
These findings intrigued the paediatric developmental medicine research community and Dr Luke presented her work at several conferences across Australia, Europe and North America as a PhD student, and was awarded Early Career Researcher awards at 2 major conferences.
Dr Luke says her success can be attributed to several factors including a strong and supportive network, a passion for your project, and working with a leading research team, like Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre.
“Working and living in Queensland, QCPRRC is leading the research in cerebral palsy, early detection and intervention in Queensland, so it was an easy choice for me,” Dr Luke said.
“QCPRRC researchers are experts in their field and have a strong background in supporting their PhD students. My supervisors were generous with their time and feedback, they believed in the project, and they supported me through the entire PhD program,”
“Doing a PhD with the University of Queensland from a wider context was also supportive. UQ offers great support programs and workshops for PhD students, including access to epidemiology and biostatistical subjects,” Dr Luke said.
Dr Luke says her tips for new PhD students are to have a strong network and strike the balance of flexibility and determination.
“I had a network of PhD students that I would meet with regularly, just to chat about our experiences and support each other, as we are all going through the same experiences at the same time.
“My other tip for future PhD students is be willing to be flexible. Have an idea of what your research question is but be willing to accept feedback on your project and how this could evolve. If you pick the right team who have supervised PhD students, who are experts in their field, you can trust your team and the process.
“Building a healthy relationship with your supervisory team will allow you to back yourself and put forward your ideas, being the driver of your project, with the incredible support of an experienced team to help navigate.”
Dr Luke now works as a post doctoral research fellow for the Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Research Rehabilitation Centre at The University of Queensland’s Child Health Research Centre.
Discover what a career in research could look like for you at the First 10K Days Network HDR Student Night Event from 5:00PM on Wednesday, 19 August at the Global Change Institute Building, St Lucia. Limited seats are available, register today to avoid missing out.