AHDA 2026 Conference
19 & 20 November – Perth, Australia
2026 Keynote Speakers
Professor Virginia Slaughter
Virginia Slaughter is Professor of Psychology and Dean of the Graduate Research School at the University of Queensland, Australia. Virginia earned a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College (New York) in 1985 and a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994. After completing a postdoc at MIT, in 1996 she took up a Level B lectureship at the University of Queensland, where she founded the Early Cognitive Development Centre within the School of Psychology. Over the last 30 years her research has focused on social and cognitive development in infants and young children, particularly the acquisition of imitation, mindreading and peer interaction skills. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.
Professor Kathryn Modecki
Kathryn Modecki is a Future Health Research and Innovation Distinguished Professoriate Fellow, Professor in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia, and leads the Developmental Science of Mental Health Team at The Kids Research Institute Australia. Kartryn trained as a developmental and quantitative psychologist at research institutes including the Internet Crimes Against Children Research Center (UNH) and The Prevention Research Center (REACH, ASU) and was a Faculty Associate in the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University (2019-2021).
Modecki’s research maps how adolescents and parents navigate stressors, seek support from those around them (including online), and move onto problematic vs. healthier trajectories at key developmental junctures. Her work harnesses new technologies to investigate diverse pathways of risk, health, and wellbeing, with a focus on youth and families living in the context of structural and socio-economic disadvantage. She applies a lens across years, weeks, days, and moments via longitudinal surveys, daily diaries, experience sampling, and passive sensing approaches.
Modecki’s work has been recognised for its scientific contributions through funding awards from the National Institute of Mental Health, American Psychological Association, Jacobs Foundation, Australian Research Council, OMRI, the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, and more and her science has been covered in outlets such as the Economist, El Mundo, Sky News, Radio National, CBS, and The Washington Post.