Jane Chalmers is a Senior Lecturer in Pain Sciences at the University of South Australia. Her research focuses on pelvic pain in women – what it is and how we can treat it. She leads the Pelvic Pain theme under the IIMPACT in Health research concentration at the University of South Australia.

Dr Luna Xu is an epidemiologist, currently working as Scientia Lecturer/Fellow at the School of Population Health, University of New South Wales. Luna is also an Honorary Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Luna awarded Bachelor of Nursing degree in China and completed her Master of Clinical Nursing in the United Kingdom. Since 2013, she changed her career trajectory to epidemiology by completing her Masters and PhD in Public Health at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Luna’s research focuses on using large population-based health data to inform cardiovascular disease prevention and management. Luna has published over 70 publications, including in the Lancet, Lancet Neurology, and Advances in Nutrition and Clinical Nutrition. Luna has contributed to 2 book chapters and 6 government reports, including WHO and United Nations. Luna has delivered 46 national and international conference presentations, including invited presentations. Luna serves as an Executive Member of the Australian Association of Gerontology and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. She has editorial roles for Nutrients, Frontiers in Public Health, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and Diabetology. Luna has reviewed competitive national and international grants, such as The National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), Heart Foundation of Australia and Canadian Poultry Research Council. Luna also have reviewed over 100 articles in leading journals, such as The Lancet Public Health.

Dr Emi Khoo is a gastroenterologist and endoscopist who completed her Medical Degree (MBBS) at University of Queensland and Biomedical Science degree (BMedSc) at University of Melbourne. She then undertook her gastroenterology training at various locations, including Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Gold Coast University Hospital, followed by a fellowship in inflammatory bowel disease at Mater Hospital Brisbane. She is currently pursuing PhD in inflammatory bowel disease through University of Queensland. She is an active clinician and researcher. She is also a lecturer at Griffith University Medical School and an associated lecturer at the University of Queensland Medical School, where she is involved in medical student education and assessments. GROUP MEMBERSHIPS • Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) • Royal Australasian College of Physician (RACP) – Fellow • Conjoint Committee for Recognition in Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (CCRTGE) • Gastroenterological Society of Queensland (GESQ) • Gastroenterology Society of Australia (GESA) • American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) • European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) • The International Bowel Ultrasound Group (IBUS) • The Gastroenterology Network of Intestinal Ultrasound (GENIUS) AREAS OF PARTICULAR CLINICAL INTEREST • Inflammatory bowel disease • General gastroenterology • Upper endoscopy • Colonoscopy • Video capsule endoscopy • Intestinal ultrasound

Dr Alessandro (Alex) Fois graduated Dux of Sydney Grammar School with a UAI of 100 and completed his first degree in Advanced Science at the University of Sydney, graduating with the University Medal. He then travelled to Oxford University for his medical degree and has completed his postgraduate training in Cambridge (Addenbrooke’s Hospital) and Sydney (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital and Westmead Hospital). He has completed the Movement Disorders Fellowship at Westmead Hospital and completed a PhD funded by a grant from the Brain Foundation and an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship. His research is focused on tremor, and he has authored several publications and book chapters on the subject of tremor and movement disorders. Alex is a Clinical Lecturer with the University of Sydney. He sees patients in his private practices in Sydney and Hervey Bay. Alex is passionate about extending the reach of neurological care in Australia and using the power of telehealth. His clinical interests include movement disorders (such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor, and dystonia), headache, the use of botulinum toxin for the treatment of neurological problems, and general neurology.

Prof Cheryl Dissanayake AM was the Founding Director and inaugural Chair of Australia’s first research centre dedicated to autism: the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre established in 2008. She has been an autism researcher since 1984, when she began her PhD at Monash University. On completion she undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sigman lab at UCLA, and has established and led an active research program since joining La Trobe University in 1996. In addition to her scholarly activities, with numerous grants and publications, she was instrumental in bringing together Victorian and Australian autism researchers, having co-founded the Autism Victoria ASD Research Group (in 2003), the Australasian Autism Research Alliance (in 2005), the Australasian Autism Research Collaboration (in 2009) and the Australasian Society for Autism Research (2011), a member based society of which she was vice-President until 2020, when she was honored with a Lifetime Membership. She was on the bid team and has been a Project Leader in the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (2013-2021). Prof Dissanayake has been recognised as a Research Field Leader for five consecutive years by The Australian (2018-2022) and as one of nine Global Research Leaders in 2020. She was amongst the first 10 scholars to be inaugurated as a Fellow of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) in 2018, and was elected vice-President of INSAR in 2019. She serves on the Senior Global Leaders Committee of INSAR, representing the Western Pacific region, and chairs its Fellows Committee. In 2022, Prof Dissanayake was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia. She was recognised with an Order of Australia (AM) in the same year.

Stephen Hughes is a consultant in Emergency Medicine at Broomfield Hospital and Senior Lecturer in Medicine at Anglia Ruskin University School of Medicine, Chelmsford, UK. Teaching medical students to talk nicely to patients is a passion and a privilege. It is also a prerequisite for peace of mind when thinking about retiring anywhere near where the students when qualified, might be practising!

Dr. Wang is an Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is globally and nationally recognized as a researcher, educator, and thought leader on health equity, racial justice, and community-based research targeting chronic diseases. Dr. Wang has generated over $6 million in federal and foundation funding for her program of research and published over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and policy documents. Her prior leadership roles included serving as Chair of the Narrative Office at the BU Center for Antiracist Research and Chair of the Civic and Public Engagement Committee at the Society of Behavioral Medicine. One of her current studies is a randomized controlled trial of a youth empowerment intervention to reduce consumption of sugary drinks and obesity risk through youth narratives. As an expert in curriculum development, case-based teaching, and digital learning design, Dr. Wang has developed and taught graduate courses on the social determinants of health at Harvard and Boston University since 2010. Dr. Wang has received numerous national, regional, and institutional awards for her research, teaching, and service, including the 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health Award from the National Minority Quality Forum, the Society of Behavioral Medicine Leading the Narrative Award, the Society of Behavioral Medicine Early Investigator Award, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award, and the Boston University School of Public Health Excellence in Teaching Award and Excellence in Public Health Practice Award. At the national level, she advanced science communication initiatives through her former role as Chair of the Civic and Public Engagement Committee of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Wang has served as a consultant to one of the largest social media companies in the world on COVID-19 health misinformation management. Her work and insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Boston Globe, and CBS. She obtained her doctoral and master’s degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Mina has a medical background and is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Bond University. His key interests include public health, evidence synthesis, shared decision making, antimicrobial stewardship programs and improving quality of reporting. His research focuses on patient-clinician communication and decision making about antibiotic use in primary care. He has a special interest in antibiotic resistance development and decay. My key research and teaching interests include evidence synthesis (using systematic reviews and meta-analysis as well as primary research), shared decision making, antimicrobial stewardship programs and supporting research in general practices. Specific areas of illness that I work on include acute respiratory infections, any self-limiting disease including infections, and antibiotic resistance, in primary care.

Jane Tomnay is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Rural Sexual Health in Victoria. This Centre has supported the development of rural sexual health services, the skills and coordination of rural health professionals, and improved access to and awareness of sexual health care for young people, GLBTIQ people and Aboriginal people across rural Victoria. Jane is passionate about improving access to sexual health services in confidential and appropriate ways for their users. Her research has focused on improving the sexual health of Victorians and access to services for those living in rural areas.

Richard MacIsaac is professor and director of Endocrinology and Diabetes at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and the University of Melbourne. Prior to taking up his current position he was head of diabetes at Austin Health, Melbourne. His main research interest is diabetes and its complications, especially those related to cardiovascular and kidney disease. He has published over 180 research articles. Prior to embarking in a career in medicine, he completed a PhD at the Howard Florey Institute, Melbourne where he examined the development of the foetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and then embarked on a 2-year post doctorial fellowship at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne examining foetal calcium metabolism. He graduated from the University of Melbourne’s Medical School in 1995 and was awarded his fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2002. Currently specific research interests are inpatient glycaemic control, defining the albuminuria and glomerular filtration rate relationship in diabetes, investigating new biomarkers for renal and vascular disease in diabetes and studying renal function in indigenous Australians.

Madeline is a Research Fellow in the Body Image & Eating Disorders Research Group in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University.

Madeline holds a Bachelor of Human Nutrition (La Trobe University) and a Bachelor of Food & Nutrition Sciences honours (Deakin University). She is also in the final stages of her PhD at Deakin University.

Madeline is leading the Talking About Weight in General Practice Study, a project to identify how GPs, Practice Nurses, and Medical Students raise and discuss weight with patients. Madeline is also involved in research projects developing digital technologies to detect and prevent eating disorders. Madeline’s other research interests include eating disorders in individuals with higher weight and weight stigma, as well as the nutritional treatment of eating disorders and gut symptoms.

Madeline is Co-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED) Special Interest Group Committee and Secretary for the Australasian Human Microbiome Research Network (AHMRN).

You can keep up to date with Madeline’s research on Twitter @madilouwest