Kyla is a Social Worker with over 15 years’ experience and has worked in New Zealand, Australia, England, and South-East Asia. Her experience lies within Child Protection, Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence in both government and non-government positions. She has recently completed her Advanced Masters in Sexual and Reproductive Health and is now working within public health as a health promotions officer. Her key interests are on the gendered impacts of HIV/STI/BBV transmission, and the wider societal responses to reproductive rights and justice.

Charlotte is a PhD candidate working on the affects of microplastics on gut and brain health

Dr Anastazja Gorecki is a Teaching & Research Scholar in Biomedical Sciences at the School of Health Sciences, University of Notre Dame Fremantle, teaching across neuroscience, microbiology, gastroenterology and research & writing skills. In this role, she loves sharing evidence-based information about the gut-brain axis as well as the intersection between neuroscience and wellness. Her PhD explored the gut barrier in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, which involved a Fulbright Future Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University and resulted in several first-author and co-authored publications. Anastazja is interested in leveraging the connections between the brain and periphery to optimise health and wellbeing, and in the interplay between lifestyle, diet and sustainability. Her current research (with Notre Dame and the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute) includes the effect of microplastics on the gut, and the role of the gut-brain axis in Parkinson’s disease and post-concussion neurodegeneration. In the future, she hopes to contribute to the implementation of current research into practice.

Cassandra Szoeke professor of medicine, doctor, scientist and clinical researcher-is an expert in women’s health. She is director of the Women’s Healthy Ageing Project at the University of Melbourne and has published hundreds of academic and clinical publications.

Benjamin Y. Fong is Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, the Honors College and Associate Director of the Center for Work & Democracy at Arizona State University. He is the author of Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge (Verso 2023). He is also the co-editor (with Craig Calhoun) of The Green New Deal and the Future of Work (Columbia, 2022) and the author of Death and Mastery: Psychoanalytic Drive Theory and the Subject of Late Capitalism (Columbia, 2016). His writing can be found in Jacobin, Catalyst, The New York Times, Current Affairs, The Point, and other popular outlets, and it is collected at benfong.com.

Monique is an Autistic and ADHD’er Clinical Psychologist working in private practice in Brisbane Australia. She does training, has consulted on the National Autism Strategy and has co-authored ‘The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD’ (2024) by New Harbinger which is a no. 1 bestseller. Monique has an interest in Autism and ADHD particularly in women and girls, and co-occurring chronic pain/illness, and trauma. Monique also co-hosts The Neurodivergent Woman Podcast with Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr Michelle Livock which share free clinical and lived experience information on Neurodivergence in Girls and Women for professionals, neurodivergent people and their loved ones. The podcast has over 1.5 million downloads and is in the top 1% of podcasts on Spotify.

Heather Douglas joined Melbourne Law School in 2021 and teaches and researches in the area of criminal law and procedure. Her expertise on legal responses to domestic and family violence is internationally recognised and she co-ordinates the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book. Heather is currently working on an Australian Research Council funded research project exploring the application of non-fatal strangulation offences. She was an Australian Research Council Future Fellow from 2015-2019 and her project explored women’s engagements with the legal system as part of their response to domestic and family violence. Her book, Women, Intimate Partner Violence and the Law, published by Oxford University Press in 2021, was awarded the 2021 Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ) book prize. She is a member of the Melbourne Alliance to End Violence Against Women and Their Children (MAEVe). She is also interested in the operation and application of law in the context of Australian indigenous–settler relations. Her book, Indigenous Crime and Settler Law: White Sovereignty After Empire, co-authored with Professor Mark Finnane was published by Palgrave in 2012. With Dr Nicole Watson, she assisted in the coordination of the Indigenous Judgments Project and a co-edited collection, Indigenous Legal Judgments: Bringing Indigenous Voices into Judicial Decision Making, that was published by Routledge in 2021. In 2022 Heather was awarded an Order of Australia in the General Division (AM) for her service to tertiary law education, and the community. Heather is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Law. Previously she was a Professor at the University of Queensland, School of Law. Heather has held visiting fellowships at Humboldt University, Faculty of Law (2018); Durham University, Institute of Advanced Studies (2016) and Oxford University, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (2004).

Dr Paul Tescher is a distinguished medical professional and innovator in health technology. He currently serves as the co-founder and CTO of mAIscribe as well as co-owner and Clinical Director of 2 GP clinics. Dr. Tescher holds an MBBS and BMedSci from Melbourne University, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP). As a practicing GP, he has focused on integrating technology into healthcare to enhance patient outcomes. His work centers on improving patient care through technological innovations and efficient clinical practices, making him a leading voice in the evolving landscape of modern healthcare delivery.

A/Prof Ron Dick is the Chairman of Cardiovascular Institute at Epworth Healthcare, an Honorary Cardiologist at the Alfred Hospital and Bendigo Healthcare Group. In 2017, he received an OAM for service to medicine as a cardiologist.

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.