Dr Caitlin Cowan works with children, adolescents, and their families to promote better mental health in young people. Her goal is to improve our understanding of how our brains and bodies work together to shape our experience of the world. The weird part is that she does this by looking at poo (yes, you read that right, poo!) She checks what bacteria and viruses are living there, and how those bugs (“the microbiome”) might influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour through the “gut-brain axis”. You can watch a short video about her work here. Caitlin has a PhD and Masters of Clinical Psychology and recently worked with some of the leading international researchers in her field in Ireland. She now works in the School of Psychology at UNSW as an NHMRC Research Fellow and a Scientia Senior Lecturer.

Hannah is a clinical pharmacist at Monash Health, currently acting as the Cardiology Team Leader at the Victorian Heart Hospital. In 2024-2025 Hannah worked to develop the novel Heart Failure Stewardship program at Monash Health - a pharmacy-led service, designed to optimise heart failure management for general medical patients. Hannah is passionate about providing quality clinical pharmacy services and patient-centred care, as well as contributing to the profession through research and education.

Edel graduated as a diagnostic radiographer from University College Dublin in 2005. Her first choice was Pharmacy to follow in her mother’s footsteps but she didn’t get the points! She worked for 9 years in a tertiary referral hospital in Tallaght, Dublin before coming to Australia for 6 months in 2013. 12 years later, she is still here! She has Masters degrees in Computed Tomography (CT), Forensic Radiography and Forensic Medicine, and is currently finalising her PhD. Outside work, she is a sailor and enjoyed 5 months off work earlier this year sailing with her partner on his yacht from Osaka in Japan back to Australia!

Sophie has over 20 years of experience working in international development and community agencies in the multicultural sector in the areas of health promotion, HIV/AIDS, education and research. Sophie is an experienced trainer in Cultural Competence and is a leader in this field.

Rachel Fyfe is the Associate Director of Clinical Pharmacy at Barwon Health and a Senior ICU Pharmacist with over 15 years of experience in critical care. She chairs the AdPha Critical Care Specialty Practice Leadership Committee, where she champions innovation and excellence in pharmacy practice. Rachel’s professional interests span leadership development, workforce wellbeing, and medication safety in critical care, with the aim to improve patient outcomes and support clinical pharmacist development. Rachel is passionate about fostering resilient, high-performing teams and advancing safe, effective medication use in intensive care settings.

Andrea is a specialist trainer, educating groups in cultural competence and health literacy. She is a people person who connects with her dynamic communication style. She has over 10 years’ experience in health services, with a passion for education. Andrea holds degrees in arts and health sciences and spent many years in the natural health industry training health care practitioners.

Myfanwy Graham is an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholar and Monash Graduate Research Excellence Scholar at the Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University. Her research is focused on examining pharmacovigilance and health outcomes with psychoactive medicines (e.g. medicinal cannabis, psychedelics). She is also a current Fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University of Southern California (USC) and is a Fulbright Scholar Alumna in public health policy. Myfanwy has completed consultancy work for the TGA, World Health Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine. She is also a registered pharmacist.

Casey Hale is an experienced hospital pharmacy leader with a career spanning community, hospital, and aged care sectors. In his national leadership roles as the Inventory Specialist Lead, Central Inventory Management at HPS Pharmacies, and Acting Head of Institutional Healthcare Client Support Services at EBOS Group Limited, he leads a national team delivering initiatives that optimise inventory operations, streamline processes, and enhance patient care across Australia. Casey also serves as the Branch Secretary and Technician Representative for the QLD Branch Committee, Advanced Pharmacy Australia, contributing to workforce development, education, and expanding pharmacy technicians’ scope of practice.

Patrick Hilley is a senior clinical pharmacist at Austin Health and holds teaching positions at University of Melbourne, Monash university and RMIT. Patrick immigrated to Melbourne in 2017 following completion of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Scotland and extensive work experience in Gastroenterology in Glasgow and London.

Patrick is currently undertaking a PhD through University of Melbourne, evaluating the role of virtual clinics as a platform to implement values-based healthcare in Inflammatory bowel diseases and outlining the important value-add of specialised IBD pharmacists in the delivery of safe, quality and sustainable care to IBD patients.

Sharon has 20 year’s experience as a clinical pharmacist. After completing a post-graduate thesis in pharmacogenetics and Mayo Clinic certification course on Clinical Implementation of Pharmacogenomics, Sharon established pharmacogenetic profiling for renal transplantation and a novel pharmacist-led pharmacogenetics clinic at Fiona Stanley Hospital. She conducts regional visits to participate in multidisciplinary dialysis and transplant clinics. Sharon has authored and reviewed local and state renal protocols as well as specialised drug guidelines with the WA Medicines Advisory Panel and IV guidelines working group. She is a member of Western Australian Medicines Evaluation Panel (WAMEP) expert advisory group for transplantation and serves as an advisory pharmacist for Department of Health Renal Dashboard.