Dr Marijke Mitchell from Monash Health is a recipient of the 2025 Early and Mid-Career Researcher Award for Leadership in Health Services Research. This award recognises early and mid-career researchers for excellence in their field. Marijke spoke to us about her research developing and evaluating scalable, evidence‑based training models and the significance of this award.
Can you tell us about yourself, your research and career journey to date?
I’m a senior simulation educator and postdoctoral researcher based at Monash Children’s Hospital and Monash University, with over 30 years of paediatric nursing experience.
My career began in acute paediatric clinical practice, and that frontline experience continues to shape how I approach research. I’ve spent much of my career working at the intersection of education, healthcare delivery and workforce capability, particularly supporting staff who care for children and young people with complex and diverse needs.
Over time, I became increasingly interested in how we prepare staff for challenging, high‑risk situations, especially behavioural emergencies involving neurodivergent children and young people. That interest led me into simulation‑based education, digital learning, and ultimately health services research focused on implementation and real‑world impact.
Since completing my PhD in 2021, while working part‑time in senior education roles, my research has centred on developing and evaluating scalable, evidence‑based training models. I work closely with clinicians, consumers and service partners to ensure that what we design is practical, acceptable and sustainable in busy health systems.
Can you tell us about your achievements in the category of Leadership in Health Services Research?
My leadership has focused on bridging research, education and clinical service delivery to create system‑level impact.
I’ve led the development and evaluation of innovative training programs that support frontline staff to confidently communicate and optimise care for young people with complex communication needs. These programs integrate scalable online learning with interprofessional, team‑based simulation and have reached over 450 participants across multiple Monash Health sites. Participants include medical, nursing, allied health, social work, medical science, disability services and security staff, reflecting my commitment to whole‑of‑system capability building rather than discipline‑specific solutions.
A core leadership achievement has been building and sustaining cross‑sector partnerships with clinicians, consumers, hospital leaders, disability services and policing partners to co‑design training that responds directly to real system needs. This work has led to tangible practice change, demonstrated improvements in workforce capability, and adoption of the model beyond a single site.
Why is support of early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) so important?
Early and mid‑career researchers are often at the most creative and translational phase of their careers. They are close enough to practice to clearly see system problems and skilled enough to design practical, implementable solutions.
At the same time, it is a period of vulnerability. EMCRs frequently balance heavy teaching, clinical or service workloads alongside research, often with limited protected time and uncertain career pathways. Without targeted support, we risk losing talented researchers, particularly clinicians, before their work reaches its full potential.
Supporting EMCRs is therefore not just about individual careers; it is about sustaining the future of translational research and learning health systems.
What kind of support was the most beneficial to you/or you felt you needed as an early and mid-career researcher and what did it mean to you?
The most valuable support for me has been mentorship, institutional validation and protected opportunities to lead.
Having senior leaders who believed in my ideas, even when my research time was limited, made a significant difference. Mentorship helped me navigate funding pathways, refine my research focus and develop confidence as a research leader.
Equally important were opportunities to lead implementation‑focused projects and to be recognised for work that sits between traditional research, education and service delivery.
Why do you think awards like this are important for Early and Mid-Career Researchers?
Awards like this provide confidence, credibility and visibility at a crucial career stage.
They signal that implementation‑focused, collaborative and practice‑embedded research is valued. For EMCRs, that recognition can open doors to partnerships, funding opportunities and leadership roles that might otherwise be difficult to access.
What are your future aspirations for your research/career?
My long‑term goal is to lead implementation‑focused simulation and digital education research that strengthens workforce capability across health, disability and emergency services.
In the near term, I am focused on building a strong, sustainable program of research that examines how training approaches function within complex health systems, with a particular focus on supporting staff who work with neurodivergent children and young people.
I also want to continue mentoring clinicians and educators into research pathways, helping to build the next generation of practice‑embedded researchers who can drive meaningful system change.
