Dr Rhys Mantell is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Justice Health Research Program (JHRP) at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney. His doctoral research, conducted within the NHMRC-funded ASCAPE project, focused on the co-design and evaluation of game-based cognitive assessments for older people in prison, with a strong emphasis on trauma-informed and culturally appropriate design. He was recently awarded an RM Gibson Grant (funded by the AAG Research Trust and Dementia Australia) to extend ASCAPE to older Australians ageing at the margins in community settings.

Rhys works closely with Dr Jane Hwang on an emerging program of research exploring reintegration and recovery for people leaving Australian prisons, and was recently awarded a seed grant to investigate how older people define and navigate emotional healing after release. His theoretical interests centre on critical realist, phenomenological, and embodied approaches to health research. He has also contributed to large-scale national evaluations and policy projects across ageing, mental health, and justice health during his time at Deloitte Consulting and Australian Healthcare Associates.