Committee

Scott Bowden – Co-convenor

Scott Bowden is a Senior Scientist at VIDRL and an adjunct Professor in Microbiology at Monash University. He has served on Government committees helping develop strategies and testing policies for viral hepatitis. He has published over 180 papers and is an expert on the diagnosis of the hepatitis viruses.

Jason Grebely – Co-convenor

Jason Grebely is a Professor in the Viral Hepatitis Clinical Research Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney.
Jason’s training and research is based in the field of epidemiology, with a specific focus on clinical epidemiology. Jason has a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics, both from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Jason is also the President of the International Network on Hepatitis in Substance Users.

Kevin Marriott – Co-convenor

Kevin is the Director of Programs at Hepatitis Australia and has worked in the area of blood borne viruses and sexual health for 25 years. Kevin’s background is in Human and Community Services including direct service provision, health promotion, program management and executive leadership positions

Mark Stoové – Co-convenor

Mark Stoové is Head of Public Health at the Burnet Institute and has researched the transmission and impact of blood borne viruses among key risk populations for almost 20 years. A primary focus of his work is understanding the epidemiological, behavioural and biological drivers of infections and the translation of research evidence into effective public health policy and practice.

Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson is an ACRRM Registrar at Bamaga Hospital and Primary Heath Care Centre. He is an associate lecturer at the University of Queensland, board member of the Sexual Health Society of Queensland, works with ASHM in educational development, and has worked clinically and non-clinically in the sexual health and BBV sphere for over ten years in Australia and Canada.

Gabrielle Bennett

Gabrielle Bennett (RN, RM, Grad. Dip. CHN, Grad. Dip. Women’s Health, MPH) has experience working in diverse areas of primary health care including with remote Indigenous communities, people experiencing homelessness, marginalised women, drug using communities and with newly arrived refugees. She has experience in policy, education, public health and clinical settings. She is currently Clinical Nurse Consultant, Victorian Viral Hepatitis Educator based at St Vincent’s Melbourne.

Lauren Bradley

Lauren Bradley is the Senior Project Coordinator at the Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL). She has over 7 years of experience working with marginalised and stigmatised communities. Lauren is the current Vice-President of Hepatitis ACT, a Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and former Board Member of Hepatitis Australia.

Joanne Bryant

Joanne Bryant is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Health in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW. She is a social scientist trained in sociology and epidemiology, and has led a range of research projects focusing on harm reduction and sexual health among people who use drugs, street-involved young people and Aboriginal young people.

Joseph Doyle

Associate Professor Joseph Doyle is a specialist in infectious diseases and public health medicine. He leads a clinical and implementation research program across The Alfred, Monash and Burnet Institute aiming to improve treatment access and delivery of hepatitis C treatment. He is a leader of the Eliminate C Australia Partnership which aims to build capacity and support for HCV elimination across all jurisdictions nationally. He has been an advisor and consultant to the World Health Organisation on HIV and Viral Hepatitis, and has received research support as a chief investigator from the National Health & Medical Research Council, WHO, philanthropic organisations and industry.

Melinda Hassall

Melinda is a Registered Nurse with experience in acute care, primary health care and public health, has completed a Graduate Certificate in Health Promotion and a Masters degree in Public Health. Melinda is the Clinical Nurse Lead with ASHM and is responsible for the management and ongoing development of ASHM’s Nursing Program. Ensuring nurses have access to high quality and relevant BBV/STI education to enhance their professional development, advocating for policy and practice change for nurses to work to their full scope of practice are priorities.

Behzad Hajari

Behzad Hajari is a clinical epidemiologist, and a Senior Lecturer in the Kirby Institute (UNSW Sydney). He trained as a Medical Practitioner and has an MPH and PhD in Medicine. His research interests include HCV natural history, and HCV care in prison setting and among people who inject drugs.

Kelly Hayes

Kelly started at the Hepatitis Foundation of New Zealand in September 2016. She has been a registered nurse since 2000, working in various areas including emergency, community and practice nursing. She has a Bachelor of Nursing, a post-graduate diploma in advanced nursing, a certificate of proficiency in pharmacology and certificates in clinical nurse education, nurse preceptorship and business management. She is currently working towards a post-graduate diploma in human resource management.

Kelly is now the Operations Manager and is responsible for the management of the administrative and nursing teams at the Foundation. When she’s not working Kelly enjoys running, travel and spending time with family and friends.

Shelly Kerr

Shelley Kerr is the Hepatitis C Program Manager at the Australasian Society of HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine. She is responsible for the management of the Hepatitis C program in Australia and internationally, providing strategic direction for the program to build capacity in the health workforce through collaboration, partnerships, and high-level policy contributions.

Margaret Littlejohn

Dr Margaret Littlejohn is a senior medical scientist in the Molecular Research and Development Laboratory at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, in Melbourne. Dr. Littlejohn has extensive experience in HBV research, with a particular interest in Hepatitis B virus evolution and chronic HBV infection in Indigenous Australian’s.

Jennifer MacLachlan

Jennifer MacLachlan is a Senior Epidemiologist for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis at The Doherty Institute. Her research focuses on the innovative utilisation and analysis of publicly available datasets to inform epidemiology and public health action, and she currently leads the National Viral Hepatitis Mapping Project.

Kristen Mckee

Kristen has been nursing for over 15 years. Her experience has been diverse across a wide range of areas. For the last 10 years she has focused on viral hepatitis and liver disease both here in Australia and in the United Kingdom. Her skills have been gained from working within the tertiary setting, community and district nursing, drug and alcohol settings, and the custodial setting. She is currently a clinical nurse consultant within the Storr Liver Centre, Westmead hospital.
Kristen is a board member for the Australasian Hepatology Association (AHA). Chair of the Advanced Liver Disease working group (AHA) and Chair for the NSW Hepatology Nurses group.

Sami Stewart

Sami Stewart (She/Her/Hers) is the National Viral Hepatitis Program Manager at the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine. Her work includes the ongoing management and development of ASHM’s viral hepatitis work in Australia. Sami manages all components of relevant hepatitis B and hepatitis C programs within ASHM’s National Policy and Education Division, including partnership development, workforce development, capacity building, resources, strategies and policies. Sami also serves as Secretary for the LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Foundation and is passionate about community-led responses in the healthcare and community services space. She is driven by a personal passion to work towards accessible, holistic and culturally responsive healthcare for all peoples, removed from the burden of stigma and discrimination.

Troy Combo

Troy has a joint appointment with the Burnet Institute and is employed and based at University of Queensland, School of Public Health and have recently been appointed as the Aboriginal Program Manager for Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia Partnership: EC Australia.

He is a Bundjalung man from the Northern NSW and is a highly regarded leader in Aboriginal health with over twenty years’ experience. He has held high-level positions and has managed state and national projects working for both State and National peak Aboriginal Health Organisations and Hepatitis Australia. More recently Troy was employed at Bulgarr Ngaru Medical Aboriginal Corporation in Northern NSW as the Healthy for Life and Programs Manager and acted as the Executive Officer for a period in 2018

Sam White

Samantha White is the Operations Manager at Hepatitis Queensland bringing to the role over a decade of experience working in the BBV sector. Her skills and expertise have enabled HQ to embrace innovative and new approaches that support the care and wellbeing of people living with, or at risk of, viral hepatitis and/or liver disease. Sam’s leadership ensures that all programs and activities are executed to the highest standard and consistently provide better health outcomes for all Queenslanders.

Olivia Dawson

Olivia Dawson is a Senior Project Officer in the Hepatitis C team at the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine. Olivia has coordinated the delivery of national and international HCV education and training programs for healthcare professionals working in drug and alcohol, primary care, and NSP settings, and has led the development of online hepatitis C education programs with a focus on advances in diagnostics including point of care testing. She has expertise in working with stakeholders to develop programs, and has led Steering Committees of clinicians, researchers, policy makers and community members in Australia and across Europe.