Adeline Lau is from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and is one of the recipients for the 2025 Best Higher Degree by Research Student Publication Award and is supervised by Prof Michelle Miller, A/Prof Maayken van den Berg and Dr Chad Han.
Adeline’s publication was titled “Consumer engagement in the design of educational nutrition information for older adults and their caregivers: A scoping review”
We invited Adeline to share insights into the PhD journey and what winning this award means.
What does your publication explore?
This systematic scoping review aimed to explore and synthesize the extent to which consumers are engaged in designing various types of educational nutrition interventions, the methods and levels of consumer engagement, and its impact on the resulting educational nutrition information presented.
What is your research about?
My research is about co-designing nutrition educational resources tailored for older adults living with pre-frailty and frailty, with the aim of improving their nutrition knowledge and supporting self-directed learning.
Tell us about your PhD journey so far
I commenced my PhD in 2023 and am now in the third year of my candidature. It has been an incredibly rewarding journey of growth, shaped by the unwavering support and guidance of my supervisors. Throughout this time, I have learnt immensely, not only from my supervisory team and our valued consumer partner, but also from the meaningful interactions with older adults living with pre-frailty or frailty, and caregivers who generously shared their lived experiences to inform and strengthen my research.
What does winning this award mean to you?
This award is deeply meaningful to me. I was pregnant with my first child while writing the publication, and I went into labour on the very day I completed the manuscript for submission, making it a milestone I will always remember, both personally and professionally. This publication was also particularly special as I worked closely with our team’s consumer partner to ensure the consumer perspective was thoughtfully reflected in our interpretation of the findings. I am sincerely grateful to my supervisory team and our consumer partner for their contributions in bringing this manuscript to publication; this recognition reflects our shared commitment to impactful, consumer-centred research.
What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?
Embrace the journey as much as the outcome. A PhD is not just about producing a thesis — it is about building perseverance, learning how to think creatively and independently, and finding confidence in your own ideas. Build a strong support network of mentors and peers who both challenge and encourage you. Stay open to learning from everyone you work with and be willing to adapt and refine your ideas as you grow. Most importantly, be kind to yourself; progress is rarely linear, but every challenge contributes to the researcher you are becoming.
Why did you choose to commence a PhD?
I chose to commence a PhD because I have always been drawn to research and knew that pursuing a doctorate was something I wanted to do at some point in my academic career. My interest in older adults and frailty is also deeply personal – I was very close to my late grandmother, who experienced frailty in the later stages of her life, and that experience shaped my desire to better understand and support this population. I was motivated not only by academic curiosity, but by a genuine commitment to contributing meaningful research that can improve the lives of older adults and those who care for them.