Dr Melody Menezes is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She is currently coordinating a large longitudinal study into women’s experiences following the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality.
The Harold Mitchell Health Fellowship allowed her to attend two conferences – the American Society of Human Genetics conference in Honolulu and the National Society of Genetic Counsellors conference (the largest genetic counselling conference in the world) in Atlanta. She gave talks at a number of institutions across Canada and the USA.
“The experience of meeting with leading researchers is invaluable in my field of study,” says Melody. “In the process of presenting my research to these groups, I was able to get insight and feedback on my data. I also worked with these researchers, found out about the ongoing research in these groups and learned new study design methodologies and data analysis techniques.”
“Presenting to all of these groups also gave me confidence in my own research study. In particular, working with the leading experts in my field of research was crucial in getting help with, and feedback on, my data analysis. The experience undoubtedly added to the depth of my PhD thesis.”
“It was also a major benefit to see how genetic counselling is practiced in Canada and the United States and the similarities and differences with practice in Australia.”
“The experience has given me the confidence to be an independent researcher.”
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