General Practice - Our Team
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Office Location:Level 3, Building 30, Phone: (02) 4620 3933 | Postal Address:School of Medicine |
Our Team
Professor Penelope Abbott
Peter Brennan Chair of General Practice
Contact Professor Penelope Abbott
Penny (MBBS Hons, PhD, MPH, CF, 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, Abbott commenced in a half time academic appointment at Western Sydney University in 2010. She is a successful clinician-researcher and has been awarded research grant funding of over $14 million since starting at WSU. Her PhD was a multiple methods study examining healthcare access for justice-involved women. 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. Her strong professional activities include membership of the General Practice Advisory Group, Agency for Clinical Innovation NSW, the GP leaders’ group and the Clinical Council at the Western Sydney Primary Health Network, and a Board member at Justice Health NSW.
Dr Miriam Brooks
Senior Lecturer, General Practice
Dr Miriam Brooks is a General Practitioner from the Blue Mountains. Miriam trained as a GP in rural NSW, then worked for seven years in Aboriginal Health in Western Sydney and Canberra, and now works in a refugee health clinic and at a Women’s Health Centre in the Blue Mountains. Miriam's research and clinical interests are in trauma-sensitive, culturally responsive and people centred healthcare. Miriam is a Senior Lecturer in the Department.
Dr Winston Lo
Senior Lecturer, General Practice
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, University of Sydney and University of Newcastle. Winston has also worked in academic roles with RACGP NSW/ACT Faculty, GP Synergy and the Black Dog Institute. 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. Winston’s clinical work focuses on vulnerable populations, including refugees and asylum seekers; prison inmates; adolescents with enduring mental illness and post-natal mothers. Outside of work, Winston enjoys family time with his wife and 2 young children, along with singing in a band.
Dr Yasin Shahab
Senior Lecturer, General Practice
Dr Yasin Shahab is a general practitioner working in Campsie since 2017. Having completed his medical school in the University of Adelaide, he returned home to Sydney where he did his post graduate training in various hospitals and regional areas of NSW. He joined the WSU department of general practice as a senior lecturer in 2021, having been an academic registrar 5 years previously with the department. He is passionate about teaching both medical students and GP registrars as well as the experiencing the breadth of medicine that one gets in general practice. He takes responsibility for the year 1 and year 2 GP placements and their various education programs and will be onsite on campus on Tuesdays and Fridays. In his down time, he enjoys exercising and following his beloved Sydney Swans and Canterbury Bulldogs.
Dr Shalinie Senerathge Dona
Visiting Academic Fellow
Contact Dr Shalinie Senerathge Dona
Dr Shalinie Senerathge Dona is an Honorary Academic Visiting Fellow of the Department of General Practice. Shalinie is a graduate of the Colombo Medical School. She is qualified in DFM and MD in Family Medicine from the Post Graduate Institute in Medicine, Colombo.
Shalinie is an experienced primary care physician and a researcher with a special interest in primary care antibiotic adherence and women's health. Shalinie's current research work includes a scoping review of the menstruation experience of women in prison.
Dr Christabel Hoe
Academic GP registrar
Dr Christabel Hoe is an academic and clinical general practice registrar. She completed her medical education in Queensland and later trained at Concord, Canterbury and Broken Hill Hospitals. She is currently working with the WSU Department of General Practice conducting research on parental attitudes towards topical corticosteroid use in eczema management."
Dr Phyllis Lau
Senior Research Fellow
Phyllis is Senior Research Fellow at the General Practice Unit, Western Sydney University. She has extensive experience in Indigenous health, quality primary care, communication, interprofessional collaboration, chronic disease management and health service delivery research for the purpose of informing primary health care policy reform, particularly related to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and population groups who experience marginalisation.
She has been awarded several research grants over the years including National health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grants and fellowship grants and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) awards. She is or has been a Chief Investigator in 15 funded projects and the primary investigator in 9.
Phyllis’ expertise is in mixed-methods research. She has experience in various study designs including randomised controlled trials, descriptive quantitative studies, qualitative studies (predominantly phenomenological design), interviews, focus groups, quantitative/qualitative/mixed-methods surveys including Delphi consensus surveys for management pathway development and case studies.
Phyllis has joint appointments at the University of Melbourne. She is Honorary Associate Professor at the Melbourne Dental School and Senior Research Fellow and Graduate Research Coordinator at the Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne. Phyllis is also an honorary research adviser for Hong Kong Tuen Mun Hospital Family Medicine Department, and a visiting academic at the University of Malaya. She holds active national advocacy and leadership roles. She is the President of the Australasian Association for Academic Primary Care (AAAPC) that advocates for high quality primary care research, education and practice.
Robyn Walsh
Research Officer
Robyn (B Biomed Sc. Hons) has worked in clinical research in the commercial, not for profit and academic sectors, most recently The George Institute for Global Health, for 15 years on drug, device and surgical studies. She has undertaken a variety of roles and tasks within the field including protocol development, data management and auditing, patient recruitment, research staff training, research site management, and overall project management. Robyn has worked predominantly in cardiovascular, neurological and women's health, and diabetes, respiratory and sleep medicine. Her areas of interest are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and Women's Health, and education and training.
Nicole King
Administration Officer, WATCH Trial
Nicole has over experience 20 years’ experience in Administration and Research positions within the medical industry. For the past 16 years Nicole has worked in a variety of roles for the School of Medicine in different areas of health including Immunology and Respiratory. Nicole is currently providing administration and research support for the NHMRC funded Randomised Control Trial of antibiotic treatment versus a "watchful waiting" approach to the management of acute otitis media in urban Aboriginal children at low risk of complications of ear disease.
Vicki Bradley
Administrative Officer
Vicki Bradley works as Placement Support Administrative Officer for Year 5 Medical Students. Vicki is currently providing the Department with general administrative support to the staff and travel administration as required. Vicki has worked within the university as a casual since 2011 in various Departments and Schools. Vicki came to the School of Medicine in 2014 as Assessment and Student Support Officer. She has worked extensively in Customer Service roles. NSW Public and Private Schools, Recruitment and within Vocational Training and Education sector.
Sharon Lawrence
Administrative Officer
Sharon Lawrence works as an Administrative Officer for the Department of General Practice, co-ordinating GP placements for Year 1, 2, 3 and 5 medical students. Sharon has worked with Western Sydney University since 1995 and in the School of Medicine from 2010. She has worked extensively in supporting academics and students.
George Sotirios
Administration Officer
George Sotirios works as an Administration Officer for the Dept of GP, co-ordinating GP placements for Year 3 medical students. George's role also covers work for the Deanery and Indigenous Health. George has worked with Western Sydney University since 2011.
Dr Kam Wong
Senior Lecturer in General Practice
Bathurst Clinical School
General Practitioner, researcher, and author. Senior Lecturer in General Practice at Bathurst Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University. PhD candidate (Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney). Medical Reviewer for Oxford University Press. Achievements include a research scholarship from Dartmouth College, USA, and a research grant from Western Sydney University. Publications include a book chapter in "Quality Improvement in Behavioral Health" by Springer International.
Dr Levi U Osuagwu
Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead, Rural Health
Bathurst Clinical School
Levi attained a Doctor of Optometry (OD) 2000 from Abia State University, Nigeria, and a Master of Science degree in Optometry and Vision Sciences (focus on ocular health) in 2014 from Aston University Birmingham, UK, where he graduated with a distinction. Prior to moving to Australia, Levi has worked in various private and public sectors in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia. In Australia he assisted the Ophthalmologists at the Centre of Excellence, Inala and travelled with Ideas Van to provide diabetes care for Aboriginals.
Levi completed his PhD from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2017, where his worked on improving the peripheral vision of humans with emphasis on early detection and prevention of Myopia, a leading public health issue. During this time, he also served as the President of the Optical Society of America QUT Chapter as well as teaching various health courses within and outside the School of Optometry.
Since commencing at Western Sydney University in 2018 as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Diabetes and Integrated Care, Levi has served in various committees both within the university and internationally. He has been involved in several large-scale studies including the roll out of the Tongan GDM Taskforce, Diabetes Care Support Service (DCSS) which is a 25 years audit of General practices across Auckland, New Zealand and the Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme (PPDP), an NHMRC funded lifestyle intervention programme, where he served as the Field Coordinator (2020-2022). Levi also a member of the Global Burden of Disease study group where he contributes to studies on diabetes.
Levi is the Convenor of two research groups - the African Translational Research Group (AfTreG) and the Center for Eye Care and Public Health Intervention Initiative (CEPHII), domiciled in South Africa.
Dr Christine Ahern
Senior Lecturer in General Practice
University Centre for Rural Health, Lismore
Dr Christine Ahern is a general practitioner working in Casino, in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. She works in the teaching environment in Lismore, as an academic coordinator and senior lecturer, where she is dedicated to ensuring that students are exposed to a safe and inspiring learning environment and where they can feel both supported and challenged in equal measure.
The Northern Rivers, despite or perhaps in some ways because of, its recent disasters, has continued to provide the opportunity for rewarding work and life experiences, and a place for students to develop and grow.
Dr Natalie Lindsay
Conjoint Senior Lecturer in General Practice, WSU
University Centre for Rural Health, Lismore
Dr Natalie Lindsay is a General Practitioner from Lennox Head in Northern NSW. Natalie trained as a GP in rural NSW, and currently works part time in Aboriginal Health performing outreach to the Cabbage Tree Island community, and part time as a senior lecturer at the University Centre for Rural Health in Lismore. Natalie's interests include chronic disease management, particularly Type II Diabetes Mellitus and ear health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
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