ProfBronwyn Hemsley

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley is Head of Speech Pathology at UTS and co-lead of the UTS Disability Research Network

Winner - 2023 The Sax Institute Research Action Award

Winner - 2023 UTS Vice Chancellor's UTS Medal for Research Impact

Bronwyn is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia, and Fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. With 15 years postdoctoral experience Bronwyn has been awarded more than $5M in research funding enabling development of a comprehensive program of research relating to communication, swallowing, social media, and other advanced assistive technologies (including VR/AR, generative AI, apps for communication, 3D food printing). 

Bronwyn was the lead investigator and project lead for the 'UTS Co-Creating Safe and Enjoyable Meals' project funded by the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission and the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (2020-2022) which can be viewed at www.enjoysafemeals.com She is the course director for the UTS Open Short Course 'Co-Creating Safe and Enjoyable Meals for People with Swallowing Disability.'

Bronwyn has completed an NHMRC PhD Scholarship 2005-2007, NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to the Communication Disability Centre at the University of Queensland in 2009-2012, two NHMRC research project grants (2013-2017) (on the safety of people with communication disability in hospital) and 2014-2018 (on Australia's 'My Health Record'), and the Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) (Australian Research Council) 2014-2017 on the use of Twitter as a form of communication for people with communication disability. She was the lead investigator on an ARC Discovery project 'An Appetite for the Future: 3D Printed Food for People with Swallowing Disability' (2020-2024). Within these projects, she has completed primary PhD supervision for three high performing graduates, Dr. Melissa Brunner (2020, now lecturer at USYD) and Dr. Rebecca Smith (2023, now lecturer at WSU) and Dr Rebecca Smith (2024, now postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Trobe University), and Dr Susan Guthrie (UK, Leeds University and NHS). She currently supervises four PhD scholars.

Bronwyn's research excellence and engagement in translating this to teaching, policy, and practice was recognised with the Dean's Award for Research Excellence for a Mid Career Researcher at the University of Newcastle (2016). In 2018, her research impact case was put forward to the ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment for FOR20 (Communication, Language, and Culture) for the University of Newcastle and was awarded a High Ranking for ‘Impact’ and a High Ranking for ‘Approach to Impact’. This impact accounted for one quarter of the 'high impact' rankings obtained at the University of Newcastle in that year. At UTS, she has won the Faculty Dean's Award for Research Excellence at UTS (2021).