My Diablo IV sorceress and I have similar public speaking styles (mysterious orb)

Dr Heather McCormack@heathermccormack.bsky.social · 11mo ago

I’m doing it in almost every photo

And today we’ve published this accompanying article in @croakeynews.bsky.social! Great to work with the Croakey team again to get our reflections in front of more eyes www.croakey.org/rethinking-a...

Rethinking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research funding

Recommendations for improving research grants governance and processes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health are outlined in an article

croakey.org

Dr Heather McCormack@heathermccormack.bsky.social · 10mo ago

📢 New publication alert! This came out last week while I was off in conference land. “Systemic challenges for meaningful partnerships in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medical research grant applications: a critical reflection”, published in MJA www.mja.com.au/doi/10.5694/...

Dear Editor, Thank you for submitting your review request to Tomer Ullman. As you may know, we decline a substantial proportion of reviews requests without sending them out for further evaluation. After careful consideration, we regret to say we cannot offer to take on this review.

📢 New publication alert! This came out last week while I was off in conference land. “Systemic challenges for meaningful partnerships in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and medical research grant applications: a critical reflection”, published in MJA www.mja.com.au/doi/10.5694/...

That’s the end of the Joint Australasian HIV&AIDS and ASRH Conferences. For various reasons, it’s been a while since I attended a sexual health conference, and this was a great one to come back to. Lots of familiar faces and fascinating presentations. Looking forward to 2026! #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025

Second keynote Stephanie Bond giving a sobering overview of congenital syphilis globally - the increase in the US over the last ten years is grim and some Pacific Island nations have among the highest rates in the world #ASRH2025

Opening keynote of the final day of the conference Jade Le Grice opening with some insights into sex and sexuality education among Māori young people in Aotearoa. Storytelling, language and culture strongly foregrounded #ASRH2025

Joanne Bryant opens session on strengths-based approaches in sexual and reproductive health research by summarising the main approaches identified in the literature to “strengths-based” work with marginalised young people #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025

Nothing subtle about using this image to open a presentation on the global implications of funding cuts to HIV-related aid in the current political climate, but the data presented by Felicity Young from Health Equity Matters justifies the bold choice #HIVAIDS2025

I’m doing it in almost every photo

This jumped out at me from Jen Power’s presentation on intersections of HIV and migration and quality of life for Asian-born MSM living with HIV, drawn from HIV Futures. This theme of “belonging” appeared throughout the data, re: community but also care, reflecting importance of peers #HIVAIDS2025

Huge honour to present the Bi+ Sexual Health and HIV Study today at the conference with some of our amazing investigator team. I’ve had such a great time with this piece of work and I can’t wait for us to really start digging into the data and writing up what we find #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025

I’m at the Joint Australasian HIV&AIDS and ASRH Conferences on Kaurna country this week - currently listening to Lucy and Beth from ACON presenting on the fight to repeal “spitting laws” (mandatory testing) in NSW #HIVAIDS2025 #ASHR2025

Spent part of my dream last night explaining my PhD topic to someone who didn’t really get it, which i understand is something I can expect to happen in my dreams forever

Today I messaged a colleague lamenting my tendency to overcommit to more things than I realistically have time to achieve and by the time he replied to my message I had accepted speaking invitations at two separate conferences

Really love these graphic recordings from Dr Krista Stelkia and Anita Manshadi’s priority setting gathering on racism in healthcare with Indigenous health leaders in Canada. I’ve attended consultations that use this “note taking” method and it’s so much more engaging than boring old minutes #Lowitja

Johnnell and Coreen Parker from Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation speaking powerfully about the ongoing impacts of past asbestos mining on their traditional lands. The film Yurlu Country follows Coreen’s late father’s battle for justice #Lowitja

Felicity Colls opening a panel on community calls to action on the rights to best practice ethical research - something aligned to some of my current work. She said communities want research and see its value, but don’t often see real consultation, capacity building or impact on the ground #Lowitja

Second keynote Justin Mohamed speaking about the origins of the Lowitja Institute. Amazing to think how far the Institute has come and what those early pioneers with a big vision have achieved #Lowitja

Opening keynote Prof Sheryl Lightfoot speaking on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. All people have a right to health and Indigenous people also have a right to collective health that cannot be divorced from self-determination and cultural obligations #Lowitja

Shoutout to #Lowitja Conferebce for providing live captioning on plenary sessions - great to see events like this made as accessible as possible!

Some real heavy hitters on the Racism and Health panel at #Lowitja Conference: Prof Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Dr Alicia Veasey and Prof Yin Paradies

Looking forward to seeing what Dr Sarah Bourke and her team do with this new project on Indigenous identity and wellbeing in urban settings. They’ve just started work after an extensive consultation period (already a wonderfully common theme in the projects presented at #Lowitja conference)

I hate to be one of those #academicsky users who only posts here when I’m attending a conference or have a publication coming out buuuut I’m attending the #Lowitja conference in Adelaide this week and there’s a solid chance it will be amazing and I’ll want to tell you about it

In the four weeks since coming back from leave, I’ve picked up three exciting new projects for the year. Now if I just don’t make eye contact with the size of my upcoming workload I should be able to sustain this momentum through the next few months

God I love academic social skills. I just walked into the work kitchen and a professor looked at me and went “I was like you when I came in yesterday. So sweaty!” 🙃

The @thorneharbour.bsky.social team invited me onto the Well, Well, Well podcast to speak on some recent research on sexual healthcare and young LGBTQ+ Aboriginal people. It’s my first piece of media since joining the Kirby. Check it out and let me know what you think! joy.org.au/wellwellwell...

Val's LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care and Sexual Healthcare for Young LGBTIQ Aboriginal People

October is time for the Victorian Seniors Festival. Rachel Cook and Peter Waples-Crowe chat to  Pauline Crameri from Val’s LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care about what events they have coming... LEARN MORE

joy.org.au

So many new followers! Greetings, all. I’m currently taking a little break due to illness (and sadly missing the Tackling Stigma conference tomorrow) but will try to be a bit more active in the coming weeks

I was delighted to catch up with two of my old work buddies from my Hepatitis NSW days at the #ECAustralia hepatitis C forum today. Both still doing amazing work!

My previous role at the NSW STI Programs Unit has been advertised! It’s a great opportunity for someone passionate about improving the sexual health of NSW Aboriginal communities and includes leading Take Blaktion, which was an absolute career highlight for me iworkfor.nsw.gov.au/job/senior-p...