Monica Cuskelly is currently Professor and Research Director of the Applied Research Centre for Disability and Wellbeing, a joint initiative of the University of Tasmania and Possability Group (a service organisation working with people with disability). Prior to joining the University of Tasmania, she had been at The University of Queensland where she was Director of the Down Syndrome Research Program (2003-2016). Her PhD focussed on siblings of children with Down syndrome, which has remained an area of continuing interest. She has also studied the development of individuals with Down syndrome, including cognitive and language development, motivation and self-regulation. Recently, she has investigated the impact of siblings on the development of children with autism, a study which is ongoing, and she is also conducting work in the area of loneliness of people with intellectual disability. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia,