Dr Chelsie O’Connor is a radiation oncologist at GenesisCare and treats patients with skin and head and neck cancers as well as haematological malignancies. She is experienced in novel radiotherapy techniques for skin cancer and her research interests are in investigating lymphoedema in patients with skin and head and neck cancers. She has an interest in medical innovations and health technology and is an alumni of the Medical Devices Commercialisation Training Programme through Cicada Innovations.

Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos AM is a member of the Doctors Environment Australia,
Awarded Honorary Fellowship of the RACGP,
Adjunct Associate Professor, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University
Research Committee Member, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University
Adjunct Associate Professor, Dietetics & Human Nutrition, La Trobe University
She has received a Queen’s Birthday Honours award for the Environment, and an Australia Day Environment award by her local Council.
Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos is a respected general practitioner with over 30 years of clinical experience who emphasises the importance of lifestyle and preventative medicine with her patients. A/Prof Kotsirilos has a particular interest in public health and is a regular lecturer and media commentator on Air Pollution and how it impacts human health.

Sherin is a clinical and research pelvic floor physiotherapist with many years of experience. She has post-graduate qualifications in Acupuncture; Continence & Pelvic Floor Dysfunction; and Urodynamics. Her extensive knowledge and experience has taken her interstate and overseas sharing her experience and research findings in these areas with other medical and allied health professionals. Sherin has pioneered research into the use of Botulinum Toxin Type A for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. She is also researching painful intercourse following treatment for breast cancer. Along with Professor Thierry Vancaillie and the WHRIA team she treats women and men suffering from pudendal neuralgia. She was a conjoint lecturer at UNSW from 2008 until she retired from this position in 2020.

Special clinical interest in skin, breast, gastrointestinal, and lung cancers.
Dr Monique Heinke has a Bachelor of Science with honours in 1995 and went on to complete a PhD in protein biochemistry, investigating molecular changes in heart failure, in 2000 from the University of Sydney. In 2010 Monique graduated from a Bachelor of Medicine and completed her specialist radiation oncology training at Wollongong, Liverpool, Campbelltown and St George Hospitals becoming a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists in 2019.
Following her training, Monique has worked as a Clinical Fellow at Liverpool, Westmead and Nepean Hospitals, specialising in breast, lung, skin, head and neck and urogenital cancers.
She has an ongoing interest in research in the areas of the use of MRI in radiotherapy planning, the outcomes of lung multidisciplinary care, and palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases and has presented work at local and international conferences. She is actively involved in medical education and promoting radiotherapy with consumer groups.
Monique is a dual Olympian in rowing, having competed the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics. She continues to row and is a Selector for the NSW State Team.

Joyce is a multi-award winning clinical consultant pharmacist and educator within the field of pain management. She is the Clinical Director of the Gold Coast Primary Health Network ‘Turning Pain into Gain’ program and Australia Pain Society QLD Director. Her contributions in the field of persistent pain has been recognised through awards and collaborative industry partnerships with Griffith University, Bond University, Pain Australia, Australian Pain Society, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the Pain Management Research Institute. Her research interest lies in innovative health pathway design and piloting and implementing models of care within the primary care setting utilising mixed funding models to optimise pain management and chronic disease management.

Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah is a physician in infectious diseases and general medicine at a major Melbourne hospital. She has research interests in artificial intelligence, health services research and the occupational safety of health care workers. Michelle is the founder of fungalAi, a platform technology that aims to facilitate faster surveillance and diagnosis of fungal infections in patients with blood cancers. In 2019, she was awarded a prestigious TRIP (Translating Research Into Practice) fellowship by the Medical Research Future Fund and appointed to JAMA Network Open as a statistical and methods reviewer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Michelle has advocated for Australian healthcare workers and brought her critical thinking skills to the vaccine debate noting that she is not a vaccinologist. She is the co-founder of Healthcare Workers Australia, a grass-roots advocacy group supporting better work, health and safety standards for Australia’s frontline.

Prof David Playford is a cardiac imaging specialist, having run a specialist echo laboratory, an echo core laboratory, and an advanced echo fellowship program. His clinical cardiology interests are general cardiology, cardiac risk assessment, breathlessness and pulmonary hypertension, heart failure and valvular heart disease. David is dual FRACP-trained in General Medicine and Cardiology, and is a Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, the American College of Cardiology, the and the European Society of Cardiology.

David is the Professor of Cardiology at the University of Notre Dame, where he was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, and coordinates the undergraduate cardiovascular teaching program.

From a research perspective, his Doctor of Philosophy examined vascular function, lipid abnormalities and diabetes, and he subsequently undertook echocardiography training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston USA. David is the Principal Investigator of the National Echo Database Australia (NEDA), the largest echo database in the world with links to mortality data. He also runs an artificial intelligence program focusing on automation of interpretation of echo and ECG data.

Professor Jeff Craig is a Lecturer in Medical Sciences at School of Medicine at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria. Prior to this, he spent twenty years as a researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne. He studies the role of epigenetics in mediating the effects of early life environment on the risk for chronic disease. He is currently developing epigenetic biomarkers from easy-to-collect biosamples. Dr Craig has established a number of longitudinal cohorts in collaboration with clinicians and epidemiologists. Most have involved twins, due their ability to resolve the effects of genes and environments, particularly in the prenatal period. His longest-running cohort, the Peri/postnatal Epigenetic Twin Study (PETS), is currently funded to study children at eleven years of age. Dr Craig is also a Chief Investigator on the NHMRC-funded Twins Centre of Research Excellence and President of the International Society for Twin Studies. He has a keen interest in the applications of his research for public health and to do this, he is engaging with the public and with colleagues from a wide range of disciplines. In the broader context, he is interested in the two-way interactions between human health and the health of the environment.

Mark Patrick Taylor is a Professor of Environmental Science and Human Health at Macquarie University, Sydney, specialising in environmental contamination and the risks it can pose.

His research program investigates environmental contamination in aerosols, dusts, sediments, soil and water and risks to human health. His work has focused on mining and smelting emissions and depositions, as well as contamination in urban environments. In recent years he has examined lead and other contaminants in bees, sparrows, lichens and wildfire ash. His most recent paper examines atmospheric trace metal emissions from wildfires. His work has also encompassed ‘human environments’ and has included analysis of blood lead levels in children, lead in wine, honey, residential veggie patches, household dusts, drinking water and the effect of early life lead exposure on aggressive crime rates.

His group’s work includes Australia’s only community VegeSafe program, which provides free soil metal analysis and advice to household gardeners across the nation. More recently, he started a new global citizen science initiative ‘DustSafe’ to examine contaminants in household dust.

Amy Howell is an Associate Research Scientist at the Marucci Center for Blueberry Cranberry Research. She has a background in plant science and pathology and her program targets utilising cranberry for prevention and management of bacterial diseases, including urinary tract infections (UTIs), stomach ulcers, and periodontal disease. She is keen to have consumers utilise more natural alternative methods, such as cranberry for disease prevention in an effort to curb overuse of antibiotics and resistance development. Her primary research focus has been on isolating polyphenolic compounds from cranberry and determining their role in prevention of UTIs. She studies the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of the structurally unique cranberry proanthocyanidins in an effort to determine site(s) of action and dose-response, as well as the influence of cranberry on enhancing the potency of antibiotics. She regularly collaborates in clinical trials on cranberry consumption and UTI prevention. Other projects include development of cranberry supplements for both human and canine urinary health, and anti-cancer, anti-viral and oral cavity health studies utilizing cranberry.

Howell is very involved in method development for powdered cranberry supplements, working closely with regulatory teams from AOAC and USP (US Pharmacopoeia) to determine standard methods for quantification of the bioactive compounds in cranberries. USP determines FDA-enforceable quality standards for drugs and dietary supplements. This is extremely important given the variability in efficacy and frequent adulteration of cranberry products.

Howell actively supports the cranberry and blueberry industries and trade associations by educating consumers and healthcare professionals through seminar presentations on health attributes of the fruits. She has travelled to over 20 countries on international trade missions to present the latest findings on health-related research. She regularly travels as part of a team to China and India under the Global Based Initiative (GBI), a program funded by USDA and the Foreign Agricultural Service to introduce cranberries overseas. She serves on the USDA-sanctioned US Highbush Blueberry Council as the Public Member, helping determine funding for health-related research on blueberries.

A/Prof Jeremy Grummet is a practising urologist and Director of Urology at Alfred Health in Melbourne and Clinical Associate Professor at Monash University where he supervises PhD and Masters students on research in prostate cancer diagnosis. He was a member of the EAU Guidelines Prostate Cancer Panel for 6 years until now and is the founder of MRI PRO, the global online training program for reading prostate MRI, accredited as a Monash University Short Course. He is Principal Investigator of the LIBERATE registry for Focal Brachytherapy for prostate cancer. A/Prof Grummet is currently on the government-funded committee to update Australian guidelines on PSA testing.

Dr Al-Salihi is a certified Urogynaecologist, Obstetrician and a Gynaecologist.

Dr Al-Salihi gained his primary degree in Medicine and Surgery overseas and acquired extensive experience in Medicine and Surgery working in different parts of the world. After completing his General Obstetrics and Gynaecology training in New Zealand and Australia, Dr Al-Salihi received formal training in Urogynaecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery at the Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne. Currently, Dr. Al-Salihi is appointed as the Head for the Urogynaecology Unit at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Parkville.

Dr Al-Salihi offers services in Urogynaecology and Urodynamic testing for patients with pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. He has a special interest in laparoscopic and minimal access surgery in pelvic reconstruction and urogynaecology. Our private obstetric practice offers antenatal care, ultrasound and deliverers at both Frances Perry House Hospital.
Dr Al-Salihi is extensively involved in clinical research and innovative developments in the field. He won the best video abstract award at the International Urogynaecology Association (IUGA) conference held in Como Italy in 2009. He presents his papers regularly at national and international conventions around the world. He is also committed to the junior trainees’ clinical and surgical training.