Invited speakers - Thursday 28 July

Prof Imogen Mitchell
Executive Director, Research and Academic Partnerships, Canberra Health Services

The Australian Capital Territory declared a health emergency on 16th March 2022, which allowed the Chief Health Officer to take any action, or give any direction, considered to be necessary to protect Canberrans and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the ACT. During the next two years, the ACT health care system has had to adapt and respond to the health emergency to ensure the protection of patients, staff and the community as well delivering non-COVID health care.

Prof Si Ming Man
Division of Immunology and Infectious Disease, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University

Infectious diseases, such as food poisoning, sepsis, and pneumonia, are responsible for one-third of deaths in the world. The immune system is critical in controlling infections and ensuring our survival. In this presentation, I will discuss our latest research studies on the biology of the innate immune system and the importance of the immune system in recognise toxins and microbes.

Dr Brett Scholz
Research Fellow (Senior Lecturer), ANU Medical School, The Australian National University

Consumer movements have fought for greater participation in health systems for decades, and there have been some significant strides towards meaningful engagement. However, as such engagement becomes more mainstream, we risk co-option of consumers’ expertise and tokenism. This presentation will explore ways of strengthening engagement and moving towards consumer-led approaches.

Dr Bernie Bissett
Discipline Lead, Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra

Long COVID will affect thousands of Canberrans in the coming months and years, and a major challenge for many survivors is breathlessness. The ACT Long COVID clinic, based at UC Hospital, is using a multidisciplinary approach and world-leading techniques to reduce breathlessness and improve exercise tolerance, while collecting data to establish the feasibility of this innovative approach.

Dr Joseph Lynch
Clinical Research Lead, Trauma and Orthopaedic Research Unit, Canberra Health Services

Understanding how and why we move is important for outcomes of operative and non-operative treatments. This talk will highlight some of the research into joint function being performed at the Trauma and Orthopaedic Research Unit.

Prof Deborah Davis
Clinical Chair in Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra

This session will present some of the recent work of the Brighter Beginning Research Group, a multidisciplinary group of researchers at UC who are passionate about maternal child health.  The focus is on the holistic healthcare needs of women with GDM.

Dr Nicole Freene
Associate Professor, Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra

Physical inactivity is a risk factor for severe illness from COVID-19, chronic disease and death. Physical activity promotion by health professionals is a key strategy to increase the populations’ physical activity levels. Nicole will present physical activity promotion preparedness and knowledge of university nursing and allied health students before and after an educational intervention.

Dr Regan Ashby
Associate Professor, Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra