Sian Graham is a Bardi-Jawi and Noongar woman from One Arm Point in the Kimberley and the Balladong region of Western Australia. Sian has lived and worked in remote communities throughout the Northern Territory and Western Australia. 

She has worked at Menzies School of Health Research for 14 years and has led research across several divisions. During this time, Sian has been able to connect with participants and communities to build strong relationships based on trust and respect.  

Sian is the lead Aboriginal researcher of the Diabetes Across the Lifecourse; Northern Australian Partnership, who founded and Chairs the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group. She has grown and sustained this highly successful group for 7 years. She has continuously invested in research capacity and leadership and her work has highlighted the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Governance within research and why Governance is a mechanism for action. 

Sian is dedicated and committed to working towards improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and believes it is her responsibility as an Aboriginal researcher to advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their rights within research. 

Sian strongly believes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must play an imperative role in research, and we need to work together collaboratively to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have an opportunity to provide input into the direction of our research and create platforms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to have a voice within research.  

Anthony is the Program Manager within the DIABETES across the LIFECOURSE: Northern Australia Partnership at Menzies School of Health Research. Having held a Project Manager role since 2012, he has been integral to several innovative and influential projects including: Co-designing enhanced models of care for Youth with Type 2 Diabetes, SHOP@RIC, BREAD Study, FoodFox and Healthy Stores 2020. Based in Darwin, Anthony spends a considerable amount of time travelling throughout Northern Australia engaging with service providers, health professionals, and community members.

Senior Research Fellow & PANDORA and Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Lead 

Dr Anna Wood is Head of Department of Endocrinology at Royal Darwin Hospital and a Senior Research Fellow with Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin. She works within the Diabetes Across the Lifecourse Partnership at Menzies, and leads the PANDORA study. Dr Wood  also leads the weight management service in the NT with expertise in cardiometabolic health. Dr Wood is a Director of the Australian Diabetes Society and serves on the steering committees for the National Association of Diabetes Centres and the Obesity Collective.

After spending 2 years working on the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study and the Top End Cohort study as Project Officer, Ally has now taken on the Project Co-Ordinator position on the Pregnancy and Neonatal Diabetes Outcomes in Remote Australia (PANDORA) study.

Ally has over 10 years’ experience as a Physiotherapist, and over 5 years’ experience working as a health professional in Indigenous remote health.

Her passion for working with and helping to contribute and improve health outcomes for First Nations peoples, led her to taking on a research-based role here at Menzies. 

Trained as a Physiotherapist, Alison has enjoyed the transition to project work and has worked on quite a few studies at Menzies in her more than 10 years with the organisation.

She has worked on all stages of the PANDORA study excluding the initial recruitment of participants.

Ellie is based in Mparntwe, Alice Springs and her background is in Exercise Physiology. Her keen interest in remote health and commitment to improving health outcomes for those living with chronic disease led her to joining the Diabetes Partnership in January 2023.

Leonie is a Noongar woman from her mother’s side and part Yamatji from her father’s side, originally from Western Australia. She is a saltwater woman, who loves the outdoors and the Darwin Culture. 

Leonie is a Senior Aboriginal Health Practitioner and has been in that role for over 17 years. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Nursing at Flinders University in Diabetes Education and Management. Through this, she has gained extensive experience and knowledge in primary health care (PHC). She has delivered PHC to various town camps in the NT and has extensive experience working in remote Aboriginal communities. She has also worked in all aspects of health settings, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Diana MacKay is a clinician-researcher within the Diabetes Across the Lifecourse: Northern Australia Partnership, and is an endocrinologist at Royal Darwin Hospital where she is the Clinical Lead of Diabetes. Diana has research expertise in mixed-methods and program evaluation, in the areas of diabetes and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Diana is currently completing her PhD, leading the evaluation of the Partnership’s work to improve models of care for diabetes in pregnancy in the NT and Far North Queensland. Diana’s other current research includes a co-design program with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to reduce the diabetes-related risks before, during and after a pregnancy complicated by diabetes, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund.

Originally from South-East Queensland, Diana moved to the NT in 2017. She has developed and contributed to numerous guidelines relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, including the CARPA Remote Primary Healthcare Manuals. She sits on the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Australian Diabetes Society and the NT Maternal and Neonatal Network, and co-chairs the NT Gender Affirming Care Network

Matt is a clinician-researcher whose work focuses on addressing the intergenerational impacts of diabetes and related conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. He is a Staff Specialist and Clinical Lead for Remote Services within the Endocrinology Department at Royal Darwin Hospital. Matt is also currently a Board Director of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society and serves on the Research Advisory Committee of the Australian Diabetes Society.  

After completing his undergraduate medical training, Matt undertook specialist physician training at The Alfred Hospital and later Monash Health in Melbourne. He moved to Darwin in 2019 to complete a PhD under the supervision of Professor Louise Maple-Brown looking at intergenerational trends in diabetes and cardiometabolic health in a large data-linkage study.

Matt has a longstanding interest in the epidemiology, determinants, and prevention of non-communicable diseases. Through both clinical and academic work, he is committed to working collaboratively to reduce health inequalities. He has previous experience working with the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne and the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. His work has been recognised with awards and scholarships from the Australian Diabetes Society, National Health and Medical Research Council, International Diabetes Epidemiology Group, Australian Academy of Science, Diabetes Australia, and the US Centers for Disease Control.

Matt is currently the lead investigator on multiple epidemiology and translational projects, with competitive funding from the Diabetes Australia Research Program and the Commonwealth Department of Health.
 

Tara coordinates the Diabetes in Pregnancy co-design study and is based in Darwin. She joined the team in late 2019, bringing experience in community and organisational development, health policy and consumer/systemic advocacy.

Isabella Marovich is based in Melbourne, Victoria. She has a background in public health and epidemiology, and has worked in research and government roles relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health since 2019. She is passionate about knowledge translation and data-driven policy-making.

Isabella is the Project Manager for Epidemiology and Clinical Diabetes projects and has previously worked in the Diabetes and Pregnancy team in the Partnership. She is currently studying for her Master of Public Health at Charles Darwin University.

Norlisha is a Bardi and Jabirr-Jabirr woman from the Kimberley. Norlisha has nine years of experience working in remote communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, including work in the Diabetes Partnership.

Norlisha has been with the Diabetes Partnership for four years and is now a Project Officer in the Diabetes in Pregnancy team and Stakeholder Engagement. 

Norlisha is passionate and committed to working with communities to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, families, and communities. 

Lisa has worked in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care for over 25 years and has held various positions ranging from Snr Health Worker, Snr Project Officer, Site Coordinator, Advanced Chronic Disease Coordinator, Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Coordinator and Cultural Lead positions within several Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, Queensland, and South Australia Health depts, and has worked in several not-for-profit health & education organisations.

Lisa’s passion is working with First Nation people and communities to help close the gap and support self-determination for First Nation people.

Kim is a physiotherapist with over eight years of clinical experience across a variety of acute hospital and community settings. Her passion for working with people inspired her to pursue a career in public health. Her main areas of interest include improving maternal health outcomes in remote communities, and chronic disease prevention and management.

Based in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Kim joined the Partnership in 2021 and is the Central Australian Project Coordinator for the Diabetes in Pregnancy Codesign team.

Sherrelle is an Adnyamathanha, Arabana and Afghan woman, originally from South Australia. Sherrelle moved to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in 2015 and currently works as an Aboriginal Health Practitioner in the maternity ward at Alice Springs Hospital. With 13 years’ experience in maternal health, Sherrelle has previously worked as a first contact for Midwifery Group Practice patients and as an Aboriginal Maternal Infant Care worker at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.

Sherrelle is passionate about working with pregnant and postnatal women to support them and their families, and joins the Diabetes in Pregnancy Codesign team in Central Australia in the role of Project Officer – Community and Stakeholder Engagement.

Angela Titmuss is a paediatric endocrinologist and paediatrician at Royal Darwin Hospital and Senior Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, working within the youth type 2 diabetes team of the diabetes across the Lifecourse: Northern Australian Partnership. Her PhD explored the prevalence and characteristics of youth-onset type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in northern Australia. It also explored the impact of maternal hyperglycaemia in pregnancy on the growth, cardiometabolic profile and developmental risk of children, part of the Pregnancy and Neonatal Diabetes Outcomes in Remote Australia (PANDORA) study. Her PhD work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians NHMRC Woolcock Award, the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, the Diabetes Australia Research Program, and an NHMRC Hot North PhD Completion Scholarship. 

She is an Investigator on several studies exploring prevention strategies for obesity and type 2 diabetes in childhood, as well as the development of new models of care for management of youth-onset type 2 diabetes, and youth engagement. She is the only paediatric endocrinologist in the Northern Territory and also provides outreach and clinical support across the region. She sits on multiple regional and national representative bodies regarding youth-onset type 2 diabetes and has been heavily involved in clinical guideline development and workforce education.

Natasha has worked within the Diabetes Across the Lifecourse Northern Australia Partnership as a qualitative researcher and evaluator since 2018. She currently works as an evaluator for the Youth Type 2 Diabetes Team, which focuses on co-designing youth-friendly, culturally appropriate models of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people with type 2 diabetes aged 10-25. Natasha has both led and contributed to several evaluations for various teams, since commencing with Menzies in 2016. Before working at Menzies, Natasha worked in rural and regional centres in Western Australia and Far North Queensland focusing on health promotion and building workforce capacity.

Marylin is working with the youth diabetes team as a Project Coordinator for the Top End region and has been with the Partnership since 2022. Previously based on Treaty 1 Territory, the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and Métis Peoples, she is now based in Larrakia Country. She has over 10 years of experience in coordinating projects in North America, Europe and Africa. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®).

Emma is an evaluator in the youth diabetes team based in Mparntwe, Alice Springs. She has a particular interest in the social determinants of health and how these intersect with youth-onset type 2 diabetes prevention and management.

Since joining the Partnership in 2019 she has supported the use of participatory evaluation approaches to strengthen project outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Jo is based in Mparntwe, Alice Springs. Jo has extensive experience working in Central Australia as a Nurse in a variety of clinical settings. She is committed to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities to improve health outcomes for those living with chronic disease.

Jo joined the Partnership in 2016 and is currently the Project Manager for the Merne Mwerre Artweye Areye-ke program. A family-based prevention program for obesity and diabetes in childhood.

Shiree is an Arrernte woman employed during the formative work of this project (community consultation and adaptation of TTP). She has prior research experience with the formative work for the Youth Type 2 Diabetes project and continued to develop her capacity significantly during her time on this work in Central Australia. She completed a range of capacity-building activities during the community consultation and adaptation of TTP and is formally involved as a co-researcher on the team and will continue to develop her research capacity. She mentors and supports new Aboriginal community-based members of the team who are employed on projects. Shiree is also a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group.

Damian is a Dietitian with a strong interest in research and population health, specifically in chronic disease management and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  He has worked as a clinical dietitian with remote communities in Cape York to achieve better health outcomes through improvements in food security and store environments.

Damian is a team member of the Diabetes Across the Lifecourse Northern Australia Partnership. He works in the Youth Type 2 Diabetes Team, which is focused on improving the support and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people with type 2 diabetes aged 10-25.