Associate Professor Elaine Burns
Associate Professor of Midwifery I Director of School Research (SoNM)
Chair of the Western Sydney Infant and Young Child Feeding Collaborative
Primary Interests: Supporting women to both establish, and maintain, breastfeeding for the recommended durations, and creating enabling environments to achieve breastfeeding goals. My focus is on the role played by midwives, lactation consultants, trained peers, employers/employees, and family and community members, in reducing barriers to maintaining breastfeeding, including after return to work.
Dr Catharine Fleming
Senior Lecturer in Public Health, School of Sciences and Health, THRI
Director of Academic Program | Postgraduate Public Health and Health Sciences
Primary Interests: Paediatric feeding behaviours and feeding development from birth to adolescence, global infant and young child feeding outcomes, the role of food policy to improve commercial infant and toddler foods for young children and protect the physiological vulnerability of children between 0-36 months.
Dr Nicole Bridges
Senior Lecturer: Public Relations
Director of Academic Program: Communication, Creative Industries, and Screen Media
Primary Interests: Supporting breastfeeding in the community in a way that assists in meeting the WHO recommendations, while being sensitive and inclusive to all parents (regardless of gender and sexuality). Particularly via breastfeeding peer support (either by trained volunteer counsellors and educators, or other parents) with a focus on social media communities.
Professor Virginia Schmied
Professor of Midwifery
Primary Interests: Professor Virginia Schmied’s teaching and research interests are centered on the transitions into parenthood, perinatal mental health, and infant feeding. Professor Schmied’s program of scholarship, teaching and research is grounded in social science theory and she has led the adoption of immersive technology for interprofessional learning.
Professor Ann Dadich
Professor of Human Resources and Management, School of Business, THRI
Deputy Director of the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) Knowledge Translation Platform
Primary Interests: Health service management, notably knowledge translation and brilliant care. Specifically, Professor Dadich pursues research on the processes through which different forms and sources of knowledge coalesce to promote brilliant care – that is, care that exceeds expectation.
Professor Karleen Gribble
Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery
Primary Interests: Breastfeeding, child rights and caregiving in situations of adversity including in emergencies, the child protection system and justice system; promotion of mother-infant attachment and sensitive care; health communication in women’s reproductive health and new motherhood; data collection on sex and gender identity.
Professor Shahla Meedya
Professor of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, THRI
Primary Interests: Educating and promoting breastfeeding through evidence-based strategies. My work explores maternal knowledge, self-efficacy, and the impact of healthcare support on breastfeeding outcomes; emphasising the role of education, policy, and community engagement in improving breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity for better maternal and infant health.
Associate Professor Kingsley Agho
Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
Primary Interests: Public Health Nutrition, Maternal and child health, Nutritional Epidemiology, Infant and Young Child Feeding (Breastfeeding and Complementary feeding), Antenatal and Postnatal Epidemiology, Adolescent Health and Biostatistics.
Associate Professor Amit Arora
Associate Professor in Public Health, School of Health Sciences, THRI
Primary Interests: Infant and Young Child Feeding; Breastfeeding; Introduction to solid foods; Interventions to promote breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity; Paediatric Nutrition, Diet and Nutrition assessment across the lifespan, Food environments; Food policy, Food security.
Dr Tiffany Patterson-Norrie
Associate Lecturer, Public Health
Primary Interests: Tiffany is an Associate Lecturer in Public Health at Western Sydney University with a breadth and depth of expertise across Dietetics, and Interdisciplinary Public Health Research. Her main research areas include maternal and infant nutrition, early childhood nutrition, mental health and oncological public health.
Dr Lucy Ngaihbanglovi
Associate Lecturer, School of Health Sciences
Primary Interests: Infant and Young Child feeding; communicable diseases with particular focus on HIV/AIDS among people who inject drugs; illicit drug use among older Australians; non-communicable diseases among migrant population.
Dr Kaitlyn Brunacci
GP registrar, NDC (Possums) practitioner, PhD candidate, IBCLC candidate
Primary Interests: Children’s and women’s health and perinatal care, especially focussing on nurturing physiological infant care, breastfeeding and protecting parent/infant attachment. Kaitlyn is a member of the Infant and Toddler Foods Research Alliance, WBTI Australia Committee and Australian Breastfeeding Association.
Louise Duursma
PhD Candidate
Primary Interests: I’m a Registered Nurse, IBCLC and long-time ABA Counsellor dedicated to supporting breastfeeding families. My interest in tongue-tie led to a Master of Research and now a PhD, where I’m investigating its impact on breastfeeding and outcomes following frenotomy in infants.
Nicky Evans
PhD candidate
Primary Interests: My research explores infant feeding choices among young mothers. I investigate the social factors influencing breastfeeding and formula feeding decisions, aiming to inform policies and interventions that support maternal and infant well-being. My interests extend to broader female reproductive health issues.
Lynne Henry
Clinical Midwifery Consultant - Primary Maternity Services - Infant Feeding - Westmead Hospital
Primary interests: Supporting women and families to establish and sustain breastfeeding for the recommended duration from birth to two years and beyond. I am interested in healthcare professionals influence on women's breastfeeding journeys, and how their own breastfeeding experiences can shape their interactions. I am passionate about workplace support and empowering mothers to continue breastfeeding upon returning to work.
Amanda Ritchie
Clinical Midwifery Consultant for Lactation and Infant Feeding, South Western Sydney LHD, RN RM CFHN IBCLC
Primary Interests: Promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding in all its forms.
Michelle Simmons
Clinical Midwife Consultant, Postnatal/Infant feeding, Westmead Hospital
Adjunct Fellow School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University
Primary Interests: Michelle is passionate about facilitation of a supportive postpartum environment and promoting a strong breastfeeding culture in Western Sydney. Michelle is a registered Midwife, Nurse and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Michelle is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Midwifery, Honours at Western Sydney University.
Lisa White
Clinical Midwifery Consultant-Infant Feeding, Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals
Primary Interests: The development and implementation of whole population breastfeeding assessment/data to inform research and improve targeted breastfeeding support. Supporting breastfeeding in the perinatal period, ensuring families are provided with evidence-based information to make informed decisions in the health system transitioning to home. Particular interest in gestational diabetes and late preterm neonates.
