A/Prof Michelle Peate, VIC | president

Michelle is the Program Leader, Psychosocial Health and Wellbeing Research (emPoWeR) Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital, University of Melbourne. Her research encompasses psychology, cancer and reproductive health. Her work is internationally recognised and has resulted in a number of accolades, including a Young Tall Poppy Award, and patient resources (e.g. fertility and breast cancer decision aid and breast cancer and early menopause booklet). Current projects include the development of fertility decision tools for women with breast cancer, parents of children with cancer, and women considering non-medical egg freezing, and an intervention for sexual problems following cancer.

dr Laura whitburn, VIC | president-elect

Dr Laura Whitburn (B.Physio PhD) started her career as a physiotherapist before transitioning into tertiary education and research. She is currently Senior Lecturer in Anatomy at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Laura has received a number of awards for her teaching, including an Australian Award for University Teaching, and is heavily involved in education research. Laura’s clinical research aims to improve women's childbirth experiences, with a particular focus on better understanding the complex experience of pain in labour. This includes an exploration of the role of cognitive, social and environmental factors in shaping a woman's pain experience during childbirth, and how care can be enhanced to improve childbirth experiences. Her research also covers concepts including theoretical models of pain and perception, and pain assessment tools.

Prof Janette Perz, NSW | Treasurer

Professor Janette Perz, is the Director of the Centre for Health Research at the Western Sydney University and researches in the field of reproductive and sexual health with a particular focus on gendered experiences, subjectivity and identity. She has undertaken a significant research program in sexual and reproductive health including the experience of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in heterosexual and lesbian relationships; the development of and evaluation of a couple-based psychological intervention for PMS; sexual wellbeing and reproductive needs in CALD populations; and sexual and psychological wellbeing during menopause and midlife. She has demonstrated expertise in research design and analysis, and mixed-methods research.

dr rosalie power | secretary

Dr Rosalie Power is an Associate Research Fellow at the Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University.  Rosalie’s research examines inequities in sexual health experienced by people with disability and LGBTQ communities, utilising arts-based, mixed-methods, co-creation and knowledge translation approaches.  Rosalie’s approach to research is supported by more than 15 years’ working in the disability sector and in sexual health promotion.

Prof Meredith Temple-Smith | Past President

Meredith Temple-Smith is Professor, Deputy Head and Director of Research Training in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne. She is a mixed methods researcher, who has been a chief investigator on a suite of studies around diagnosis and management of chlamydia in general practice. Her qualitative work includes sexual and reproductive health across the lifespan with a focus on young people, older people, and marginalised populations, aspects of contraception, and social and healthcare support for families affected by miscarriage. She is the editor of two books on sexual health, and co-author of “Sexuality in Adolescence: the Digital Generation”. She has an Honorary position at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.

DR Jade Bilardi, VIC

Dr Jade Bilardi is a Senior Research Fellow in the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University and an honorary fellow in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne.  She is an experienced social health researcher specialising in the field of sexual and reproductive health. Her current program of research and study involvement includes: women’s experiences of bacterial vaginosis (BV); resource development for improved awareness and management of BV; STI partner notification experiences; women’s experiences of medical termination of pregnancy; and improved social and healthcare support for women experiencing miscarriage. Jade specialises in qualitative and mixed methods research.

dr alex hawkey, NSW

Dr Hawkey is an Associate Research Fellow at the THRI, Western Sydney University. Alex works at the intersection of critical public health and cultural enquiry to explore inequities in sexual and reproductive health experienced by marginalised groups of women, particularly migrant and refugee women. Her areas of research interest are, fertility and contraception, sexuality, sexual violence, menstruation and menopause. In her research Alex utilises participatory research approaches to ensure co-design of research projects and broader health interventions. She is also bringing new perspectives to women’s sexual and reproductive health through the adoption of arts-based research methods, including body mapping and photovoice.

emma johnson  

Dr Emma Johnson (BSc MD) is a current Resident Medical Officer at King Edward Memorial Hospital, WA. Emma was raised in rural WA before she moved to Perth to complete her undergraduate Bachelor of Health Sciences and postgraduate Doctor of Medicine at The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. Emma is passionate about all aspects of women’s physical and mental health, with a primary interest in the influence of the biopsychosocial model on a woman’s development.

Dr Marita Long, TAS

Dr. Marita Long graduated with a MBBS from the University of Tasmania in 2007 and after working at the Royal Hobart Hospital for some years she went on to specialise in general practice, becoming a fellow of the RACGP in 2013.

Marita is highly engaged in her profession and in addition to working in general practice she works as a medical educator and as a clinician for Family Planning Tasmania. Marita has a strong interest in women’s physical and psychological health and wellbeing across the lifespan.

Dr Jennifer Marino, VIC

Dr Marino is an epidemiologist specialising in the study of women's reproductive and sexual health. She trained at the University of Washington and University of California, Berkeley. In 2008 she moved to Australia to join the Lifecourse and Intergenerational Health Group at Adelaide's Robinson Institute. In 2011 she joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital. She is the team epidemiologist for the interdisciplinary specialty Menopause Symptoms after Cancer clinic, where she conducts clinical observational and intervention studies. She also works with Western Australia's Raine Cohort, a large birth cohort currently in its 27th year of follow-up, chiefly concerning predictors of health-related risk behaviours.

Dr Helena Obermair, NSW

Junior Medical Officer, Liverpool Hospital, South West Sydney Local Health District

@HelenaObermair

Dr Rhea Psereckis, TAS

Rhea is a General Practitioner currently working in Tasmania. She splits her time between regional general practice, Family Planning Tasmania and medical education. With a strong interest in women's and children’s health, she completed a Diploma of Children’s Health in 2011, and went on to do further training in sexual health and reproductive medicine. Since 2018, Rhea has also been the Medical Director of the Women's Health Education Network, an organisation working to educate and empower women at all life stages to live and age well through exercise and movement.

samantha ryan

Dr Samantha Ryan is an Associate Research Fellow with the Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University. Samantha’s research focus is within critical health psychology and women’s sexual and reproductive health. Her areas of research interest are premenstrual embodiment, body image and body management behaviours. In her research, Samantha utilises mixed methodologies including quantitative, qualitative, and arts-based methods including body mapping.

dr wendy vanselow, VIC

Dr Wendy Vanselow (MBBS, PhD, B.Ed, FECSM, DRCOG, FRACGP, FASPM) is Head of Psychosexual Medicine at RWH.  She has a background in General Practice and a PhD in psychiatry.

Dr Vanselow studied sexual medicine at Oxford University and became an inaugural Fellow of the European Committee for Sexual Medicine in 2012. At RWH she also consults in the Menopause after Cancer clinic, Menopause clinic, Choices clinic and has a special interest in menstrual cycle mood disorders. She is part of the multidisciplinary team in the Vulva clinic and completed the ISSVD postgraduate course in 2005. She is a certified Advanced Couple Therapist (Relationships Australia 2007).

emma watson - NSW

Dr Emma Watson recently graduated from her medical studies at the University of New South Wales in 2022, and is currently working as a Junior Medical Officer at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, NSW. Emma is particularly interested in Women's Health, and plans to complete further research and specialty training in the field of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Emma is also very passionate about education, and continues to be involved with teaching medical students at UNSW, a role she has enjoyed since 2019. Emma is involved in charity work promoting health equity, and advocating for women experiencing disadvantage, locally and internationally.