Leelana is a proud Aboriginal woman with connections to the Jabirr Jabirr in the Western Australia Kimberley region. She is also proud to hold connections to Papua New Guinea, Scotland and South-East Asia.
She holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Public Health from the University of Queensland. She has participated in the CareerTrackers program and previous to her current role she was a research officer at Link-Up(Qld) and carried out genealogical and archival record research to facilitate reunions with family or back to country for members of the Stolen Generations and their descendants.
She is currently working for ATLAS Indigenous Primary Care Surveillance Network as a Senior Research Project Officer. The project aims to better explain the longstanding disparity in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and blood-borne viruses (BBVs) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. She is responsible for the coordination of ethics and governance processes and supporting comms and events.