Rate My Professor Dawn Bessarab

Professor Dawn Bessarab, a proud Bard/Yindijibarndi woman, is a Winthrop Professor and former Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health in the University of Western Australia Medical School, retiring at the end of 2025. She earned a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) from Curtin University in 1996 and a PhD in Social Work from Curtin University in 2007, with her doctoral research focusing on the gendered lived experiences of Aboriginal women and men. Bessarab has a distinguished career as a senior social worker and researcher, with extensive experience in child protection, family and domestic violence, and drug and alcohol services. She founded the Aboriginal Family Legal Service in Perth, served as chair of the Nadine Women’s Refuge, and holds positions such as secretary on the Langford Aboriginal Association committee. Joining UWA in late 2013, she taught courses including Aboriginal Health Research Project and Aboriginal Health Research and Ethics, and led as principal investigator for the Good Spirit Good Life Centre for Research Excellence in Indigenous wellbeing and ageing, while co-investigating projects on Indigenous brain health and dementia.

Bessarab is renowned for pioneering the yarning methodology and developing the clinical yarning framework, an Indigenous conversational approach now widely used in Australian and international Aboriginal health research. Her research specializations encompass Indigenous research methodologies, participatory action research, qualitative methods, holistic psycho-social approaches to Aboriginal health, and application of Indigenous knowledge systems. Key publications include 'Yarning About Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research' (2010), 'Trauma, Grief and Loss: The Vulnerability of Aboriginal Families in the Child Protection System' (2013), 'Decolonising Qualitative Research with Respectful, Reciprocal, and Responsible Research Practice: A Narrative Review of the Application of Yarning Method' (2022), 'A Comprehensive Review of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA)' (2025), and 'Detection of Cognitive Impairment, Dementia and Associated Risk Factors Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' (2025). She received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Collaborative Indigenous Research Partnerships in 2023 and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2024. Her work has significantly influenced Aboriginal health policy, practice translation, and research capacity building.