Speaker Biographies
Our speakers are leading experts in early childhood education and research. Together, they combine decades of clinical practice, program evaluation and research leadership.
Dr Anne Kennedy AM
Executive Director, Parkville Institute & Honorary Fellow, Faculty of Education
Dr Kennedy is a co-founder and Executive Director of Parkville Institute and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne Faculty of Education. As a member of the University of Melbourne multi-disciplinary Early Years Education Program Research group from 2010-2020, she co-authored the description of the EYEP model in 2019. Anne is a Board member of the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and The Front Project, and a Trustee of the Creswick Foundation. She is a member of the Australian Government Preschool Outcomes Measurement Expert Advisory group and the Victorian Government, ‘Best Start, Best Life’ Taskforce.
Associate Professor Brigid Jordan AM
Executive Director, Parkville Institute & Honorary Principal Fellow, Department of Paediatrics
Associate Professor Brigid Jordan AM is a social worker and infant mental health specialist who worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital for over 35 years. She is also a co-founder and Executive Director of Parkville Institute.
Brigid’s research has a strong focus on clinical and translational outcomes and developing novel clinical approaches in infant mental health that are based on the latest evidence about infant memory, emotional development and behavioural responses to stress and traumatic experiences. Brigid has extensive experience extending infant mental health knowledge and skills into the fields of child welfare, paediatric health care and early years education and care. In 2008 she received the WAIMH in recognition of her significant contributions to the World Association for Infant Mental Health.
Dr Nichola Coombs
Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute
Nichola Coombs is the Chief Investigator and Clinical Research Coordinator for the Intensive Early Years Education and Care Replication Project. She has extensive clinical experience working with socially vulnerable infants, children, and families, and currently serves as Senior Advisor in Infant Mental Health at the Parkville Institute. She was Clinical Research Coordinator for the Early Years Education Program Randomised Controlled Trial (EYEP-RCT).
Associate Professor Yi-Ping Tseng
Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute
Yi-Ping Tseng is a Principal Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute. She is an applied labour economist specialising in social policy, with particular interests in prevention and service provision for extremely disadvantaged groups, such as people experiencing homelessness and children facing significant adversity.
Yi-Ping has extensive experience in programme evaluation, conducting randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental analyses using administrative data. She is committed to producing rigorous, high-quality evidence to inform policy and improve the life trajectories of vulnerable populations.