Dr Tonia Mezzini is a Sexual Health Physician and General Practitioner. Since completing her training as a GP, she has worked at Clinic 275, Yarrow Place, Second Story Youth Health Service and Cervix Screen SA as part of her specialty training in sexual health. She was awarded a Master’s Degree in HIV, STIs & Sexual Health through the University of Sydney in 2013.

Tonia was the Director of Medical Services at SHine SA and has an appointment as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Adelaide. She works in private practice at Pelvic Pain SA and North Adelaide Family Practice. She is also the President- Elect of the Australian Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a committee member for the Society for Australian Sexologists (South Australia).

Dr Bronwyn Jenkins is a neurologist from Sydney, Australia. Her undergraduate training was at the University of Newcastle. Her work is primarily in private practice with a subspecialist interest in headache, as well as running the headache clinic as an Honorary Medical Officer at Royal North Shore Hospital. She has written a postgraduate course in headache for the University of Sydney, with an interest in headache education. She is President for the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society (ANZHS), and Chair of the ANZHS Education subcommittee. She is a member of ARCH, IHS and AHS, having been a co-opted member on the International Headache Society Board from 2018 to 2020 and continuing on the education subcommittee of IHS.

Narelle is a Clinical and Health Psychologist located in Brisbane. Over the past 25 years, she has practiced across government and non-government settings; in the areas of mental health, and perinatal and fertility support, and currently operates a private psychology practice providing support to families during their perinatal and fertility journey, including specialist implications counselling for family creation using donor conception and surrogacy. She is particularly passionate about supporting families in the context of perinatal grief and loss. Narelle is an expert advisor for Healthy Male and is a member of the Plus Paternal Network.

Clare Boerma trained as a General Practitioner and is the Medical Director at Family Planning NSW. She was previously a conjoint associate lecturer at the school of Women’s and Children’s Health at UNSW.
Clare has become increasingly engaged in reproductive and sexual health, spreading her time across medical education, research and as a clinician at Family Planning NSW. She enjoys collaborating with interdisciplinary teams and contributing to research to inform optimal medical care.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Medicine; Bachelor of Surgery; Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Diploma of Child Health

Registered Nurse Rachael Mackinnon is the Clinical Lead at Parkinson’s NSW, responsible for the organisation’s community-based Parkinson’s Specialist Nurses and the 1800 InfoLine which is also staffed by a Registered Nurse.

Rachael trained at Royal North Shore and has more than 30 years of nursing experience across clinical nurse education, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, and Cardiac Angioplasty.

She has worked in the UK and New Zealand in addition to Australia. Rachael is a member of the Australian Neurological Nurses Association, NSW Nurses Association, and the Movement Disorder Society both the ANZ and International chapters

Dr Yohan Chacko is an Interventional Cardiologist.
Raised in Townsville, North Queensland, he completed his medical degree at James Cook University, graduating with honours. He undertook his cardiology training at Princess Alexandra and Nambour General Hospitals. Following this, he commenced Interventional Cardiology training at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and subsequently undertook a 12month Interventional & Structural Cardiology Fellowship at the world-renowned Stanford University in California, USA. On return to Australia, he underwent additional training in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), CT cardiac assessment and complex coronary procedures at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital.
Dr Chacko has particular interest in chest pain assessment, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and preventative cardiology. He performs coronary intervention (stenting) and TAVI. Dr Chacko is one of few cardiologists in the country trained in assessing for coronary microvascular dysfunction and vasospasm.
While completing his fellowship at Stanford University, he undertook research in minimally invasive aortic valve therapies and advanced coronary physiology including fractional flow reserve and microvascular dysfunction. He has published journal articles in national and international journals as well as a book chapter in Interventional Cardiology. His research has been presented at national and international conferences.
Dr Chacko is a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland and is actively involved in teaching medical students and junior doctors. He is also involved in developing improved devices for coronary stent delivery.
He currently practices at Greenslopes Hospital, St Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital and Ipswich Public Hospital.

Dr Andrew Leech is a General Practitioner in Perth, Western Australia. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery through the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, he holds an undergraduate Bachelor of Science and Andrew has achieved the FRACGP fellowship in 2014. He has also completed the child health diploma through the University of Sydney.

Dr Andrew is an advisor to Emerging Minds, part of the National Workforce to improve paediatric mental health awareness and training of health professionals in Australia. He co-authored the online course A GP Framework For Child Mental Health Assessment (5-12 yrs). He advises and presents mental health training sessions for the RACGP. Andrew also works for Headspace Fremantle, consulting young people between the ages of 12-25. He trains future doctors at the Notre Dame Medical School and registrars at WAGPET. In 2020, Andrew was selected to take part in the RACGP Future Leaders Program and this year is on a WA Health Department Ministerial Taskforce for the Mental Health Commission of WA.

Dr Clare Ramsden is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Deputy Director of Allied Health at the Tasmanian Health Service, South. She completed her doctoral studies in Clinical Neuropsychology at La Trobe University, before going on to work in clinical roles in acquired brain injury and rehabilitation services. She has worked as a Consultant in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation in the United Kingdom, a Director of Allied Health, Scientific and Technical Services in New Zealand and is currently the Deputy Director of Allied Health at Hospitals South, Tasmanian Health Service.
Clare has ongoing interests in neuropsychology, neurorehabilitation, workforce development and wellbeing. She is a committee member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI) and the Organisation for Psychological Research in Stroke (OPsyRIS). She recently completed her Masters of Leadership (Health & Human Services) at University of Tasmania. She is a Clinical Senior Lecturer with the Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.

Lucette’s Bio 2021

Associate Professor Lucette Cysique is a neuropsychologist with extensive neuroimaging training, who has led a research program in NeuroHIV, neuropsychology and neuroimaging at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney since 2009. She has been leading cross-disciplinary research into the neurocognitive and brain changes associated with HIV and aging, HIV and cardiovascular diseases, and HIV and mental health. Dr. Cysique has expertise in the measurement of cognitive trajectories in longitudinal cohort studies and clinical trials, and contributes to the development of normative neuropsychological data for cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Additionally, Dr. Cysique has extensive experience in cross-cultural neuropsychology. Dr. Cysique is currently employed as a Senior Research Fellow at UNSW Psychology via a visiting scholar support from the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, support from the Sydney St. Vincent’s Hospital Applied Medical Research Centre in the Applied Neuroscience Unit, and support from the Melbourne Alfred Hospital Infectious Diseases research.

Dr. Cysique’s cursus includes a master’s degree in clinical neuropsychology/neuroscience with research and clinical training in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Lyon I University, Paris VI University France). She migrated in 2001 in Australia and completed a Ph.D., (09/2005, UNSW) in the neuropsychology of HIV infection and a 3 -year post-doctoral fellowship at the prestigious HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program in San Diego, US, where she was trained in the neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry of HIV and Hepatitis C. While at UCSD and at the Laboratory of Cognitive Imaging, Dr. Cysique also received training in structural and functional MRI applied to HIV and HCV. Upon her return to Australia in 2008, she was awarded a 3-year Brain Sciences UNSW fellowship and subsequently a 3-year NHMRC project grant (as young investigator PI/CIA), along with several industry support grants. This funding allowed Dr. Cysique to complete further training in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Diffusion Imaging). In 2013, Dr. Cysique was awarded a 4-year NHMRC Clinical Career Development Fellowship, extended 2 years by UNSW Medicine, to pursue her independent research career into the chronic effects of HIV on brain, cognitive and mental health.

In the last 10 years, Dr. Cysique has had major international and national research responsibilities, and associated funding, on more than 20 NeuroHIV studies/trials as a neuropsychology or neuroimaging leader. Dr. Cysique has extensive experience in one-on-one research instruction and supervision (total career completed in neuropsychology, HIV clinical sciences and neuroimaging: 11 Hons; 10 Masters; 3 co-supervised PhD, 2 post-docs; Current: 2 Masters, 1 PhD, 3 post-docs).

With the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Cysique has initiated a new research axis into the neurocognitive, olfaction/taste and mental health changes associated with COVID-19. Currently, she is Chair of the International Neuropsychological Society NeuroCOVID-19 special Interest Group and the neuropsychology leader of the landmark ADAPT COVID-19 prospective study at Sydney St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Dr. Cysique is also currently employed at Sydney St. Vincent’s Hospital as a clinical neuropsychologist in the neurology clinical trial unit. Dr. Cysique was originally trained in the field of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in France (see also clinical training at the end of the CV).

Professor Bruce Campbell is a Professor of Neurology in the Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne. He is a consultant neurologist and Head of Neurology and Stroke at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.


His research interests are focused on the imaging and treatment of acute stroke and he was co-principal investigator and medical co-ordinator of the EXTEND-IA and EXTEND-IA TNK multi-centre randomised trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015 and 2018. He is Chair of Clinical Council and a director of the Stroke Foundation and co-chairs the Australian stroke guidelines working party. He has been an inaugural member of the Victorian stroke telemedicine project and chairs the Victorian Statewide Stroke Reperfusion Therapy Committee. He is also the co-ordinator of the National Brainschool training program for neurologists in training.

Clara Chung is an early career clinical geneticist at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, and Liverpool Hospital. She is a conjoint lecturer at the University of New South Wales, School of Women’s & Children’s Health. Her clinical and research interest is in tuberous sclerosis complex and mosaic genetic conditions. She is a clinician in the tuberous sclerosis management clinic at Sydney Children’s Hospital, and also provides medical advice to the Tuberous Sclerosis Australia support group.

Lindsay Thitchener completed his pathology training at the Institute of Technology in Sydney while working as a trainee at the Royal Hospital for Women and, later, at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick. He joined Douglass Laboratories in 1982, initially in a business development role, and has remained with this practice through its evolution into Sonic Healthcare over the past 40 years. During his time at Sonic, he has worked in the laboratory, both on the bench and as a supervisor, as a regional manager and as the Business Development Manager for Douglass Hanly Moir Laboratories (a division of Sonic Healthcare). He spent eight months’ leave-without-pay working in Nicaragua, Central America, in 1988. During this time, he helped to establish a small laboratory and clinic for women and children in Managua, called ‘Ixchen’.