Meet the PPDP Team

Distinguished Professor David Simmons

David Simmons is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the Western Sydney University Macarthur Clinical School, Head of the Campbelltown Hospital Endocrinology Department, Chair of the Campbelltown Hospital Clinical Council, Director of the Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism Translation Unit (DOMTRU) and Co-Director of the Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism Clinical Academic Group of the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise.

From 2007 to 2014, he was the lead diabetes consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, overseeing major changes in the local model of care.  Between 2003-2007 he was the inaugural Professor of Medicine at the University of Auckland Waikato Clinical School, New Zealand and 1998-2002 he was the Foundation Chair in Rural Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia.  During this time he established a full department, a clinical school (where he was acting Dean) and a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research activities relating to rural and indigenous health.

With over 280 refereed publications, he has won several national and international awards for his work in diabetes epidemiology, diabetes in pregnancy and diabetes service development.  He is a past president of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) and was a member of the World Health Organisation technical working group on the criteria for hyperglycaemia in pregnancy.  He was previously the chair of the Diabetes UK Health Professional Education Steering Group.  He is a Visiting Professor for the University of Örebro, Sweden and Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Freya MacMillan

Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research

Freya MacMillan is an Associate Professor in Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health and Wellbeing Research Theme Champion at Western Sydney University. Bachelor of Science in Sports Biomedicine (First Class Honours) and a PhD in Physical Activity for Health. She is also an internationally recognised registered health promotion practitioner in Australia.

Freya is one of the Chief Investigators on the project and is part of the team that provide oversight of the project on a weekly basis. She is also research lead of the programme content and delivery. Freya knows personally what it feels like to lose loved ones long before their time should be up and the power that communities can have when they come together and utilise their strengths to avoid such loss. She loves working on PPDP because the church communities are so passionate about making a difference for their families and so she wants to do all that she can to help facilitate this. She also loves learning about Pasifika culture through this research journey.

Associate Professor Kate McBride

Kate McBride is an Associate Professor in Population Health and Director of Academic (Postgraduate Coursework) programs and she has completed a BSocSc (Social Anthropology), MPH (Hons), Grad Cert (Health Economics) Phd (Epidemiology).  Kate is one of the Chief Investigators on the project and is part of the team that provide oversight of the project on a weekly basis. She is also evaluation lead.

Kate is an epidemiologist, mixed methods public health researcher, and Associate Professor in Population Health at Western Sydney University. Kate has more than 15 years experience in population health and chronic disease research including development, evaluation and translation of lifestyle interventions and exploration of barriers to healthcare, particularly among individuals living with obesity. Kate is a passionate advocate for the health of high risk, marginalised populations through the optimisation of healthcare access among these individuals.

I love working on the PPDP programme because one of my passions is to increase access to health and wellbeing among all people. this programme provides the opportunity as it connects people from the Pacific community to an amazing initiative that will enable them to take control of their own health now and in the future.

Dr Valentina Naumovski (Operational Lead)

Valentina (Tina) Naumovski graduated from her PhD from the University of Sydney and is one of very few researchers in the world with a multidisciplinary approach spanning the cultivation, analytical (isolating and identifying bioactive compounds), pharmacological/preclinical (mechanism of action predominantly in diabetes/metabolic syndrome, drug interactions, pharmacokinetics), clinical (medicinal cannabis for symptom relief and diabetes) and qualitative research of complementary medicine. She has completed a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, is recognised as a  Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Professional Standards Framework (FHEA), UK, and has educated hundreds of research and health professionals.

Tina discovered the PPDP online and quickly took the initiative to get involved. In 2023, she was recruited as a Senior Research Fellow-Diabetes within the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University, where she serves as the operational lead of the PPDP. In this role, she strategically steers the project at the ground level, working closely with lead academics, community activators, research assistants, students, volunteers, as well as government and industry partners, ensuring seamless coordination between all stakeholders and fostering collaboration across various sectors. Her passion lies in empowering communities to tackle and reduce the impact of chronic disease through evidence-based research, while also training and mentoring the next generation of health professionals.

Afioga Salā Ronda Thompson (Lead Community Activator)

Ronda joins the WSU team with 20 years of management and leadership in Retail Banking. She is of Samoan background, and was initially recruited at the University in 2016 as a bilingual Community Coach Facilitator for Le Taeao Afua Samoan diabetes programme. A pilot programme of healthy lifestyle changes & peer support with those at highest risk of diabetes and those living with diabetes, for four Samoan communities in South Western Sydney. This pilot programme extended into the Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme-PPDP.

She has been the trainer and coordinator of the Peer Support program across various diabetes prevention projects with Distinguished Professor David Simmons and his teams under the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism SPHERE CAG and other Integrated Care projects.

Ronda is the Lead Community Activator for PPDP and her primary role is to lead her team in delivering PPDP and maximising community participation. Her cultural influence has assisted the University in implementing a programme that recognises diverse cultural priorities without losing the urgency of the Diabetes message.

“I know too well how language barriers impact how we understand diabetes and its chronic implications. I believe that for every person that we can reach and make a difference with simplified knowledge – there is an individual, a family, a community and a village that can be spared from the grievances of diabetes. Our teams are at grass roots bridging relationships for research while opening possibilities for future support, education and services in Health that have been difficult for our people to navigate access. PPDP is more than research and interventions of diabetes; it is the focal point of change to help our Pasifika communities”

Makeleta Felila (Community Activator – Western Sydney Local Health District)

Makeleta has completed a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education and is the Community Activator for WSLHD however, has been supporting the role within all PPDP Local health Districts. Makeleta’s role is engaging with church leaders and members to maximise participants’ consenting to join PPDP.  Makeleta is fluent in Tongan and provides language and cultural support when engaging with the church leaders and members.

Makeleta experienced first-hand what it felt like to lose loved ones because of Type 2 diabetes’ complications.  Her mother died of renal failure and lost her vision in the last four years of her life.  Her father had heart disease and suffered and died from a stroke.  Makeleta is passionate about helping her Pasifika community make positive and healthier lifestyle changes through PPDP and be able to support and encourage churches sustain these positive lifestyle behaviour changes.

Tene Pahulu (Community Activator - South Western Sydney Local Health District)

Tene completed his B Criminology at Western Sydney University in 2018 and went on to complete a Master of International Criminology also at Western Sydney University in 2020. Tene is now a Health Promotion Officer for South-West Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) and a community activator within PPDP. Their role as a community activator is to engage and communicate with Pasifika church communities in South-West Sydney to ensure that they know what PPDP is about and support them in joining the program.

“I love working as a community activator in PPDP because it allows me to give back and serve my own community. Being able to bring a diabetes programme directly to the Pasifika people and seeing our people understand the urgency of diabetes management is truly rewarding. I also love that I get to work alongside other Pasifika people because it allows me to fully embrace and utilise my cultural background as a strength to PPDP.”

Kegnie Shitu Getie

Kegnie Shitu Getie earned his Bachelor of Science in Public Health in 2017 and his Master of Public Health in Health Promotion and Behavioural Health Sciences in 2020. He has participated in several national and international research projects, resulting in over 40 peer-reviewed publications. He has also worked as a lecturer at the University of Gondar based in Ethiopia for seven years.

Kegnie is a second-year PhD student at Western Sydney University, supervised by Professor Freya Macmillan, Professor David Simmons, and Associate Professor Kate McBride. His research focuses on investigating how the Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme (PPDP) is co-developed by the community and academic groups and assigning the baseline outcomes and implementation process of PPDP.

“I got a scholarship to pursue my PhD at Western Sydney University with a research proposal based in my home country. During our very first meeting, Professor Freya introduced me to the concept of PPDP and encouraged me to focus my research on it. Initially, I was unsure and asked for some time to think it over. Some days later, I had the opportunity to conduct data collection at one of the Pacific churches. The people I met were incredibly welcoming, and the community activators shared valuable insights about the community and the importance of PPDP. This experience was a turning point for me, leading me to shift my PhD work towards PPDP. Now, I am excited to be engaged in PPDP as a student, through which I am gaining invaluable real-time experiences from my supervisors, research team, community activators, and the community itself.”

The team can be contacted at ppdp@westernsydney.edu.au.