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Ms Christin Bird

With over 20 years’ experience as a qualified nurse and 15 years as a nurse practitioner, PhD student Christin Bird brings invaluable knowledge and passion to the Bionics Institute.

Christin is working under the guidance of Dr Sophie Payne and Professor James Fallon, to investigate abdominal vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in rheumatoid arthritis with a focus on posterior stimulation.

She says, “I love working with Sophie and James. They’re down to earth people, you know, very human.”

“Really supportive. I love it. I think it’s the best setup ever.” 

It’s an amazing concept, linking modulation of inflammation and stimulation and actually achieving positive results. Christin Bird

Christin first trained as a nurse in the UK and completed her master’s in research in health sciences at the University of Liverpool with a fully funded scholarship from NHMRC.

Prior to commencing her PhD, Christin supported studies into heart failure by setting up a nurse led clinic and developing a patient education program at St Vincents Hospital (Melbourne). The program focused on reducing re-admission rates with acute exacerbation of heart failure in the general medicine patient population.

To pursue her interest into neuromodulation, Christin led the translation of a novel brain-computer-interface device from the benchtop to first in human clinical trials at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne. She also worked in private practice supporting patients receiving interventional pain treatments.

“I love learning. I always have. I’ve never stop learning. I have a 5-year cycle of going back to university and I am well outside of that now”

“I had a ten-year gap, and I was itching to go back,” Christin shares.

Her research experience began in 2008, in the form of investigator-led investigation to test world application of commercially available medical devices. With her passion for neuromodulation, she was keen to work on electrical stimulation research conducted at the Bionics Institute.

I am so grateful that I’ve found this within BI because I think this is the best setup ever for a PhD student. Christin Bird

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