General Practice - Our Team

Penny (MBBS Hons, PhD, MPH, CF, FFFLM, GAICD, RACGP) is the Peter Brennan Chair of General Practice. She has career long teaching, research, clinical and professional interests in high quality accessible primary care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, the health of justice involved people, and health equity. After a career in full time general practice, she commenced in a half time academic appointment at Western Sydney University in 2010, before becoming the head of the department in 2023.

She is a successful clinician-researcher and has been awarded research grant funding of over $30 million. She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to travel to the US and Canada to study transformational primary care models which promote inclusion of people leaving prison and people with substance use disorders. Penny has been a long-term visiting GP in Justice Health NSW and worked in the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector in western Sydney as a GP and researcher for over 20 years.

Please contact Penny at p.abbott@westernsydney.edu.au

Since joining WSU in 2017, Winston has been involved in the design and delivery of teaching activities to WSU medical students across the 5-year program. He previously worked with medical schools at UNSW, the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle. Winston has also worked in medical education roles with RACGP NSW/ACT Faculty, GP Synergy, the Black Dog Institute and Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network. He has experience in teaching undergraduate students in the disciplines of primary care and public health, and re-designed curriculum and blended learning activities. Winston has provided clinical supervision and training for students enrolled in medicine, nursing and allied health; junior medical officers and GP registrars.

He was awarded 2 teaching prizes by UNSW - UNSW Medicine Learning & Teaching Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning; SPHCM Alan Hodgkinson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Student Learning.

Winston’s research interests include refugee health, Aboriginal health, primary care, mental health, medical education, the health of doctors and medical students. Winston was awarded the 2009 RACGP/Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine Research (CONROD) Fellowship, and a research grant from the Australian Research Theology Foundation in 2024.

Winston’s current clinical work focuses on vulnerable populations, including people living with enduring mental illness, prison inmates and post-natal parents. Outside of work, Winston enjoys family time with his wife and 2 young children, the creative arts, and singing in a band.

Please contact Winston at w.lo@westernsydney.edu.au

Dr Yasin Shahab is a GP based in Campsie and Gymea. After completing his medical degree at the University of Adelaide, he returned to Sydney to undertake postgraduate training across various hospitals and regional areas of New South Wales. He joined the Western Sydney University Department of General Practice as a Senior Lecturer in 2021, having previously served as an Academic Registrar in 2016. Dr Shahab is passionate about teaching both medical students and GP registrars and enjoys the broad scope of medicine that general practice offers.

He oversees the Year 1, Year 2, and Year 5 GP placements and their associated education programs and is onsite at the campus on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Yasin’s research interests include primary health care and medical education. He was previously an academic registrar at WSU in 2016. He also sits on various external committees, including the NSW Agency Clinical Innovation (ACI) GP Advisory Group as well as the Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) Urgent Care Advisory Committee.

In his spare time, he enjoys exercising and following his beloved Sydney Swans and Canterbury Bulldogs.

Please contact Yasin at y.shahab@westernsydney.edu.au

Fazana graduated with MBBS from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, and completed her Diploma and MD in Family Medicine at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Family Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Fazana is an experienced family physician who has served extensively in both hospital and community healthcare settings in Sri Lanka. Her early clinical training in cardiac surgery, anaesthesia, and critical care provided a strong foundation in acute care, which later guided her professional focus toward primary care and comprehensive family medicine.

Alongside clinical work, Fazana has a strong commitment to medical education and trainee development. She has been actively involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees, with particular interest in primary care psychiatry, non-communicable diseases, women’s health, and Family medicine education. Her current research interests focused on the integration of cancer survivorship care into primary care practice.

Please contact Fazana at f.mohamedaththas@westernsydney.edu.au