Dr Jenni is a specialist GP whose expertise, leadership, and unwavering commitment continue to make a lasting impact on our community. Jenni was recently honoured as the 2024 GP of the Year.

Her extensive career spans diverse healthcare settings, including key leadership roles such as managing the COVID GP Teams for SA Health, Medical Director of the virtual hospital, My Home Hospital, Medical lead  for  GP Obstetric Shared Care Program for SA, visiting consultant  at WCH.

Jenni is a passionate advocate for education and is an experienced Senior Medical Educator with the RACGP Training Program and Academic lead for Year 5 and 6 medical students at the University of Adelaide & its in this  role  she  speaks to us today .

Professor Shekhar Kumta

MBBS (Mumbai), Master of Surgery (Orth), PhD, FRCS

(Edinburgh), FHKCOS ( HK)

• Head. Department of Clinical Translational Research

Division of Health and Biosciences, RMIT.

Professor of Surgery, The Northern Hospital

• Emeritus Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Shekhar Kumta is the newly appointed Head of Clinical Translational Research at the RMIT. This is a new

partnership between RMIT and the Northern Health. Shekhar is the Professor of Surgery at the Northern

Hospital and has played an important role in reshaping and organizing translational research at the Northern.

He completed his primary medical training at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, under the

auspices of the Bombay University, in Mumbai India, in 1980 and his Orthopedic training at the Lokmanya

Tilak Medical College and Municipal General Hospital. He was awarded the Master of Orthopedic Surgery

(M.S.) in 1984 and mentored by the well-known doyen of Hand Surgery in India – Dr. B.B. Joshi. Shekhar

joined Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1989,

under the mentorship of Professor PC Leung, and acquired exceptional training in Microvascular and

Reconstructive surgery. He was given the mandate to develop a multi-disciplinary Orthopaedic Oncology

Program- including the basic science research that was necessary to provide contemporaneous clinical care.

Shekhar contributed extensively towards the development of Oncologic services in Hong Kong, and was

responsible for developing the Prince of Wales Hospital as Quaternary Referral Centre for Orthopaedic

Sarcoma care. His clinical and research activities led to the development of pioneering techniques of jointsparing

resections in children, and opened the pathways for the future development of navigation surgery for

Bone sarcomas. Shekhar completed his tenure at the Chinese University, after 33 years of uninterrupted

service, and is presently the Academic Lead and Professor of Surgery at the Northern Hospital at the

University of Melbourne’s Northern Precinct.

Shekhar has helped reorganize research activities at the Northern Hospital and has successfully established

a unique Clinical Spectroscopy Facility at the Research Laboratory in the Northern Centre for Health

Professor Nicola Spurrier is the Chief Public Health Officer for the Department for Health and Wellbeing, being appointed in 2019. The Chief Public Health Officer is responsible for statewide preventative health activities including the identification and management of communicable diseases.

Professor Spurrier’s role includes advising the Minister and the Chief Executive of SA Health about proposed legislative or administrative changes in relation to population health. Professor Spurrier specialises in developing and implementing policies and programs across child health, obesity prevention and Aboriginal health. She also has extensive experience in health protection and promotion, public health partnership and health diplomacy activities.

Professor Spurrier is a dual qualified medical specialist, public health physician and paediatrician, with 32 years’ experience within SA Health including 13 years in the Department for Health and Wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Spurrier has been instrumental in South Australia’s effective virus response and continues to take a personal focus on the health and wellbeing of every South Australian.

A world-renowned researcher, Vasso has been recognized with over 100 awards, including, Commander of the Phoenix Battalian, the Premier’s Award for Medical Research, Young Australian of the Year (Victoria), Greek Australian of the Year, and Woman of the Year. She was named one of the most successful Greeks abroad by the prestigious  magazine. Vasso is also credited with developing the first immunotherapy method to stimulate the immune system in the early 1990s, a technique that is now utilized by hundreds of laboratories worldwide. This groundbreaking work led to over 25 Phase I, II, and III human trials of vaccine formulations for breast and ovarian cancer, attracting significant investment from pharmaceutical companies.

Vasso is deeply committed to the advancement of immunotherapy and has applied her research to various diseases, including diabetes, drug addiction, and Alzheimer’s disease. Her research is dedicated to understanding disease mechanisms and developing novel interventions for cancer, mental health disorders, diabetes, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and autoimmunity, using vaccines, drugs, and natural bioactive compounds. She is particularly focused on improving healthy aging and strives to advance her research programs to improve the quality of life for aging populations.

Dr Rodney Mbizvo is an Adelaide-based Cardiologist with a sub-specialty in Interventional Cardiology. He is passionate about Cardiovascular Health amongst sub-Saharan African populations and is proud to be part of the 2nd Annual Symposium on the Cardiovascular and General Health of Australians of African Descent, having been part of the inaugural event in 2024.

Gus is a clinical cardiologist with expertise in multi-modality cardiac imaging (echocardiography, cardiac MRI, and CT coronary angiography). He is a Staff Specialist Cardiologist at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, and Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. 

Gus completed his basic physician training and cardiology advanced training at Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide and was awarded FRACP as a cardiologist in 2018. Thereafter, he completed cardiac imaging fellowships in advanced echocardiography at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide and overseas in cardiac MRI at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, United Kingdom. He is also an Australian and New Zealand Level A accredited specialist for CT coronary angiography. 

Gus manages a wide range of cardiovascular diseases with an enhanced focus on integrating multi-modality cardiac imaging in clinical care.  He also has special interests in preventive cardiology. 

Gus is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care that is aimed at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease in a collaborate model with other clinicians.

Dr Teresa Girolamo is a general practitioner who has extensive experience in the field of obesity management.

She completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1994 at The University of Adelaide, is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP), Graduate of the Chapter of Perioperative Medicine (GChPOM), and SCOPE certified.

She has worked in multi-disciplinary teams in the area of obesity management since 2008, and is Director and Co-Founder of Re:You Health, a GP lead weight management service established in South Australia on 2018.

Dr Girolamo is a Committee Member of the National Association of Clinical Obesity Service (NACOS), board member of the Australian & New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society (ANZMOSS), a leadership committee member of the Obesity Collective and member of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO)

Conflicts of Interest:

Received honoraria from Novo Nordisk, iNova Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Astrazeneca and RACGP for educational events.

Participation in advisory boards for Novo Nordisk and iNova Pharmaceuticals

Prof Scott Clark is Head of the Adelaide University Discipline of Psychiatry, leading the teaching and research programs. He is a Fellow of RANZCP, has BSc in Psychology, Honours in Neuroscience, and PhD in Medicine (Health Informatics). Clinically, he works in community and acute Psychiatry in the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. He led the development of a State-wide monitoring system for cardiac and other adverse events for patients with treatment resistant schizophrenia and leads the Psychiatric Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Adelaide. He is a Principal Investigator for multiple national and international clinical trials for treatment of psychosis and mood disorders and is an executive member of Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET), the Australian Early Psychosis Collaborative Consortium (AEPCC) Clinical Trials and Translational Network and the NHMRC PRE-EMPT Centre for Research Excellence in psychosis prediction, and co-chair of fluid biomarker committee for NIMH funded AMP-Schizophrenia International Consortium.

Distinguished Professor Renzaho (PhD, 2005, Deakin University; MPH, 200, University of Melbourne) is a mixed methods public health researcher specialising in global migration, health equity, and cultural competence in health care. He is the inaugural Professor of Humanitarian and Development Studies at Western Sydney University and was the Director of Academic Programs from 2015 to 2018. He joined the university in 20015 and prior to that he was the Director of Migration, Social Disadvantage, and Health Programs within the Global Society Unit, Monash University (2012-2014) and Associate Professor, World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University (2007-2011). From 2003 to 2006, he oversaw the evaluation of more than 40 AusAID NGO Cooperation Programs with World Vision Australia covering Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, the Pacific, and Asia; and acted as the Technical Director of the Impact Assessment of Australian Aid for the Bougainville Infrastructure.

Koya Ayonrinde is a Hepatologist and Gastroenterologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth. He is a clinician scientist, Clinical Associate Professor with The University of Western Australia (UWA) Medical School and Clinical Professor at Curtin University Medical School and is a Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

He obtained his MBBS from UWA and subsequently completed a PhD (Dean’s list) about fatty liver in Australian teenagers. He has over 75 peer-reviewed publications. Although his clinical practice generally involves general liver health and disease in adults, Koya’s research program extends across the life course, including children and families. In particular, he has a strong interest in the association between fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. He is the leader of the liver and gastrointestinal special interest group of the Raine Study, a multigenerational longitudinal cohort study and is site principal investigator for several fatty liver and liver fibrosis clinical trials. He was a member of the committees involved in guidelines development for fatty liver in Australia, and global guidelines for fatty liver and liver cirrhosis

Prof Anand Ganesan

Professor Anand Ganesan is Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Flinders Medical Centre. Prof Ganesan graduated in Medicine from University of Sydney, and obtained his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in  electrophysiology. Prof Ganesan trained in clinical electrophysiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre. Prof Ganesan leads a specialised NHMRC and MRFF support4ed research group in the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation at Flinders University, and his main clinical interest is in the investigation and management of heart rhythm disorders. 

Dr Jude Chapman-Wardy

Dr Jude Chapman-Wardy is a specialist Obstetrician and Gynecologist in both public and private practice.

He completed a Bachelor of Medical Sciences as well as medical training at the University of Ghana Medical School in 2001. He trained in O&G in the United Kingdom and then moved to the Lyell McEwin Hospital and obtained his FRNZCOG in 2016.

He  currently works at the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and is Head of Unit, Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Modbury Hospital.

He is  the Colposcopy lead as well as the Medical lead for the Northern Aboriginal Birthing Program and Northern Area Midwifery Group practice.

He is the intern and DRANZCOG/ WCH training supervisor in O&G as well providing medical student and junior doctors teaching..

Professor Lillian Mwanri is a Public Health Physician and a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (FAFPHM). Professor Mwanri has held positions in both the health sector and academia. She is currently a Public Health Researcher at the Centre of Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing (PHEHF) at Torrens University Australia, Adelaide Campus. Her expertise spans a wide range of public health domains, including health promotion, epidemiology, ethics, chronic disease (including HIV), community engagement, and community development.  She has worked extensively with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) migrant communities in Australia, addressing health issues such as poor dietary habits, physical inactivity, and broader determinants of health. In 2022, she was appointed to lead the development of the Anti-Racism Strategy for the South Australian Government, aimed at addressing systemic racism across the public sector.