I finished my PhD in 2023, after 5 years of designing and implementing an Australian-first exercise program to support students experiencing mental health challenges at the University of Western Australia. I’m passionate about research, and program and policy implementation that will lead to improvements in everyones physical and mental wellbeing. Completing a PhD taught me a lot about myself, such as what motivates me, how I can work alone and in teams to the highest level, and how to expertly communicate in various written and verbal formats. If there is anything I’m as passionate about as I am health and wellbeing, it is developing learning content based on ground breaking scientific findings; what’s the point of research if you can’t design visually appealing and informative content to teach others about your findings?
A brief intro
Born in Serbia, lived in New Zealand briefly as a young one, and grew up in various rural parts of Australia. I’ve had a life where my family and I moved countries, cities, towns, and even houses within towns multiple times. Although it seemed tough on me, I doubt I will ever understand how difficult it was for my parents – and to them, I am eternally grateful. But, as all stories must start somewhere, I have, in hastily, unplanned fashion decided to start my story when I first moved to Perth, Western Australia, at the ripe age of 23… a la Star Wars style. (We’ll get back to my childhood… eventually).
Dr Ivan Jeftic 