Staff team
Clinical Professor David Bennett AO - NSW CAAH Head
MBBS FRACP FSAM
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David is an adolescent health physician with a major interest in the development of accessible and responsive health services for young people and their families. As Head of the NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health, he is involved in wide ranging efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of young people through collaborative research, education, networking and advocacy. Previous roles include Head of Department of Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital at Westmead (1977 - 2004), Past President of the International Association for Adolescent Health and Consultant with World Health Organization. He is currently the National President of the Association for the Wellbeing of Children in Healthcare.
David was honoured with an AO in 1995 for 'service to medicine, particularly in the field of adolescent health and medical care', is a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International and has received other awards for his service to community. He is married with four grown-up children and co-author, with Dr Leanne Rowe, of 'What to do when your children turn into teenagers' and 'You can't make me: Seven simple rules for parenting teenagers' in addition to numerous other books, monographs, chapters and professional articles in the field of adolescent medicine.
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Fiona Robards - Coordinator
BSc, MA, MAATh, MHA, MPH
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Fiona joined NSW CAAH in May 2007. Fiona initially trained as a Psychologist, then Art Therapist. Later she gained a wealth of experience within Community Health. Initially she worked as a family therapist in South West Sydney. She has since worked as the Service Manager of two Youth Health Services: the Corner in Bankstown and High Street in Harris Park and coordinated a project trialling sustained home visiting with young parents.
Fiona recently completed a Master of Health Administration and Master of Public Health from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW. She is passionate about resilience and strength based strategies particularly using innovative and creative approaches. She has also travelled extensively in developing countries and has a keen interest in multicultural perspectives.
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Evelyn Camilleri - Administration Officer
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Evelyn joined NSW CAAH in April 2005 bringing extensive senior administration experience acquired in both the public and private sectors. During her career, Evelyn has successfully worked in multi-skilled environments, co-ordinating sectoral seminars, liaising with various interest groups, preparing numerous reports and establishing and maintaining good client relationships. Past employers include Department of Defence, Sydney Water and the Wet Tropics Management Authority. As a Public Liability Claims Consultant for various insurance companies, she provided expert advice and negotiated claims settlement for major corporations such as Westfields and Serco. She is keen to develop her knowledge in the area of health, learn new skills and acquire new experience while contributing to the advancement of the Centre.
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Linda Ramsbottom - Project Officer, Professional Education and Development.
BSc Health Grad Cert AE&T
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Linda's position is responsible for developing the GP Strategy to identify how GPs currently develop their knowledge and skills with adolescent health and to identify how GP youth health education may be enhanced in the future via improved communication between DGPs and sharing of resources. Linda's previous experience includes project work for Central Sydney Divison of General Practice for Nursing in General Practice, Education and staff development projects for both NSW RTA and WorkCover and working in Nursing Education for the NSW Dept of Health for many years.
When not working, Linda enjoys the live experience being the mother of 2 adolescent boys and being a volunteer scout leader for youth between 10 and 15 years.
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Wui Ken Yap - Project Officer, Communications and Promotion
BBA (Hons) MCom
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Ken, one of CAAH's long standing employees, joined as the marketing and administration assistant in 1999. During her 8 years with CAAH, she has coordinated a number of project launches and forums. She has also been involved in CAAH's ongoing development including, research, publications and practice.
Ken's current position is responsible for developing and promoting CAAH's publications and resources. Ken also oversees the Centre's website and online resources, and maintains her pivotal role in organising the highly popular Youth Health Forums, convened by the NSW CAAH.
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Diana Bernard - NSW CAAH Consultant
BSS Post Grad Dip ECS MPH
Project Coordinator HPV School Vaccination Project, Sydney University, c/-Westmead Children's Hospital
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Diana has a background in social work, and has worked extensively in the health sector in a range of content areas and capacities. The content areas include child, family and adolescent health, post natal depression, sexual health and HIV. The capacities range from direct clinical work including group work, supervision and training to community development, project facilitation and management and research. Diana coordinated Phases 1 & 2 of the Access Study (access to primary health care among young people).
Diana has been working at the National Centre for HIV Social Research until recently and has been involved in some private youth health projects including an evaluation of a GP/sexual health clinic pilot in a local youth centre. She is currently involved in a new study looking at factors influencing consent in the completion of the school based HPV vaccination program for the University of Sydney(Westmead).
Diana has worked extensively with young people, health service providers and Divisions of General Practice around the development and measurement of specific projects. She enjoys working with marginalised young people and in sexual health/HIV and would like to pursue some International work in public health/sexual health/youth.
Diana is a keen skier and a mother of two young people.
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Peter Chown - NSW CAAH Consultant
BSc Psych (Hons) MAPS
Psychologist and Consultation Bangalow Professional Centre Bangalow
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Peter Chown has 25 years experience as a Psychologist. He was formerly head of Cellblock Youth Health Centre - a pioneering multidisciplinary health service for adolescents at risk - at Camperdown Children's Hospital, Sydney. Peter has extensive experience in the areas of adolescent health, the development of youth-friendly health services and programs and training of health professionals. He has worked as a consultant for the World Health Organisation, UNFPA and UNESCO on adolescent health programs in more than a dozen developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. He has written numerous publications on adolescent health for schools, GPs and counsellors, and is co-author of the CAAH publication, GP Resource Kit on Adolescent Health. Peter works in private practice as a Psychologist in northern NSW, where he specialises in working with adolescents at risk and their families.
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Dr Melissa Kang - NSW CAAH Consultant
MBBS MCH
Lecturer Department of General Practice The University of Sydney
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Melissa trained in general practice and has worked exclusively in youth health since 1993. She has worked clinically in community and hospital settings, and currently works in a youth health centre with high risk and homeless young people.
Recent research studies include Chlamydia prevalence among high risk young people, their concerns about sexuality and access to primary health care among young people.
Melissa has worked extensively in training of professionals from a wide range of disciplines. She has also co-developed a resource kit for general practitioners in working with young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Melissa has written the "Dolly Doctor" column for Dolly magazine for the past 14 years and has appeared on national radio and television talking about young people and sexual health. She is a co-author of "your body, your life, every question answered", and "the boy book". She is also a mother of 4 adolescent children.
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Verity Newnham - NSW CAAH Consultant
B(Nurs) RN MRCNA
Research Assistant and Policy Adviser, PHCRED Practice Nurse Research Fellow
The Primary Care PARTY Project (Prevention, Access & Risk Taking in Young People)
Primary Care Research Unit, Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne
Verity has a background in nursing, politics and adolescent health policy. She has previously worked as a PHCRED Practice Nurse Research Fellow, the Principal Advisor for Adolescent Health and Coordinator of the National Divisions Youth Alliance for the Australian Divisions of General Practice, as the Political Adviser for Youth Affairs for the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party and as a registered nurse and a youth and community development worker. Verity has also worked as a freelance consultant and website developer and is currently completing her Masters of Primary Health Care researching the role of practice nurses in adolescent health care. Her other research interests include systems innovation in general practice.
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Dr Lena Sanci - NSW Consultant
MBBS PhD FRACGP
Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne
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Lena trained as a GP then worked in youth health at the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne. Here she completed a PhD in designing and evaluating and educational intervention for GPs in adolescent health care principles. This research won a prestigious award at the Society for Adolescent Medicine in North America. Lena now heads a Young People in Primary Care research stream in the Primary care Research Unit, Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne. Lena has been instrumental in developing curriculum and training resources in adolescent health for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and has helped deliver the national Dr-Link Program. She continues to be involved in researching the health of young people in primary care, teaching medical students and providing professional development for GPs in adolescent health.
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