Experts

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

Dr Shruti Swamy is a specialist paediatric allergist and immunologist with appointments at Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore Hospitals. She has set up multiple allergy services in both metropolitan and regional centres.Her areas of expertise include the following:IgE-mediated allergies: food, drug, venom Gastrointestinal allergic disease: eosinophilic oesophagitis, Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES), allergic enteritis/proctocolitis Severe eczema Allergic rhinitis, allergic airways disease Chronic urticaria Autoinflammatory conditions (including periodic fever syndromes) Autoimmune conditions Suspected immunodeficiency/immune dysregulation
A GP and experienced healthcare leader with clinical and consulting expertise in chronic disease management, doctors’ health, care of older people, the primary health care/community/hospital interfaces, quality improvement and change leadership. Chris is Director of Bollen Health after having previously been a CEO of a Division of General Practice and Director of GP Training Queen Elizabeth Hospital.MBBS MBA FRACGP FACHSM MAICD
With a background of nursing and accounting, plus a focus on systems and organisation, Jane is a great believer in data driven improvement for your healthcare business. She is also passionate about nurses working to their full scope of practice in primary care. This passion resulted in Jane serving as a board Director with the Australian Primary Health Care Nurse Association (APNA) 2016-18. Jane loves to explore strategies for general practices to keep improving, as well as discuss the challenges they find implementing chronic disease management into their systems and processes. She coaches and supports nurses to improve the care of their patients and is a data queen – helping people make a difference by making data matter to them.RN Cert(CritCare) CertIVTAE DipAcct GAICD
Specialist sleep physician Dr David Cunnington, provides healthcare to patients with a range sleep problems. With qualifications from two Australian Universities and a Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, David takes a broad approach to diagnosis and management of sleep disorders. David has a particular interest in measuring sleep using a range of technologies and is an expert in the interpretation of sleep data.Thanks to his broad experience and qualifications, David is able to use of a range of treatments, including behavioural and psychological strategies, devices and medications to manage sleep problems.
Professor Christopher Rowe BMBS, FRACP, MD, FAANMS is a nuclear medicine physician and neurologist, with over 20 years of experience in dementia research and patient care. He is the Director of Molecular Imaging Research at Austin Health, Melbourne, Professorial Fellow University of Melbourne, a NHMRC Practitioner Fellow and is the inaugural Director of the Australian Dementia Network.His research focus is molecular imaging and blood diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease, for better understanding, earlier more accurate detection, and to facilitate development of early therapeutic interventions. He has over 400 publications and is in the 2021 Highly Cited Researcher list of the top 1% world-wide for neuroscience with over 7,500 citations of his papers per year, and has received the 2011 US Society of Nuclear Medicine Kuhl-Lassen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Brain Imaging and the 2016 Christopher Clark Award for advancing human brain amyloid imaging.
Prof Baber is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Sydney and operates a specialist Gynaecology and Reproductive Endocrinology practice based on Sydney’s lower north shore. He also heads the menopause and menstrual disorders clinic at Royal North Shore Hospital. Prof Baber is a life member and Past President Australasian menopause Society as well as Past President International Menopause Society where he is also Honorary Life Member.
Dr John Eden (MB BS MD FRCOG FRANZCOG CREI) is a reproductive endocrinologist and gynaecologist. He is a Conjoint Professor in the Department of Women and Children’s Health, Royal Hospital for Women (University of New South Wales). He is a visiting medical officer at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, where he is Head of the Menopause Unit. John is a Director of the Women’s Health and Research Institute of Australia (WHRIA). He is a member of the Breast Cancer MDT at Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick. John is on the executive committee and co-chair of the NSW Health (ACI) Menopause Hub project. His research and clinical interests include managing menopause after breast cancer, early menopause, hormones and mood disorders, PMDD, menopausal hormonal therapy as well as herbal medicine. He has also written over 150 scientific publications.
Dr Terri Foran is a Sexual Health Physician and has a special interest in contraception, menopause issues and the management of sexually transmitted infections. She was previously the Medical Director of Family Planning NSW and is now in clinical practice in Darlinghurst. She is also engaged in both clinical and research work at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. Dr Foran holds the position of Lecturer at the University of New South Wales in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health. She coordinates Phase 2 of their undergraduate Women’s Health program as well as supervising a number of modules in the Masters of Reproductive Medicine and Masters of Women’s Health Medicine Programs offered by UNSW.
Dr Sara Whitburn is the Deputy Medical Director at Sexual Health Victoria. She has a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practice, has Diplomas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Family Planning. Dr Whitburn specialises in genital health, menopause, and IUD insertion training. Dr Whitburn is excited about enabling healthcare professionals to deliver great sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Associate Professor Ruth Blackham is a Consultant Bariatric, General and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon and Director of Aurora Bariatrics & Metabolic Medicine in Perth, Western Australia. She holds a Master of Surgery, Master of Legal Medicine, and a PhD in Surgical Performance, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Dr Blackham is a Clinical Associate Professor and is actively involved in surgical education, research, and postgraduate training. Her clinical interests focus on obesity as a chronic, cardiometabolic disease, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary care. She is passionate about improving long-term outcomes for patients through evidence-based, integrated approaches to metabolic health.
Dr Kieran Dang is a General Practitioner with a background in data science, AI and product development. He has had roles in several Australian startups, helping build products that clinicians love. He is also one of the co-founders of Virtual Dermatology – a telehealth platform providing fast access to specialist dermatologists from anywhere in Australia. Kieran is currently the Head of Integrations at Heidi Health
Professor Weerasooriya is a UWA graduate of over 30 years who completed cardiology training at Royal Perth Hospital and Hopital Cardiologique Haut-Lévêque in Bordeaux, France. Rukshen has over 20 years experience as a sub-specialist cardiac electrophysiologist with a passion for all things heart rhythm related.
A/Prof Debbie Rigby is a consultant clinical pharmacist from Brisbane. Since graduation with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland she has obtained a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy, Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Pharmacy and certification as an Asthma Educator; and credentialed as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist.

A/Prof Rigby has special interests in geriatric pharmacotherapy, deprescribing, health behaviour change and asthma/COPD management, regularly conducts medication review services (Home Medicine Reviews) in collaboration with GPs in a medical centre, as well as providing education to pharmacists, general practitioners, nurses, nurse practitioners and consumers.

Over the last 20 years Debbie has served on numerous committees for pharmacy organisations including as Chair and Director of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP), national vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and a PSA Qld Branch committee member. She is currently the Chair of the PSA Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Communities of Specialty Interest (CSI) and is on the Leadership Group of the Respiratory Care CSI.

A/Prof Rigby is a Fellow of PSA, Australian College of Pharmacy (ACP), Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and a Life Fellow of American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP).

Academic appointments include Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Queensland and Griffith University, and a Clinical Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She is a member of the QUT Bachelor of Pharmacy Course Advisory Group.

A/Prof Rigby also sits on numerous advisory boards and committees including: DVA Veteran’s MATES Practitioner Reference Group, International Pharmacists for Anticoagulation Care Taskforce (iPACT), Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) Medication Safety Oversight Committee, Active Ingredient Prescribing Advisory Group and National Quality Use of Medicines Project Advisory Group, Lung Foundation Australia COPD Clinical Advisory Committee and Primary Care COPD Advisory Committee, MIMS Australia Advisory Board, Glaucoma Australia Pharmacy Committee, Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary (APF) Editorial Board, Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN), Deprescribing Taskforce, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)

In 2001, She was awarded the PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year, in 2002 the PSA Qld Bowl of Hygeia, the inaugural 2008 recipient of the AACP Consultant Pharmacist Award and in 2016 awarded the Australian Clinical Pharmacy Award by SHPA. In 2020, A/Prof Rigby was the first female awarded the PSA Lifetime Achievement Award.

I’m a PhD student studying clinical trials methodology, specifically how exercise interventions can be optimised for people at risk of dementia, at the University of Birmingham. Previously I studied Psychology and Neuroscience, leading to my interest in user experience research.My previous research projects have been varied, and focused on: better understanding how environment affects alcohol use; understanding how dopamine receptors in the brain respond to electrical stimulation; and optimising exercise interventions for people at risk of dementia.
Dr Richard Elsworthy is primarily interested in the mechanisms underlying neurological disease. Richard works with stem cells, modelling the brain to detect early pathological features of both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Richard also has an interest in how exercise can be used to improve brain health and prevent disease.
Dr Shruti Swamy is a specialist paediatric allergist and immunologist with appointments at Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore Hospitals. She has set up multiple allergy services in both metropolitan and regional centres.Her areas of expertise include the following:IgE-mediated allergies: food, drug, venom Gastrointestinal allergic disease: eosinophilic oesophagitis, Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES), allergic enteritis/proctocolitis Severe eczema Allergic rhinitis, allergic airways disease Chronic urticaria Autoinflammatory conditions (including periodic fever syndromes) Autoimmune conditions Suspected immunodeficiency/immune dysregulation
A GP and experienced healthcare leader with clinical and consulting expertise in chronic disease management, doctors’ health, care of older people, the primary health care/community/hospital interfaces, quality improvement and change leadership. Chris is Director of Bollen Health after having previously been a CEO of a Division of General Practice and Director of GP Training Queen Elizabeth Hospital.MBBS MBA FRACGP FACHSM MAICD
With a background of nursing and accounting, plus a focus on systems and organisation, Jane is a great believer in data driven improvement for your healthcare business. She is also passionate about nurses working to their full scope of practice in primary care. This passion resulted in Jane serving as a board Director with the Australian Primary Health Care Nurse Association (APNA) 2016-18. Jane loves to explore strategies for general practices to keep improving, as well as discuss the challenges they find implementing chronic disease management into their systems and processes. She coaches and supports nurses to improve the care of their patients and is a data queen – helping people make a difference by making data matter to them.RN Cert(CritCare) CertIVTAE DipAcct GAICD
Specialist sleep physician Dr David Cunnington, provides healthcare to patients with a range sleep problems. With qualifications from two Australian Universities and a Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, David takes a broad approach to diagnosis and management of sleep disorders. David has a particular interest in measuring sleep using a range of technologies and is an expert in the interpretation of sleep data.Thanks to his broad experience and qualifications, David is able to use of a range of treatments, including behavioural and psychological strategies, devices and medications to manage sleep problems.
Professor Christopher Rowe BMBS, FRACP, MD, FAANMS is a nuclear medicine physician and neurologist, with over 20 years of experience in dementia research and patient care. He is the Director of Molecular Imaging Research at Austin Health, Melbourne, Professorial Fellow University of Melbourne, a NHMRC Practitioner Fellow and is the inaugural Director of the Australian Dementia Network.His research focus is molecular imaging and blood diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease, for better understanding, earlier more accurate detection, and to facilitate development of early therapeutic interventions. He has over 400 publications and is in the 2021 Highly Cited Researcher list of the top 1% world-wide for neuroscience with over 7,500 citations of his papers per year, and has received the 2011 US Society of Nuclear Medicine Kuhl-Lassen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Brain Imaging and the 2016 Christopher Clark Award for advancing human brain amyloid imaging.
Prof Baber is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Sydney and operates a specialist Gynaecology and Reproductive Endocrinology practice based on Sydney’s lower north shore. He also heads the menopause and menstrual disorders clinic at Royal North Shore Hospital. Prof Baber is a life member and Past President Australasian menopause Society as well as Past President International Menopause Society where he is also Honorary Life Member.
Dr John Eden (MB BS MD FRCOG FRANZCOG CREI) is a reproductive endocrinologist and gynaecologist. He is a Conjoint Professor in the Department of Women and Children’s Health, Royal Hospital for Women (University of New South Wales). He is a visiting medical officer at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, where he is Head of the Menopause Unit. John is a Director of the Women’s Health and Research Institute of Australia (WHRIA). He is a member of the Breast Cancer MDT at Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick. John is on the executive committee and co-chair of the NSW Health (ACI) Menopause Hub project. His research and clinical interests include managing menopause after breast cancer, early menopause, hormones and mood disorders, PMDD, menopausal hormonal therapy as well as herbal medicine. He has also written over 150 scientific publications.
Dr Terri Foran is a Sexual Health Physician and has a special interest in contraception, menopause issues and the management of sexually transmitted infections. She was previously the Medical Director of Family Planning NSW and is now in clinical practice in Darlinghurst. She is also engaged in both clinical and research work at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. Dr Foran holds the position of Lecturer at the University of New South Wales in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health. She coordinates Phase 2 of their undergraduate Women’s Health program as well as supervising a number of modules in the Masters of Reproductive Medicine and Masters of Women’s Health Medicine Programs offered by UNSW.
Dr Sara Whitburn is the Deputy Medical Director at Sexual Health Victoria. She has a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practice, has Diplomas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Family Planning. Dr Whitburn specialises in genital health, menopause, and IUD insertion training. Dr Whitburn is excited about enabling healthcare professionals to deliver great sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Associate Professor Ruth Blackham is a Consultant Bariatric, General and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon and Director of Aurora Bariatrics & Metabolic Medicine in Perth, Western Australia. She holds a Master of Surgery, Master of Legal Medicine, and a PhD in Surgical Performance, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Dr Blackham is a Clinical Associate Professor and is actively involved in surgical education, research, and postgraduate training. Her clinical interests focus on obesity as a chronic, cardiometabolic disease, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary care. She is passionate about improving long-term outcomes for patients through evidence-based, integrated approaches to metabolic health.
Dr Kieran Dang is a General Practitioner with a background in data science, AI and product development. He has had roles in several Australian startups, helping build products that clinicians love. He is also one of the co-founders of Virtual Dermatology – a telehealth platform providing fast access to specialist dermatologists from anywhere in Australia. Kieran is currently the Head of Integrations at Heidi Health
Professor Weerasooriya is a UWA graduate of over 30 years who completed cardiology training at Royal Perth Hospital and Hopital Cardiologique Haut-Lévêque in Bordeaux, France. Rukshen has over 20 years experience as a sub-specialist cardiac electrophysiologist with a passion for all things heart rhythm related.
A/Prof Debbie Rigby is a consultant clinical pharmacist from Brisbane. Since graduation with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland she has obtained a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy, Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Pharmacy and certification as an Asthma Educator; and credentialed as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist.

A/Prof Rigby has special interests in geriatric pharmacotherapy, deprescribing, health behaviour change and asthma/COPD management, regularly conducts medication review services (Home Medicine Reviews) in collaboration with GPs in a medical centre, as well as providing education to pharmacists, general practitioners, nurses, nurse practitioners and consumers.

Over the last 20 years Debbie has served on numerous committees for pharmacy organisations including as Chair and Director of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP), national vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and a PSA Qld Branch committee member. She is currently the Chair of the PSA Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Communities of Specialty Interest (CSI) and is on the Leadership Group of the Respiratory Care CSI.

A/Prof Rigby is a Fellow of PSA, Australian College of Pharmacy (ACP), Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and a Life Fellow of American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP).

Academic appointments include Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Queensland and Griffith University, and a Clinical Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She is a member of the QUT Bachelor of Pharmacy Course Advisory Group.

A/Prof Rigby also sits on numerous advisory boards and committees including: DVA Veteran’s MATES Practitioner Reference Group, International Pharmacists for Anticoagulation Care Taskforce (iPACT), Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) Medication Safety Oversight Committee, Active Ingredient Prescribing Advisory Group and National Quality Use of Medicines Project Advisory Group, Lung Foundation Australia COPD Clinical Advisory Committee and Primary Care COPD Advisory Committee, MIMS Australia Advisory Board, Glaucoma Australia Pharmacy Committee, Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary (APF) Editorial Board, Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN), Deprescribing Taskforce, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)

In 2001, She was awarded the PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year, in 2002 the PSA Qld Bowl of Hygeia, the inaugural 2008 recipient of the AACP Consultant Pharmacist Award and in 2016 awarded the Australian Clinical Pharmacy Award by SHPA. In 2020, A/Prof Rigby was the first female awarded the PSA Lifetime Achievement Award.

I’m a PhD student studying clinical trials methodology, specifically how exercise interventions can be optimised for people at risk of dementia, at the University of Birmingham. Previously I studied Psychology and Neuroscience, leading to my interest in user experience research.My previous research projects have been varied, and focused on: better understanding how environment affects alcohol use; understanding how dopamine receptors in the brain respond to electrical stimulation; and optimising exercise interventions for people at risk of dementia.
Dr Richard Elsworthy is primarily interested in the mechanisms underlying neurological disease. Richard works with stem cells, modelling the brain to detect early pathological features of both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Richard also has an interest in how exercise can be used to improve brain health and prevent disease.

Upcoming Healthed Webcast

Tune in for "Gallbladder – When surgery is or is not needed" lecture

Tuesday 26th May, 7pm - 9pm AEST

Speaker

Dr David Yeo

Specialist Upper GI, Hepatobiliary and Bariatric Surgeon; Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, RPA and St George Hospitals

In this talk, surgeon, Dr David Yeo will answer these and many other real-world questions related to this common condition and provide an update on the latest recommendations for the assessment, investigation and management of gallbladder disease.