Dr Melanie Galea is the Director of Genetics at Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology, Sonic Healthcare. Dr Galea is a medical and medical science graduate from the University of Sydney, and attained her FRCPA in Genetics in 2014. She is a member of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) Genetics Advisory Committee, and previously served as the RCPA National Coordinator for Genetic Pathology Training and as a member of the Evaluation Sub-Committee of the Medical Services Advisory Committee. Dr Galea is particularly interested in the application of genetic technologies to clinical medicine, specifically in paediatric and reproductive medicine contexts.

Kathryn is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with the NSW Anaphylaxis Education Program based at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. This Program provides education and support services to patients and their families, health professionals, Registered Training Organisations, schools, and children’s services across NSW.
Kathryn has a Bachelor of Nursing, a Professional Certificate in Allergy Nursing, a Graduate Certificate in Asthma & Respiratory Nursing, is an Authorised Nurse Immuniser and most recently completed a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
Kathryn has worked in allergy nursing for the past 11 years and paediatric nursing for over 20 years in hospitals and the community.

Nicole Dynan is the founder of The Good Nutrition Co., which she established in early 2012. As an accredited dietitian who has consulted to and listened to the stories of many hundreds of people, Nicole has unique insight into the emotional drivers that help people make positive changes in their lives to better support their health and wellbeing. Whether she’s working with adults or children, recreational or professional sportspeople, or junior athletes and their families, she knows that no two people are the same, and that desired outcomes can only be achieved by taking a personalised approach. This means taking the time to understand the issues at hand, designing an appropriate program that includes both short- and long-term goals, and providing support along the way.Nicole completed her Masters Research Project at the RPAH Allergy Unit in Sydney which led to a particular interest in the management of gut health and food intolerance. Her other specific areas of expertise include: * Digestive health, including IBS and IBD * Elimination diets and Low FODMAP diets * Weight management and mindful / intuitive eating * Chronic disease management, including diabetes, high cholesterol and heart health * Sports Nutrition, including ISAK skin fold measures Previously, Nicole has worked as the dietitian for the NSW Elite Gymnastics Boys Team and members of the NSW State Men’s Hockey Team, national level road cyclists and swimmers, and participants in the 100km Oxfam Australia Trail walker event. Nicole is a media spokesperson for Dietitian’s Australia, an Ambassador for Dietitian Connections Gut Health Month. She has previously been a media ambassador for the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Online.

Dr Amy Lovell is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian (NZRD) and Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) with a particular interest in early childhood nutrition and ensuring children have the best start to a lifetime of eating. Amy is a Lecturer in the Discipline of Nutrition at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and completed her PhD research in Nutrition there in 2019. Amy co-coordinates two Food Science and Nutrition courses and lectures students from Science, Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dietetics. Amy also holds a casual role at Starship Child Health, where she works as an oncology dietitian at the Starship Blood and Cancer Centre (ADHB).

Dr Joel Collins is a consultant Clinical Haematologist (Physician).

He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Griffith University in Queensland. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, having completed his advanced training between the two major Queensland tertiary hospitals – the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Whilst completing his training, Dr Collins held the position of Chief Medical Registrar at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Dr Collins currently holds an appointment as a Staff Specialist at the Toowoomba Base Hospital, and is credentialled at St Andrew’s Hospital (Toowoomba), and St Vincent’s Hospital (Toowoomba) and the Toowoomba Hospice.

Recognising that patients from the Darling Downs and Western Queensland prefer to be treated locally, Dr Collins aims to keep all patient care locally where this is possible.

Dr Collins has been working closely with the oncology staff and executive at St Andrew’s Hospital, and can now offer treatment for many high grade haematological cancers locally at St Andrew’s Hospital. Previously these patients were treated in Brisbane, or at the Base Hospital.

Dr Collins has published research in both local and international medical journals, and has been a speaker at a number of national conferences. He has ongoing active research interest in malignant haematology in particular, multiple myeloma. He is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland, and the Rural Clinical School. His other professional memberships include Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ), Australasian Lymphoma and Leukaemia Group (ALLG), American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the European Haematology Association (EHA).

Dr Collins was a recipient and current holder of one of five research fellowships for research into the immunobiology of myeloma.

Felicity Nelson is a science and health journalist with bylines in ScienceAlert, Guardian Australia, The Medical Republic and news.com. Her stories were published in The Best Australian Science Writing anthologies in 2020, 2019 and 2017. Felicity runs a science writing and strategy consulting business called Frogs and Stars.

Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden is an ophthalmologist and researcher. He is Deputy Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia and an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne. He is Clinical Director of KeepSight, a national eye check reminder system for Australians with diabetes. He also serves on the Medical and Research Committees of the Macular Disease Foundation of Australia and the Board of Australian Vision Research.

Prof Sean Hood is a psychiatrist in public and private practice. He is Head of the University of Western Australia, Division of Psychiatry in the Medical School, and Associate Dean with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Prof Hood’s primary research focus is in clinical psychopharmacology of anxiety disorders.

Associate Professor Homayoun (Homi) Zargar is a urological surgeon with fellowship training in uro-oncology and advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgery.

Originally from Iran, Homi is a New Zealand trained urologist practicing in Melbourne, Australia since July 2015.
Homi is a strong advocate of patient centered care, with emphasis on forming quality therapeutic relationships with patients and improving their health journey. Homi provides comprehensive care for all urological cancers. He also treats general urological conditions including kidney stones, benign prostate enlargement, investigation of elevated PSA and blood in the urine.
Homi is a consultant urologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a senior clinical lecturer at the department of surgery at the University of Melbourne. He also has private hospital appointment at Epworth Richmond.
Over the years of training Homi has developed an extensive academic and international profile and has published widely in the fields of minimally-invasive urology and uro-oncology with particular emphasis on kidney, bladder and prostate cancer.

Homi is a member of Kidney Health Australia advisory board and an Associate Editor of the Minerva Urologica E Nefrologica and BMC Urology. Homi is a regular reviewer for all major urological journals including European Journal of Urology, Urology, The Journal of Urology and many others, and has been awarded the prestigious European urology reviewer of the month prize.

Dr Monique Watts is a heart failure cardiologist and specialist in women’s heart disease who works at the Epworth and the Alfred Hospitals.

Dr Watts completed advanced training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before undertaking a fellowship in advanced heart failure and transplantation at the Alfred Hospital. Dr Watts manages patients with all types of heart failure in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. In recent years Dr Watts has also established a cardiac clinic in North Central Victoria to improve access to specialist care for rural citizens. Dr Watts has also lead the development of the Women’s Heart Clinic at the Alfred Hospital which offers specialised care for patients suffering conditions more commonly seen in women such as the syndrome of MINOCA and contributory causes such as coronary artery vasospasm, spontaneous coronary artery dissection and microvascular dysfunction. Dr Watts is actively involved in clinical research, with multiple current projects in progress in the area of women’s heart disease. She also teaches for the University of Melbourne Clinical School.

Andrew Browning is an Australian trained obstetrician who has spent his entire professional career volunteering in Africa as a medical missionary specializing in obstetric fistula surgery.
He has been involved in the care of over 12,000 fistula patients across Africa and SE Asia and is considered a world expert in his field. He was involved in establishing charities in Ethiopia and Tanzania to build and run free maternity hospitals for the poor, to prevent fistula and to train midwives in clinical skills. These charities and hospitals have overseen the safe delivery of over 100,000 women to date and trained nearly 1000 midwives in clinical skills. He co-founded the Barbara May Foundation in Australia to fund those hospitals.
He has been integral to starting fistula services in several countries around Africa and SE Asia has developed new surgical techniques that are now standard practice across the globe. He oversees the FIGO (International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) global fistula surgery training program as the past-chair of the FIGO Fistula and Genital Trauma Committee and chair of the FIGO Expert Advisory Group on Obstetric Fistula. He advises the UN and WHO on fistula and related issues and he is a frequent keynote speaker at international medical conferences.
He over 60 scientific publications, books and chapters and co-wrote the main fistula textbook with Brian Hancock which is distributed to all FIGO fistula trainees.
He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to international maternal health.