Simone’s 3MT presentation easy to swallow

Griffith 3MT winner Simone Howells with GGRS Dean Professor Sue Berners-Price

A health PhD candidate doing research on swallowing will represent Griffith at the annual Asia-Pacific 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) final after winning the University’s 3MT decider.

Speech Pathologist Simone Howells delivered an engagingpresentation on her research intothe individual and family impacts of the swallowing condition dysphagia.

Her research outcomes have already led to meaningful impact with Simone about to launch a new cookbook containing meal recipes for people living with the condition.

Simone impressed the judging panel with her ability to distill a full body of research and outcomes into a coherent and understandable three minute summation. She beat Science PhD candidate Paul Fisher who’s presentation was titled ‘Internet – Over the Rainbow’.

“The quality of presentations from the eight other candidates was outstanding and I didn’t think mine was any better than the rest so I am stunned to have been singled-out.”

“As a clinician at heart I want things to come from my research that are practical and can be implemented on the spot tostart assisting patients andimportantly their families,” Simone said.

Progressing through the academic group stage after winning the Health 3MT round, Simone paid credit to Griffith’s Graduate research School (GGRS) who helped refine her presentation ahead of the final which for the first time had a major sponsor in Unibank.

3MT winner Simone Howells (Health) and runner-up Paul Fisher (Science)

“As a speech pathologist talking to people is my bread-and-butter but the masterclass put on by GGRS helped enormously in fine-tuning my presentation and giving me the belief to summarise my research into an ‘elevator pitch’.

Simone also was the People’s Choice Award winner on the night. She will represent Griffith at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Final at the University of Queensland at the end of September.