About Us

PIRI consists of an advisory board and a dedicated group of clinical, academic and research staff whose aim is to provide world-class services to women and their families, health professionals and other researchers in the area of parent-infant interaction. PIRI was built on 15 years of clinical and research work undertaken through the Infant Clinic, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Austin Health.

Advisory Board

The Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI) was incorporated in March 2001 with its own advisory board, whose is to help set the objective and facilitate the achievements of the Institute by providing experience and knowledge to assist in development, to act a guiding body with input and strategic directions/ideas, to assist with fundraising and to improve community awareness and networking. The Board is chaired by Mr Lance Coburn and its members include Prof Jeannette Milgrom, Mr Graeme Henshaw, , Mr Graeme Woolacott, Ms Sheena Sholten, Ms Jennifer Ericksen and Dr Mark Garwood.
Profiles of the individual Advisory Board members can be viewed here.

Clinical and Research Staff

PIRI and the Infant Clinic are staffed by clinicians and research staff with expertise in the areas of infant, child and adult psychology, dance and art therapy. PIRI is renown for its innovative clinic programs and staff have published extensively in the scientific literature in the areas of child development, mother-infant interaction and treatment of antenatal and postnatal depression.
Profiles of the PIRI and Infant Clinic staff can be viewed here.

PIRI Structure

PIRI's work is conducted under two arms, consisting of a research arm which provides a 'hothouse' of infant researchers and informs and underpins all PIRI activities, and a clinical unit which provides model world-class treatments, and support to women and their families, health professionals and other agencies in the area of parent-infant interaction. PIRI also conducts public health initiatives and professional development programs.

PIRI's clinical unit provides a unique combination of public health initiatives (e.g. population screening), model clinical services (e.g. new treatment interventions) and professional development (eg in-service/training other health professionals) all of which is unpinned by the empirical research program undertaken at the Institute. Whilst funding is available for research programs, funding for a Centre of Excellence will ensure that direct service provision, practitioner development and development of public health initiatives continues and grows.