Dr Michael Dillon, PhD – is a Professor in Prosthetics and Orthotics, and currently serves as the Head, Department Community and Clinical Health at La Trobe University. During the early part of his career, Dr Dillon worked as a prosthetist/orthotist in public hospitals and private practice. In that role, he Dr Dillon obtained a PhD in biomechanics and biomedical engineering from Queensland University of Technology prior to commencing his academic career at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Since this time, Dr Dillon has taught across a diverse range of curriculum areas with expertise in transfemoral prosthetics, and critical appraisal subjects that look to help students become informed consumers of the research evidence. Dr Dillon’s research has involved studies in areas of biomechanics, epidemiology, health-related quality-of-life, health economics, and outcomes after lower limb amputation. In recent years, Dr Dillon has led a small international collaboration to develop shared decision-making resources to help clinicians, and those facing the prospect of partial foot amputation, engage in more meaningful conversations about amputation surgery. These shared decision-making resources are freely available at: www.amputationdecisionaid.com

Jo is a hospital and university-trained registered nurse, trained counsellor and the founder and director of Treat Healthcare. For over a decade Jo has been delivering  ‘Treat’ programs for healthcare staff in major health services. Treat has been studied and shown to reduce burnout and enhance team functioning, focus and awareness in healthcare workers, and was a finalist for the Victorian Public Healthcare awards in 2017. Jo is passionate about reducing fatigue and helping hospital staff improve vitality, engagement and performance through the evidence-based Treat programs.

Associate Professor Belinda Parmenter is a clinical academic, accredited exercise physiologist (AEP), and the Head of UNSW Lifestyle Clinic, located at the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health. Belinda is a UNSW Medicine and Health Cardiac, Vascular and Metabolic Medicine Steering Committee member.  She is also the co-founder and national co-chair of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA) Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Working Group. Belinda has over 25 years of clinical experience prescribing and delivering exercise for people at risk of or with cardiovascular disease. Her experience includes specialising in assessing, prescribing, implementing and supervising exercises for this population. Her PhD investigated the use of high-intensity progressive resistance training for patients with intermittent claudication from PAD, for which she was awarded the Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Medal for the most outstanding thesis in the field of Exercise and Sports Science. Belinda is an invited member of the NHMRC-funded National Centre for Research Excellence for PAD and continues her research in this field with a primary interest in the effect of cardiovascular disease on aerobic capacity and muscle strength and endurance, as well as the effect of exercise on reducing symptoms from those with and at risk of cardiovascular disease across the lifespan. Some of her current projects include investigating ways to improve regular incidental physical activity and promote continued sports and exercise participation across adolescence and into adulthood. She is working with the Matilda Centre at Sydney University to develop eHealth interventions for adolescents to increase physical activity levels and reduce sedentary behaviour, and she is developing similar programs for adult populations. She continues to investigate optimal exercise prescriptions for the amelioration of cardiovascular risk, as well as for the treatment of peripheral artery disease.

 

Dr Walsh is the Senior Associate Dean and Chief Nurse Administrator at the University of Toledo College of Nursing. She also serves as the Director of the Honors Program and Director of Nursing Continuing Professional Development. Dr Walsh works collaboratively with faculty to maintain accreditation and licensure requirements for the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. She assists faculty with scholarly activities, developing research interests, and obtaining grants on educational and clinically focused topics. Dr Walsh has a long-standing career in vascular nursing. She has provided numerous presentations at local, regional, national, and international conferences. She has several publications in peer-reviewed journals and text chapters. Dr Walsh has served on three intersocietal evidence-based practice vascular guidelines on post-thrombotic syndrome, peripheral artery disease, and supervised exercise therapy. She currently serves as co-editor of the Journal of Vascular Nursing. She is the recipient of the Jeanne Doyle Excellence in Vascular Nursing Award and the Janice D. Nunnelee Emeritus Membership Award by the Society of Vascular Nursing.