Associate Professor Rebecca Donkin
PhD Adelaide, BBMedSc UniSA, GradCertEd(Higher Ed) AdelaideAssociate Professor, Medical Sciences
School of Health
Email: rdonkin@usc.edu.au
Telephone: +61 7 5459 4562
Location: Sunshine Coast, SD-T-3-3.04
Associate Professor Donkin was awarded a Degree of Biomedical Science from the University of South Australia and completed a PhD in Lumbar intervertebral disc infection: pathology, prevention and treatment at The University of Adelaide. While studying for her PhD she found her passion for teaching, completing a Graduate Certificate in Education (Higher Education) from the University of Adelaide. She has held positions in national and international universities teaching in nursing, medicine and biomedical sciences. She is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for Medical Science since 2021 and teaches Histopathology, Haematology, Communication Skills and Integrated Medical Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She also holds an adjunct position at Griffith University for the Medical Program at the Sunshine Coast Health Institute after holding the role as SC Phase 1 Lead from 2022-2026. UniSC Medical Science students who have direct entry to the Griffith Medical Program transit to Phase 1 of the Griffith Medical Program at Sunshine Coast.
A/Prof Donkin has a research interest in medical education and pathology with her publications available from the USC Research Bank. She has many teaching awards including an Advanced Quality Teaching and Advancing the Blended Learning Environment from UniSC and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK.
Research
Research Summary
Potential Research Projects for HDR and Honours Students
- Medical education
- Skin Cancer
Research Grants
|
Grant/Project name |
Investigators |
Funding body AUD$ value |
Year(s) |
Focus of research grant |
|
Associations Between Low Vitamin D Levels, Increased Skin Cancer Risk, and Chronic Kidney Disease |
Rebecca Donkin |
Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists, $10,000 |
2025-2027 |
Skin cancer |
|
Ultraviolet signature mutation testing for the diagnosis and management of metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary site |
Rebecca Donkin, Andrew Dettrick, Anna Kuballa, Myo Min, Neil Foden, David Hogan, Ryan Livingston, Jamie Zwart |
University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia, Sunshine Coast) - UniSC (School of Health Impact Grant) $50,000 |
2025 |
Skin cancer |
|
Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Real-world experience from a high-UV population with an emphasis on the role of polyomavirus |
Lead R Donkin, Co-investigators A Dettrick, L Banney, N Abeysekera, D Xing, M Lyle, K Merollini. |
UniSC School of Health Collaborative Initiatives Scheme, $10,000 |
2023-24 |
Skin cancer |
|
An Innovative Immunohistochemistry Panel for Detection of Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma |
Lead R Donkin, co-investigators A Dettrick and R Gusset. |
Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists (AIMS) Clinical Research Grant $5,000 |
2022-23 |
Skin cancer |
|
Improving Patient Survival Outcomes by the Application of Functional Guided Radiotherapy Dose Escalation and Organ Sparing in Solid Tumours – A Rapid Clinical Translation Program |
Lead Myo Min, co-investigators Dinesh Vignarajah Nicole Buddle, Cathy Hargrave, Jim Lagopoulos, David Willis, Francis Gibbons, William Bugg, John Blazak, David Hogan, Andrew Dettrick, Rebecca Donkin, Peter Manders, Bryan Chan |
Education and Research Trust Fund – SERTF and Wishlist SCCHS Study, $450,000 |
2021-2024 |
Cancer treatment |
|
Who is educating our future Medical Laboratory Scientists? A perspective of AIMS accredited Medical Laboratory Science programs in Australia. |
Lead R Donkin, co-investigators L Swanepoel and R Gusset. |
Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists (AIMS) Education and Leadership/Management Grants $5,000 |
2021-22 |
Medical education |
Teaching and supervision
Teaching
- MED301 Integrated Medical Science
- MED202 Communication Skills for Medicine
- MLS301 Histopathology
- BIM371 Clinical Embryology
- SRP301 Special Research Project
Program coordinator
Teaching Summary
MLS210 Advanced Haematology - Moderator
Professional
Awards and memberships
Professional Memberships
- Histotechnology Group of Queensland
- Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES)
- Australian Institute of Medical Scientist (AIMS)
- Digital Anatomy Network (DAN)
- International Association for Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).
Awards/Fellowships
- Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy
Media
Rebecca's specialist areas of knowledge include histology, pathology, infection, medical, nursing, haematology, biomedical science.