Karen studied Psychology, Applied Statistics and Education at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and the University of Cambridge, UK. After moving to Melbourne, Australia, she worked for the Key Centre for Women’s Health at Melbourne University and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University (Western Health partnership). She has a keen interest in mental health among at-risk populations including healthcare workers and new parents.

Professor Bodil Rasmussen is Chair in Nursing and Director for the Centre for Nursing Research in the Western Health Partnership, Melbourne, Australia. Her research program focuses on empowering people with chronic and multi-morbidity to self-manage by using technologies and implementation of research evidence into practice. She is acknowledged as an international leader in diabetes research and education. She holds Adjunct Professorial appointments the Universities of Copenhagen and Southern Denmark, Denmark and serves on national committees that inform policies at Australian Health Policy Collaboration: Self-Care Expert using technologies and Australian Diabetes Education Association. Bodil leads multi-disciplinary local and international teams, including collaboration with the prestigious Steno Diabetes, Denmark.

Dr Sara Holton is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Western Health Partnership in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Institute of Health Transformation at Deakin University. Sara is mid‐career researcher and social scientist who conducts psychosocial research in three main, often intersecting, areas: women’s health, chronic disease, and health services research. Sara is currently leading several COVID-19 related research projects including one of the first Australian studies to investigate the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on hospital clinical staff. Sara’s research findings have informed health policy, practice and research.

Caroline is an Associate Professor and a Clinical Neuropsychologist within the Department of Psychiatry at Monash University. She is the Head of the Cognition and Hormones research group and works clinically as a neuropschologist in the field of Women’s Mental Health. Caroline’s research explores the interplay between sex hormones, and lifestyle factors, such as trauma and stress, on cognition in mental illness.

I’m a coastal geomorphologist with over 35 years experience studying and monitoring coastal processes on beaches. More recently my work has focused on beach safety research, particularly the rip current hazard, from both physical and social science perspectives. I also run a successful and award winning community beach safety education program called ‘The Science of the Surf (SOS)’ that aims to educate people about beach hazards and safety. I am extremely passionate and committed to reducing the number of fatalities and accidents that occur on beaches, most of which are largely due to lack of education and awareness. You can follow me on Facebook (Dr Rip’s Science of the Surf), Twitter (@Dr_Rip_SOS) and at www.scienceofthesurf.com

Specialties: Beach and coastal hazards, beach safety education, coastal processes and shoreline response, community engagement, science communication and outreach, scientific and environmental writing, education and training, media communication and engagement, public speaking.

Dr Amy Peden is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Research Fellow and Lecturer in the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney.

Amy is an injury prevention researcher and leads a program of research that focuses on drowning prevention globally. Her work ranges from epidemiology and risk factor identification to science communication, advocacy, and the translation of evidence into policy and practice. Specifically her work focuses on highlighting the full burden of drowning, including improvements to global estimates and increasing awareness of the health system, economic and social impacts of non-fatal drowning. Her work also focuses on the intersecting risk factors of rurality and alcohol consumption. She regularly appears on television, radio and in print to discuss drowning prevention.

Amy is an honorary Senior Research Fellow with Royal Life Saving Society – Australia and a co-founder of the UNSW Beach Safety Research Group. She is also actively involved in broader injury prevention research, including a focus on adolescents through the Australian Centre for Research Excellence in “Driving Global Investment in Adolescent Health”.

A/Prof John Brannan is the Scientific Director in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, where his key focus is running the pulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise laboratories. He also performs research in respiratory diseases with a focus in asthma, which includes an interest in bronchial provocation testing as an aid to identify both active asthma, exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, and chronic cough. He has a strong interest in investigating mechanisms of drug treatments in airway diseases.

Giovanni Sala is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Liverpool (UK), where he was awarded a PhD in 2017. His work focuses on building statistical models of human cognition in experimental and educational settings. His interests include the study of cognitive and biological correlates of successful ageing, the relationship between intelligence and expert performance, and the evaluation of cognitive/brain training programmes.

Melissa Kang Clinical Associate Professor in the Specialty of General Practice at the University of Sydney. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Technology Sydney. She is a primary health care academic and has worked clinically in youth health since 1993 in community and hospital settings. Her research areas include adolescent sexuality and sexual health, and access to primary health care for young people. She teaches postgraduate students and has trained a wide range of health and education professionals in adolescent health. She has been involved in developing resources in adolescent and / or sexual health for GPs for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, NSW Health (Youth Health and Wellbeing Team) and the Sexually Transmitted Infections Programs Unit for NSW Health. Melissa wrote the Dolly Doctor medical column for Dolly magazine for 23 years before it closed in December 2016.

Senior Research Fellow with 17 years experience in general practice research. PhD (Medicine) investigated the effect of computerisation on the quality of care in Australian general practice. Background in Health Information Management (BAppSc (HIM) Hons 1). Deputy Director of the Family Medicine Research Centre, investigator of the national BEACH program from 1999 to 2016. Editor of HIMJ, the international peer-reviewed journal of the Health Information Management Association of Australia.

Christopher Harrison joined the University of Sydney’s Family Medicine Research Centre (FMRC) in March 2002. He has been a primary care researcher for two decades now. He completed his PhD in 2017 which investigated the best way to define and measure multimorbidity. Dr Harrison’s study interests are macro health and policy issues, including workforce, effect of vaccinations, the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity and GP access and billing.

Dr Jo-Ann See has worked at Central Sydney Dermatology since 1993 and has been a principal here for over 25 years. After obtaining her medical degree with honours from the University of New South Wales in 1985, she completed her residency at the Prince of Wales Hospital and then her Dermatology training at both Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s Hospitals in Sydney. Her post Fellowship training in Psoriasis was completed at Baylor Medical School, Dallas Texas. As a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology she regularly attends national and international annual scientific meetings to stay up to date.

Dr See has served on the State and Federal boards of the Australasian College of Dermatologists as well as having been a guest examiner for the Fellowship examinations. She has been involved in clinical trials, product launches and has introduced innovative treatments to Australia. Her key interests are skin care, sun damage, skin cancer and acne. She is a pioneer in the field treatment of actinic keratosis (pre-cancers) with daylight photodynamic therapy. Dr See is at the forefront of acne treatment in Australia. She is invited as the sole Australian representative to the International Global Alliance to improve Outcomes in Acne. She, together with liked-minded colleagues, spearheaded the formation of a non-profit health initiative, All About Acne, and has been its long standing chair/co-chair since its foundation.

Dr See attends and is an invited speaker both nationally and internationally. She has made regular appearances in press, radio and television discussing, clarifying and de-mystifying dermatology issues. She has also consulted with the College of Dermatology as well as industry in providing patient information for the general public and teaching material for general practice.