Tamika Heiden, Impact Consultancy Founder (Episode 75) – Tamika doesn’t care what we call it, what matters is that we make a difference
For this episode of the Research Adjacent podcast Sarah welcomes Tamika Heiden. Tamika Heiden is the founder of Research Impact Academy, a consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia. Her company works with researchers around the globe and also runs the Research Impact Summit.
An evolving identity
Tamika began her post-PhD career in research management but, when she discovered knowledge translation she was hooked. Ultimately she took the bold step to launch her own consultancy. This transition wasn’t without its challenges as Tamika’s grappled with imposter syndrome and finding her identity.
“11 years ago I decided that maybe I could help more people if I consulted. So I left my nice cosy job and became a consultant and hanging out that shingle was very, very scary.”
Eleven years on and she has, to use her own words ‘become a bit more comfortable being uncomfortable’. Proud moments over that time include being named in parliament when knowledge translation was included in the Medical Research Future Fund, and growing the Research Impact Summit to over 1000 registrations.
Impact on a global scale
Although based in Australia, Tamika runs a very international business and both consults on and learns from how different countries, including Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong, are approaching impact. Of course the UK is a key player in embedding research impact, although it seems perhaps Australia had the idea first!
“There’s all sorts of little fun facts about how the UK stole Australia’s idea on impact and started doing it before we did it.”
Navgating a global community means also navigating the slightly different terminologies used – engagement, exchange, commercialisation, dissemination, communication. Tamika has settled on impact for the name of her company, as it is generally used to describe the destination rather than the route taken.
“I remember one of my early conferences, where they were talking about knowledge translation and there was an entire day dedicated to what we should call it. But what I realised really quickly is it doesn’t matter what we call it, what it matters is that we make the difference we’re trying to.”
Connecting with the global impact community is at the heart of Tamika’s Research Impact Summit – an online event which turns 10 in September 2025. In bringing people together to catch up on advances in the field, she also gets the chance to boost her own professional development!
A fairer future
Tamika would use her Research Adjacent magic wand to reform research funding and create a fairer system that genuinely prioritises high-quality work. Creative solutions like using lotteries to minimise bias and reduce the adminstrative burden would free up time for researchers to actually do impact-generating research.
“I’m seeing that good work is being dismissed or not funded purely because of the system, not because of the work in itself. And for me, that is really heartbreaking.”
Find out more
- Connect with Tamika on LinkedIn
- Sign up for the Research Impact Summit
- Find Research Impact Academy on the web, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, BlueSky, YouTube and Instagram
Theme music by Lemon Music Studios from Pixabay
