Judges 2021

Meet the 2021 VYT International Competition Judges

Head shot of Dr Tamika Heiden
Dr Tamika Heiden

Dr Tamika Heiden

Principal, Research Impact Academy

Dr Tamika Heiden is the Principal of the Research Impact Academy. She has more than a decade of career experience as a researcher and research manager in the fields of health, sport and medical research that began with a sports science degree and a PhD in Biomechanics. She has a certification’s in Knowledge Translation from the University of Toronto, and from the International School on Research Impact. Tamika is an honorary research fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Victoria, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, sits on the scientific committee for the Medical Research Foundation at Royal Perth Hospital, and has a formal partnership with SickKids Hospital in Toronto.

Tamika’s national and international work brings together researchers and research users to share, create and translate knowledge for the betterment of society. She has worked with many government and non-government organisations to facilitate high-level overviews and strategic thinking, particularly relevant to the Australian research funding landscape where she gave evidence to the Senate Committee enquiry for the Medical Research Future Fund.

Tamika won the 2018 award for Excellence in Knowledge Translation from the SickKids Learning Institute in Toronto and the Award for Innovation from the Institute for Knowledge Mobilization. Tamika has shared her knowledge with a variety of audiences at conferences and symposiums, run workshops, been published in numerous professional and academic journals, and been involved in the development of Knowledge Translation strategies at the organisational and project levels.

Head shot of Al Cossar
Al Cossar

Al Cossar

Artistic Director, Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)

Al Cossar is the Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), where he has previously held roles of Programmer, Acting Artistic Director, and Associate Artistic Director.

Having previously worked as a Programmer and Board Member for the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, Festival Manager for Flickerfest, and Program Director for the Portable Film Festival, among other roles, Al has also featured on ABC News Breakfast as the broadcast film critic.

Head shot of Deb Verhoeven
Professor Deb Verhoeven

Professor Deb Verhoeven

Canada 150 Research Chair in Gender and Cultural Informatics, University of Alberta Edmonton

Professor Deb Verhoeven is Canada 150 Research Chair in Gender and Cultural Informatics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Prior to this position she was Associate Dean of Engagement at UTS. An agitator, commentator and critic, Deb is a longstanding advocate and leader in academic-community engagement. In 2013 she was recognised as Australia’s most innovative academic for her efforts in creating crowdfunding opportunities for academic researchers. Deb is a former CEO of the Australian Film Institute and was inaugural Deputy Chair, National Film and Sound Archive (Aust.) as well as former Chair of the widely read film journal Senses of Cinema and was Editor for the journal Studies in Australasian Cinema (Intellect).