Experts

Healthed work with a team of general practitioners and medical professionals to ensure the highest quality education​

Adrian Traeger is an NHMRC Early Career fellow at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, a division of the School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. He is a physiotherapist who has worked in primary care for over 10 years. He completed his doctorate at NeuRA, UNSW, which focused on how best to reassure patients with low back pain. Adrian’s postdoctoral research focus is on developing strategies to improve healthcare for low back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions. He is currently investigating ways to reduce unnecessary diagnostic imaging for low back pain. Other interests include overdiagnosis and overtreatment, communicating research evidence to healthcare consumers, and evidence-based practice.
Ian Harris is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UNSW. He is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon specialising in trauma surgery and lectures nationally and internationally on the orthopaedic treatment of fractures. He directs a research unit specialising in surgical outcomes and the evidence base for surgery. He is author of the book Surgery, the Ultimate Placebo in which he highlights the overestimation of effectiveness of surgery and the reasons behind this.
Nick Hunkins holds a master’s degree in computer science, a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and has experience in both industry data-driven software development and academic research. Deeply concerned about the commodification of attention, particularly among young people, he believes in the importance of mindful engagement in the digital age.
Annie is an educator, researcher, and human enthusiast motivated by questions at the intersections of mental health, technology, addictive design, tribalism, the attention economy and mindfulness. Her teaching and research address psychotechnologies and cognitive states that counteract the negative impact of social media on our mental health and wellbeing. She cultivates contemplative practices and classroom experiences to foster skills critical for human thriving in the rapidly growing attention economy – empathy, sovereignty, metacognition, embodied wisdom, self-inquiry and interpersonal communication. She received her PhD in cell and molecular biology from Northwestern University in 2014, and balances this rigorous training in the scientific method with the empiricism of participatory knowledge. She enjoys working with companies to develop strong cultures of empathy through personalized feedback and facilitates workshops empowering creative technologists to find their voice and personal story.
Dr Moore is a GP in Newcastle with a special interest in geriatrics and dementia. She is the currently working through the final stages of a Masters of Dementia, through the Wicking Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania
Dr Victoria Hayes has been providing general practice care to the local community for over 15 years. Her special interests are • Paediatrics • Family medicine • Children’s immunisations • Travel immunisation • Antenatal care • Women’s health
Nina Chad has been the Infant and Young Child Feeding Consultant for the World Health Organization since 2021. She is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia, the World Public Health Nutrition Association, and the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Her research aims at improving children’s health and nutritional status by supporting parents in the mammoth task of raising healthy children. Her PhD project investigated the influence of the marketing of toddler milks on attitudes and beliefs about infant feeding in Australia using cognitive psychology and social marketing techniques. Since 2014, she has been applying her knowledge and skills to a broad set of public health challenges that affect children. The SKAI website is a suite of tools and resources to help health professionals and parents communicate more effectively about childhood vaccinations. Information for parents is at www.talkingaboutimmunisation.org.au. Information for health professionals can be accessed via the SKAI eLearning module at https://learn.nps.org.au/mod/page/view.php?id=11018.
Harry Sumnall is a Professor in Substance Use in the School of Psychology and the Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University. He is interested in all aspects of substance use, particularly those related to young people’s health and wellbeing. Harry’s funded research programmes have examined the evidence base for substance misuse prevention, and he is interested in the mechanisms for support implementation of evidence based practice and policy. Harry is a Past President of the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR), and is a scientific advisor to the MIND Foundation. He was a member of the UK Government Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) between 2011 and 2019.
Ian investigates the impact drug use has on individuals and populations. Focusing on the social, health and political issues related to drug and alcohol use. He writes a regular column for The Independent – https://www.independent.co.uk/author/ian-hamilton-0, provides opinion pieces for the British Medical Journal as well as publishing academic papers. Prior to becoming an academic Ian worked as a mental health nurse working with people who had a severe mental health problem and used drugs or alcohol problematically. He also has experience of working with rough sleepers and people who are homeless.
Associate Professor Hannah is a senior academic educator of School of Health Sciences, and a researcher at Centre for Healthy Sustainable Development (CHSD). Hannah has a background in pharmacy practice, health service management, community health and primary health care. Her expertise covering mixed methods study, co-design, data correlation, systematic review and meta-analysis. Her research projects focus on inequities, inequality and accessibility among disadvantage population specially culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population; health service; prevention and self-care management; digital health innovation; and climate change. Her recent study has established evidence of the delay in seeking medical care for cardiac symptoms among ethnic groups globally and nationally which has assisted researchers and clinicians to be more aware and better understand ethnic differences in health behaviour and the need of cultural competence in healthcare system. Hannah has worked collaboratively with the Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU) in establishing data map correlating clinical data and population health areas (SA) which can be a useful tool for further investigation, and serve as a resource for education. Hannah currently working with multidisciplinary team involving researchers, industry partners and consumers on digital innovation projects to improve accessibility to health service and empower disadvantaged populations nationally and internationally.
My research focuses on human electrophysiological and imaging correlates of behavior, disease, and interventions for epilepsy, movement disorders and pain. Areas of Interest: Brain-Computer Interfaces; Disorders of the Nervous System; Motor Systems and Sensorimotor Integration; Neural Circuits. Our lab seeks to characterize electrophysiological and imaging correlates of behavior and disease in humans. Particularly, we take advantage of access to human data during interventions for epilepsy and movement disorders. We focus on electrophysiological recordings gathered during long-term monitoring for seizure localization, or during implantation of electrodes for Deep Brain Stimulation. Areas of interest include basic science research examining neural correlates of cognition and behavior, and mechanisms underlying deep brain stimulation for movement disorders; we are also focused on translational work in the development of closed-loop deep brain stimulation systems. We work closely with researchers using advanced MR imaging to examine similar patient populations, looking for imaging correlates for surgical outcomes. In short, we combine approaches from neurophysiology, radiology and engineering to approach both the description of neurobiological processes and intervene in neuropathology.
Nancy S. Jecker, PhD is a Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for South Africa (2021-2022). Dr. Jecker holds Adjunct Professorships at the University of Washington School of Law, Department of Global Health, and Department of Philosophy. Dr. Jecker is a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg Department of Philosophy and Honorary Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics. She was awarded the PhD in Philosophy from the University of Washington, after first earning masters’ degrees in Philosophy from both Stanford University and the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University. Dr. Jecker’s research focuses on individual and societal aging, justice, human dignity, medical futility and global perspectives in philosophy and bioethics. Dr. Jecker has published over 200 articles and 4 books. Her most recent book is Ending Midlife Bias: New Values for Old Age (Oxford University Press, 2020). Dr. Jecker’s other books include Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients and Futile Treatment, 2nd Edition, with Lawrence Schneiderman (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011, E-Book by Amazon Digital Services, Inc., Japanese translation by Keiso Shobo Publishing Company, Chinese translation by Ho-Chi Book Publishing Company); Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and Practice, 3rd edition, with Albert Jonsen and Robert Pearlman (Jones and Bartlett, 2011); and Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology (Humana Press, distributed internationally by J. Wiley and Sons and by Chapman and Hall, E-Book by Springer Publishers.