ASPOG
C/-ASPOG Secretariat
PO Box 214
Brunswick East Australia 3057
email margettridge@aapt.net.au

President – Suzanne F Abraham

Suzanne Abraham is Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Sydney. She has an academic, administrative and pastoral role as Sub Dean of year 2 of the graduate medical program at the University of Sydney and teaches in women’s health in years 2 and 4. She is Co director of the Eating Disorders Unit at The Northside Clinic, Greenwich. This is a specialist inpatient treatment unit with 18 beds, it is described as ‘state of the art’.

She is the author of ‘Eating Disorders: The Facts’ first published by Oxford University Press (UK) in 1984 the 6^th edition will be published in 2007. ‘Everygirl’ Penguin (Melbourne) is currently in its 4^th edition, last published in 2003. Along with Jeremy Oats she is preparing the new editions of ‘Llewellyn-Jones Fundamentals of Obstetrics and Gynaecology’, Harcourt, it is currently in its 8^th edition.

Her teaching, research and clinical interests are in the bio-psychosocial aspects of women’s health. For both Sydney University medical schools she set up and assessed a program to help students learn to conduct gynaecological examinations with sensitivity. Eating and exercise, both normal and disordered, make up a major component of her research interests. Her current research projects include; eating and exercise during and after pregnancy, exercise and infertility, the eating behaviours and attitudes of different community groups including mental health sufferers. Developed, and in press this year, is an instrument to measure the Quality of Life (QOL ED) for people with eating and exercise problems. She has published over 100 articles in scientific and medical journals. She is active in supervising postgraduate students from different disciplines such as medicine, psychology, nutrition and nursing. Several of her students have received awards for their work in psychosocial medicine. 

President-Elect - Dr Ann Olsson MBBS, FRANZCOG

Dr Ann Olsson is a gynaecologist currently practising in Adelaide. She graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1984. She completed specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1994. Since that time she has been working in private practice in metropolitan Adelaide. Hospital appointments include Senior Visiting Gynaecologist to the Menopause, Hysteroscopy, Colposcopy and Vulval Disorders Clinics at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Dr Olsson is also the Gynaecologist at The Adelaide Hormone and Menopause Centre. 

Immediate Past President – Professor Julie Quinlivan FRANZCOG PHD MBBS

Dean of Medicine (Sydney/Melbourne Medical School).  Professor Quinlivan had  previous experience at the University of Western Australia, Flinders and Melbourne University medical schools before joining

Notre Dame. She was previously Head of the Gold Maternity Care program and Head of Adolescent Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, and is Head of High Risk Obstetrics at Western Health. Her research interests include domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, and obesity in women's health, impact of stress upon foetal development and psychosocial aspects of women's health. In the past 5 years she has published a book, 4 book chapters, 49 peer reviewed papers, and 62 conference abstracts, in addition to non-peer reviewed publications and has won five Australian and two international research awards including the President's award from the prestigious American Society of Gynaecological Investigation. She is a medical member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, a Board Member of the Moreland Community Health Service, and has previously been a Board member of the WA Sports Centre Trust, and a State/Federal Ministerial Advisor in Domestic Violence, Teenage Pregnancy and Women's Health. As a medical student she was elected President of the UWA Student Guild, UWA student Senate representative, and a member of the National Union of Students Executive. She was awarded an Australia Day Council medal for all round prowess in sport. In 2005 she led an aid delegation to East Timor to review maternal-child health and remains interested in population aspects of obstetric care in developed and developing nations. She is married with 2 children.

 

Honorary Secretary  - Dr Heather Rowe  

Heather Rowe is a health scientist with a background in genetics, psychology and health promotion.  She is Postgraduate Course Coordinator and Lecturer in the Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society in the School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne. She teaches in the Masters of Women’s Health and Masters of Public Health programs and is actively involved in the Undergraduate medical course and the University, coordinating a semester of the Health Practice subject, which looks at the psychosocial context of medical practice, the social determinants of health and the origin and use of evidence in medicine.

She has broad interests in the psychosocial determinants of women’s health, in particular those which are relevant to psychological wellbeing during pregnancy and the postpartum periods. She has an active program of funded research investigating the psychosocial impact of medical technologies in pregnancy and birth, women’s mental health promotion and the evaluation of postpartum mental health services for women. She supervises postgraduate research students who come from a range of disciplines including medicine, nursing and psychology and many of whom are from a variety of international settings. She has been a member of ASPOG since 1999 and Honorary Secretary since 2003.

 

Honorary Treasurer – Assoc Professor Amanda McBride

Associate Professor Amanda McBride has been in active general practice since 1981. She has previously taught for the University of Sydney Medical School. She has an extensive experience of involvement in the Australian Medical Association and in 1993 was awarded the Presidents Award from the NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association for achievements in Women’s Health Policies in NSW. In 1996 Amanda was awarded a Fellowship of the Australian Medical Association. Other involvement has included being a member of the Federal Council and an inaugural member of the Women and Medicine Committee, including being Chairman from 1991-1995 and Co-Chairman from 1995-1996. She was also Chairman of the Committee for Foetal Welfare and the Law from 1994-1996. Within the NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association, Amanda has been a member of the branch council for a number of years, including the position of Honorary Secretary of the Executive Council for 5 years. Within the section of general practice, she was involved on the Women’s Advisory Committee and was the spokesman on General Practice in Women’s Health from 1989-1992.

Amanda has also been involved with the National Health and Medical Council working party on automated and semi-automated cervical cancer screening devices and has been on the National Advisory Committee for the early detection of breast cancer, which is now known as “Breast Screen Australia”. She was a representative on the federal AMA Committee from 1993-1997 and has been involved with the Cancer Council of NSW for a number of years.

Amanda has been a member of the Medical Services Committee of NSW, Medicines Australia and the National Breast Cancer Centre. Her other interests include being involved with the ovarian cancer screening program and a member of the Strategic Development Working Group for the National Breast Cancer Centre. Amanda has been involved as an executive member of the Australian Society of Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is currently treasurer of this organisation and within the Northern Sydney Division of General Practice; she has been a member of its Strategic Development Board and has been a general practice advisory committee member for Medical Observer magazine. She has been an invited speaker at a number of general practice related conferences, including the Australian Federation of Medical Women conference for Australia and Southeast Asia and the General Practice Women’s Health Conference, providing talks on women’s health politics in the 90’s. Amanda has teaching interests in counselling and communication skills.

 

MEMBERS AT LARGE 

Sarah Jones is a individual and couple therapist, with a special interest in perinatal work. She currently works in private practice, and consults to and teachers in a number of paediatric health care agencies.  She has been an active member in the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health and has conference presentations and publications in the area of foetal abnormality, cross cultural clinical work and the impact of  hospitalization on the infant and her parents.  She has training in Social Work, Family Therapy and Couple Therapy.

Jackie Stacy is a practising gynaecologist in Melbourne and is a Fellow of the British, Australian, and New Zealand Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She did her basic medical training at Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London University, graduating in 1975. She  holds an  Honorary Lecturer position at Monash University. She has developed a special interest in psychosomatic medicine and spent 5 years in psychosexual counselling prior to setting up the Pelvic Pain Clinic at Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, in 1997. She is also a member of I.P.P.S., the International Pelvic Pain Society. 

Karin Hammarberg was born in Sweden where she became a Registered Nurse in 1977 and was awarded a BSc in Midwifery in 1982. Between 1984 and 2000 she worked as clinical co-ordinator of IVF programs in Sweden and Australia. In 1999 she completed a major thesis about women’s experience of IVF treatment and was awarded a Master of Women’s Health. Her PhD completed in 2006 investigated the experience of birth and mothering after assisted conception. She is currently working as a Research Fellow at the Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society at the University of Melbourne.