Professor Wendy Brown
Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon
Monash University Department of Surgery
Alfred Hospital

Professor Wendy Brown is an Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon, she is Chair of the Monash University Department of Surgery at the Alfred Hospital and Director of the Oesophago-Gastric-Bariatric unit at The Alfred. Wendy is also Director of the Monash University Centre for Obesity Research and Education and Clinical Director of the National Bariatric Surgery Registry and Victorian State Upper GI Cancer Registry. Her sub-specialist interests are oesophago-gastric cancer, gastrooesophageal reflux disease and bariatric surgery.  Her research interests include health outcomes from bariatric surgery, animal models of bariatric surgery and basic mechanisms underlying satiety. She is Past President of OSSANZ and President of ANZGOSA, Past Senior Examiner in General Surgery for the RACS, Deputy Chair of the Victorian State Consultative Surgical Council and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Federation for Surgery for Obesity and Metabolic Disorders. She was awarded the prestigious RACS John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship for Surgical Research Excellence in 2018.

Alette de Jong
Registered Nurse & Nurse Researcher
Burn Centre, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands

Since 1985, Alette de Jong has been involved in burn care at the Burn Centre of the Red Cross Hospital in Beverwijk, the Netherlands, as registered nurse and as nurse researcher. She studied nursing science at the University of Wales in Cardiff, United Kingdom, and obtained her PhD degree in 2013. Working for both the Burn Centre and the Association of Dutch Burn Centres, she initiates, performs and coordinates research in the field of burn nursing to improve the quality of nursing care. Implementation of research results in nursing practice, performing publications and presentations, and teaching at the Dutch burn nursing course are part of her responsibilities. Her research topics focus on pain measurement and pain management. She actively participates in the Nursing Committee of the International Society for Burn Injuries, is editor in chief of the burn care manual at the Dutch Burns Foundation, editorial board member of Burns Open, and is member of the Nursing Honor Society Sigma Theta Tau International.

Dr Alexandra De Young
Clinical psychologist and research fellow
Centre for Children’s Burns and Trauma Research (CCBTR), UQ Child Health Research Centre

Dr Alexandra De Young (PhD [Clinical Psychology]; B.Psych [Hons 1]) is a clinical psychologist and research fellow with the Centre for Children’s Burns and Trauma Research (CCBTR), UQ Child Health Research Centre. Dr De Young completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland in 2011 and her expertise is in the area of understanding the psychological consequences of traumatic injury for very young children and their parents. Dr De Young is currently involved in a program of research investigating assessment tools and early interventions for improving pain management and preventing the development of posttraumatic stress reactions in young injured children and their parents.  Research findings by De Young and team have been translated into training programs for teachers and health professionals to promote responsive trauma-informed care in school and hospital settings.

Martha Druery
Director, Lumos Trauma Institute P/L (PhD Candidate)
University of Queensland

Martha Druery is currently enrolled in a PhD in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland, having previously worked as a Social Work Specialist in Intensive Care and Burns across adult and paediatric hospital settings since 1997. She has led a private practice in Brisbane for the last 5 years, focused on clinical supervision and adjustment to traumatic injury and bereavement from sudden death, suicide and homicide. She is actively involved in national burn care with first author publications, invited conference presentations, workshops and volunteer work as the Psychosocial Clinical Advisor with Burnslife, a Queensland charity. Her doctoral research is investigating Quality of Life outcomes post-burns in adults. Martha brings her business motto of “doing heavy work, lightly” to her presentation style, seeking to inspire and entertain whilst exploring the most serious of themes; trauma, grief, human suffering, resilience, hope and triumph.

Professor Lynn Gillam

Clinical Ethicist
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
Children’s Bioethics Centre, Royal Children’s Hospital

Lynn Gillam is an experienced clinical ethicist, originally trained in philosophy (MA, 1988, Oxon) and bioethics (PhD, Monash, 2000).  Lynn is the Academic Director of the Children’s Bioethics Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She is also Professor in Health Ethics at the University of Melbourne, in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.

Lynn works in clinical ethics case consultation at RCH, and has been involved in over 200 ethics consultation since 2005. At RCH she also provides policy advice and leads research into a range of issues in paediatric clinical ethics – including end of life decision-making, management of differences of sex development, information-giving to children, and parental refusal of treatment.

At the University, Lynn teaches ethics in the university’s MD course, and supervises research students in ethics and qualitative health research. She is the Chair of the University’s Central Human Research Ethics Committee

Henk Hoeksema PT
Research & Burn care coordinator
Gent University Hospital, Burn Center
Gent, Belgium

Henk Hoeksema studied physiotherapy in Gent, Belgium. Since 1979 he works at the Gent University Hospital. He has been involved in burn care since 1984. His particular interest in wound healing in general and more specifically in burns, changed his career completely. Since 1996 he works as a research coordinator closely together with Prof. Dr. Stan Monstrey, head of the burn center. Since 2004 he has also been coordinator of the burn center. Henk initiated  many studies regarding new techniques, wound dressings and scar treatment in burn care. He authored more than 25 peer reviewed publications and 4 book chapters. As a result laser Doppler imaging, polarized light, enzyme alginogels as replacement for SSD1%, Glyaderm for dermal substitution, a new Aloe Vera based hydrating gel cream for scar treatment, etc. were implemented and are part of the current treatment strategy in Gent. Henk is also co-inventor of Glyaderm® (Glycerolised Acellular Dermis) a dermal substitute based on human allogeneic skin for simultaneous application together with split thickness skin grafts for full thickness defects following burns, major trauma and surgery. The inventors gave up their intellectual property rights to keep the product affordable, so it can be used for many patients worldwide. Currently he is investigating the role of selective enzymatic debridement as a therapeutic and diagnostic tool in deep burns and setting up a study for the comparison of different skin expansion techniques.

Dr James Jeng MD
General Surgeon
Chester Pennsylvania

Born Taiwan 1961.

BA in Cell Biology from Johns Hopkins University 1982 MD from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons 1986 Internship and Residency in General Surgery, Geo Washington University, Washington DC 1986-1992 Trauma/Critical Care fellowship at Washington Hospital Center 1992-1993 Staff surgeon at the burn unit in Washington DC 1993-2014 Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery; Director of Wound Care, Mount Sinai Healthcare System, New York 2015-2018 Trauma/Burn/Acute Care Surgery/Critical Care, Nathan Speare Regional Burn Treatment Center, Philadelphia PA 2018.

Chairman, Disaster Subcommittee, American Burn Association

Research interests:

• Endpoints of resuscitation
• Burn depth conversion
• Electrical injuries
• Laser applications in burns
• Mass casualty management

Hobbies:

• Radio controlled airplanes and helicopters
• Vacuum tube audio equipment
• Cucina italiana
• Breeding tropical fish

Victor C. Joe, MD, FACS
Director, UC Irvine Health Regional Burn Center
Orange, CA

Dr. Victor Joe obtained is undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He studied Intercultural Studies for a year at Biola University (La Mirada, CA) before matriculating at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (Richmond, VA) for his medical degree. He completed his general surgery training at Loma Linda University Medical Center (Loma Linda, CA) and a fellowship in surgical critical care at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He is currently an attending surgeon in the Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery within the Department of Surgery at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. His roles there include being the director for the burn and wound programs as well as chairing the Quality Committee for the Department of Surgery. Dr. Joe began his career primarily as a trauma/critical care/acute care surgeon. However, over the next decade, his clinical and research interests have become focused on the care of burn injuries. This process occurred as he discovered the truly collaborative, inter-disciplinary nature of the burn team as well as the privilege of caring for patients and their families throughout the continuum of care from acute/critical care to rehabilitation and beyond (psychosocial health and social re-integration). He is an active member of several societies including the American Burn Association (ABA) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.

Helen Jowett
Trauma Manager, Paediatric Major trauma Service for Victoria
Royal Children’s Hospital

Helen has over 20 years of paediatric experience at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne which is the Paediatric Major Trauma Service for Victoria where she holds the position of, Trauma Manager.

She coordinates state wide paediatric trauma education within regional Victoria, delivering much needed trauma team training and education to rural clinicians for the past ten years. She is also an EMST coordinator with the Royal College of Surgeons.

She is a member of the Trauma Case Review Group which is a sub committee of the State Trauma Committee at the Department of Health, Victoria.

Helen has recently participated in multiple site visits and is a serving member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Trauma Verification Committee.

She is also a member of the Australasian Trauma Society executive committee where she plays an integral role in the organising and scientific committees for their annual conference.

Helen is passionate about paediatric patients and is committed to injury prevention and safety in ‘little people’. She has three beautiful, active children who unfortunately compete in very active sports.

Dr Semesa Matanaicake
Plastic and Reconstructive Unit
CWM Hospital, Suva

Dr Semesa Matanaicake Junior graduated from medicine in 2002 at Fiji School of Medicine. He did his Internship at Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in 2003 before being posted as a Medical Officer on Koro Island from 2004-2005. While there apart from medicine he enjoyed rugby, snorkeling and farming. He returned to CWM Hospital in 2006 to begin his surgical training, and  attaining his Diploma in Surgery in 2007 and later his Masters of Surgery in 2011.. He has also been involved with Interplast Australia and New Zealand since 2007 and has had the privellage of learning from some of the talented surgeons of Australia and New Zealand. He went aborad to further his studies in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania, Australia. Here he was exposed to wide varierty of cases from congenital problems like Cleft Lip and Palates, Hand Trauma, Skin Cancers, Head and Neck Tumors, Breast reduction or reconstruction and Microsurgery. He returned in 2014 and now looks after the Plastic and Recontructive Unit at CWM Hospital in Suva.

Professor Andrew Robinson
Co-Founder
Wicking Dementia Research and Ecucation Centre,
University of Tasmania

Professor Robinson is Co-Founder of the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre which was established in 2008. Andrew is an innovator in dementia care practice, aged care workforce development, health professional and on-line dementia education, and translational research in aged care. He has received over $25 million in research grants and has more than 100 peer reviewed publications. He was Co-Director of the Centre, and Professor of Aged Care Nursing, until September 2017 when he retired from these positions. Currently Andrew is in a part time role as Professor Dementia Training Australia at UTAS.

Associate Professor Warwick Teague
DPhil Oxford, FRACS
The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne

A/Prof Teague is Director of Trauma and Paediatric Surgeon at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. His clinical paediatric practice includes general, burns, trauma, upper gastrointestinal and neonatal surgery. Warwick is active in research and academic activities, with honorary appointments at both the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and University of Melbourne. His research is organized around three key themes: 1) paediatric trauma and burns (e.g. injury prevention, trauma systems, quality improvement), 2) developmental biology (e.g. duodenal atresia), and 3) clinical paediatric surgery (e.g. duodenal atresia, oesophageal atresia, minimally access surgery). Warwick is a member of the Victorian Government State Trauma Committee, and several trauma-focused committees within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He is also a faculty member for both the Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB, Australian New Zealand Burns Association) and Definitive Surgical Trauma Care (DSTC, IATSIC) courses.

Rhi Thomas
Physiotherapist
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Rhi Thomas is a physiotherapist with over 10 years of experience in paediatrics. In 2018 she completed a Master of Research reporting on outcomes of early and intensive end of range axilla splinting to prevent contracture following a burn injury in children. Rhi will commence a PhD in 2019 focusing on range of movement and functional outcomes of intensive splinting following hand burn injuries in young children.

Mr Simon J Thomson
Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgeon
Simon J Thomson and Associates

Simon Thomson graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1979 and completed his basic surgical training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In 1986 he travelled to the United Kingdom where initially he worked in general surgery, achieving the FRCS (Edinburgh) in general surgery before starting his Plastic Surgery training the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. This included advanced training in burn surgery at the major regional burn centre.

He returned to Australia in 1989 and completed another 4 years of Plastic Surgery training initially in Hobart and later in Sydney. He achieved FRACS (Plastic Surgery) in 1992.

In 1993 he took up the post of VMO at the Royal Hobart Hospital and since that time has worked in both public and private practice including many years as burn surgeon. He had been an active member of ANZBA during this time, including being an EMSB examiner and instructor, and convenor of a previous ANZBA meeting in Hobart.

Simon has held a number of posts during his career including chairman Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ state committee, the board of the Australian Hand Surgery Society and is presently a councillor for the Australian Society of Surgeons.

Simon has been an active Interplast volunteer for more than 20 years and over this time has worked in Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji and Bangladesh. He is currently the Interplast coordinator for advanced plastic surgery training in the Pacific and has overseen the establishment of a full time plastic surgeon in Fiji as well as surgeons in most Pacific island nations competent in basic reconstruction. Fiji now has a dedicated burns service.

Claire Toose
Senior Physiotherapist
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Claire is a Senior Physiotherapist who has worked in Burns and Plastics at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead for 12 years, treating children following burn or trauma injury through both the acute and long term stages of rehabilitation. As well has her clinical work, Claire has also been involved in research and training, presenting at conferences and education days on the research findings and clinical practice of the unit. She has been extensively involved in the Murrumbidgee Project working as part of a team to develop a structured service for paediatric burns in the rural setting, training staff at peripheral centres in the specialist management of burn injuries in children, and providing ongoing support and education for rural therapists. Claire has been involved in the review of the use of end of range splinting in the management of axilla burns at CHW and will be attending the American Burns Association ASM in April 2019 to present a workshop on axilla splinting alongside her colleagues. She is excited to then present the workshop for the first time in Australia as part of the ANZBA 2019 ASM.

Dr Alicia Tucker
Fellow in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine
Royal Hobart Hospital

Dr Alicia Tucker is the current Fellow in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine at the Royal Hobart Hospital.  A UTAS Medical School graduate, Alicia is an Emergency Physician and also holds a Fellowship in Wilderness Medicine.   Alicia has been an EMSB Instructor since 2010.  Alicia has additional training and experience in Aerospace Medicine which will be invaluable for future utility of the Hypobaric capabilities of the Royal Hobart Hospital’s new Hyper/Hypobaric (Finke) triple lock chamber.  This includes being a Designated Aviation Medical Examiner for CASA, as well as completing a month long sabbatical in Space Medicine in Houston with the University of Texas Medical Branch/NASA Johnson Space Centre in 2018.  Alicia has a particular interest in Commercial Spaceflight and how we can prepare everyday people for travel into the physiologically challenging spaceflight environment and also how we can optimise acute management of medical and surgical conditions in this austere and poorly resourced arena.

Stephanie Wicks
Physiotherapist – BPTC and Clubbe Ward
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Stephanie Wicks is a Senior Physiotherapist who has worked for over 16 years in paediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW), Sydney. For the last 9 years she has worked exclusively for The NSW Paediatric Severe Burns Injury Service at CHW. Stephanie was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2016 and travelled internationally to investigate strategies to improve the access to specialist burns rehabilitation for rural and remote children in NSW. While visiting burns units across the USA and Canada it was noted that despite significant progress in the rehabilitation of paediatric burns survivors, there is still no clear consensus on what are the most effective methods of managing burns scar contractures. In response to this key finding, research was undertaken within the unit to evaluate and report on the use of end of range axilla splinting in a tertiary burns centre. Based on the positive results of a 10 year retrospective review of the safety and efficacy of end of range splinting of axilla burns at CHW, a workshop has been developed to offer this technique as a possible treatment option for therapists managing contractures of the axilla region. This workshop will be presented for the first time at the American Burns Association ASM in Las Vegas in 2019 and will be presented in Australia at the ANZBA 2019 ASM.

Shelley Wiechman, Ph.D., ABPP
Associate Professor, Attending Psychologist
Harborview Medical Center
Dept. of Rehabilitation Medicine

Shelley Ann Wiechman, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., is the attending psychologist at UW Medicine’s Regional Burn Center, Pediatric Trauma Center and the Pediatric Clinic at Harborview Medical Center. Dr. Wiechman is also an associate professor in the UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Dr. Wiechman is an expert in adjustment to injury or disability, non-pharmacological pain management and pediatric mental health. She believes in creating active partnerships with patients to reach the best possible outcomes.

Dr. Wiechman earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the UW. She is board-certified in Rehabilitation Psychology. Her clinical interests include pain management, coping with injury and disability, management of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and body image concerns following injury, behavior management and pediatric mental health. Her research interests include hypnosis for pain and itch, long-term adjustment to burn injury, coping and resiliency.