Who we are
Dr Yasamin Veziari
Yasamin is a registered nurse and senior researcher who teaches evidence-based practice to others in the field. Her focus is healthcare that is grounded in evidence and centred on people, and work that genuinely helps both practitioners and the people they care for.
We are Mataya: Matthew, Tamara and Yasamin. Between us we bring decades of experience in health, across universities, industry and the not-for-profit sector. Our work has always come back to one question: how do we help practitioners do their best work, with confidence?
That is why we are hosting a Community of Practice for complementary healthcare practitioners. Many practitioners work alone, with few chances to talk through the real questions that come up in practice and in business. We want to change that. Our role is to provide the space and the structure, so members can focus on what matters: learning from each other.
The name Mataya comes from the first letters of our given names, Matthew, Tamara and Yasamin. It also has a meaning we are fond of: in the language of Nepal’s Newar people, it joins the words for “light” and “journey” to mean “journey of light”.
Dr Tamara Agnew
Tamara has spent over 15 years working in health across universities, industry and the not-for-profit sector, and teaches research methods, ethics and public health. She founded and chairs a Community of Practice for academic leaders across Australia and New Zealand, and has seen first-hand how much people gain when they have a place to share what they know.
Dr Matthew Leach
Matthew is an Associate Professor in Health and an internationally recognised expert in the field of Complementary Healthcare. He has published more than 200 journal articles, written a widely used textbook on clinical decision-making, and led work backed by over A$2.4 million in research funding. What drives him is closing the gap between evidence and everyday practice, and the Community of Practice is a chance to build that bridge from the practitioner side.
Meet your hosts
Our logo is eight petals circling a shared centre. The centre is the shared question that brings us together. The petals are the disciplines, perspectives and people who gather around it.
