DR AMANDA VINCENT, BMed Sci, MBBS PhD, FRACP

Dr Amanda Vincent graduated from Monash University in 1986 receiving Honours for her MBBS and Bachelor of Medical Science degrees.  Following postgraduate training in Endocrinology at Monash Medical Centre and St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Amanda completed a PhD thesis investigating the pathophysiology of abnormal uterine bleeding at Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, under the supervision of Professor Lois Salamonsen.   She is currently employed as an Endocrinologist with the Southern Health Menopause Unit and the Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Unit.   She has been appointed as a Senior Research Officer with the Jean Hailes Women’s Health Group, based Monash University Institute of Health Sciences Research.  Her work will involve both clinical research and education projects.   Her particular clinical interests are premature menopause and Turner’s syndrome.  She endeavours to balance her medical work with her family life, raising two children aged 7 and 9 years.

Carolyn English RN RM BHSc MHSc FRCNA

As a registered nurse & midwife, Carolyn, until her retirement in 2005, was involved with women’s health over many years, mainly in the western suburbs of Melbourne with its large multicultural population. Since 1990, Carolyn was also been involved in the Undergraduate & Postgraduate Nursing Education Program at Victoria University, including periods in the overseas teaching program in Hong Kong. Carolyn has presented research papers at national & international conferences that include her work with NESB women & their experience of menopause & with refugee Iraqi women in the Goulburn Valley. She has also conducted a Women’s Health Seminar on menopause in Kuala Lumpur. In 2002 Carolyn was awarded an inaugural June Allen Fellowship from the Nurses’ Board of Victoria enabling her to travel to the U.K. to examine the role of the nurse in menopause clinics. Carolyn was granted Fellowship to the Royal College of Nursing Australia in 1994 for her significant contribution to nursing.

Professor Martha Hickey

Profile

PROFESSOR MARTHA HICKEY - MBChB MD
Professor Martha Hickey is a Clinical Psychologist and Obstetrician Gynaecologist who has recently been appointed to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Western Australia and is currently establishing her research laboratory. Over the past five years she has gained international recognition for her work on the mechanisms of breakthrough bleeding in women using progestogens. She is part of an all-Australian group awarded a US$1.34m grant by NIH in 2002 to continue this work. Her pioneering work in HRT related bleeding attracted NHMRC funding in 2002 and lead to the "Young Investigator of the Year" award from the RCOG/RANZCOG. She has 35 peer reviewed publications, five chapters and one book. In 2002 she was made an editor for the large Cochrane "menstrual disorders and subfertility" group. In 1994 she was the most junior clinician to be awarded the MRCOG and 1996 she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Bristol University for research into the mechanisms of endometrial bleeding at Sydney University, supported by a research scholarship from the RANZCOG. She came to Australia from Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM), which has the second most successful research profile in the UK (after Oxford University). In 1999 Martha was awarded permanent residency status in Australia on the grounds of "exceptional overseas talent". A/Prof Hickey is a Consultant and Expert Clinical Advisor to the WHO on uterine bleeding and sits on the biomedical review panel allocating WHO funding for reproductive health research. She regularly receives invitations to speak at international meetings, the most prestigious being FIGO 2000 (Washington USA), NIH/WHO symposia on Steroids and Endometrial Bleeding (1996, 1999), the WHO symposia on implantable contraceptives (2001), The European Society for Human Reproduction (1999) and the British and European Menopause Society Meetings in 2000. She acts as an expert clinical referee for a number of international journals. She has twice acted as external examiner for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Menopause Service

King Edward Memorial Hospital

Sharon Scarcelli de Jong is the clinical nurse coordinator of the Menopause Service at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Subiaco, Western Australia.  She has worked in this role since 2001.  Sharon commenced her initial nursing training in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and returned to the USA to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at California State University, Sacramento in 1980.  Her interest in women’s health developed in her work as a Registered Nurse in the areas of high risk ante-partum, post-partum, labor and delivery and home visit nurse at Canyon General Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, Southern California. Her publications, “Pregnant Partners” and “Handbook for Fathers” were utilized by the Perinatal Services Department there. Wanting to increase her knowledge and qualifications, she completed the graduate course at California State University, Los Angeles to become a Registered Nurse Practitioner in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN RNP). After graduating, she worked for Kaiser Permanente, Southern California in this expanded nursing role providing primary health care to women.  In 1985 she married and joined her husband in Australia, where they worked for 1½ years in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.  Sharon developed an in-service education training program for aboriginal health workers and nursing staff and helped to establish the first multi-disciplinary care team at Numbala Nunga, the aboriginal nursing home in Derby, WA.  She was also appointed Accreditation Coordinator at Numbala Nunga in the earliest phase of the WA Health Department accreditation process.    She became a full-time mum to three active children and worked part-time as a lecturer in first aid training for St John Ambulance Association in Perth until her children were through primary school.   Wanting to return to her interest in women’s health nursing, Sharon completed the Family Planning Australia (FPWA) practitioner course for registered nurses in Sexual and Reproductive Health in 2000 and in 2001 was employed by KEMH in her current role.  As a new member of AMS Educational Committee, she looks forward to working together, producing high quality education materials and in promoting and expanding the role of the nurse in menopause health care management.        

DR ELIZABETH GALLAGER  BMed. BMedSci(Hons), FRANZCOG

Dr Elizabeth Gallagher is an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Canberra. She graduated from the University of Newcastle and trained at the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth UK and The Canberra Hospital. She completed her specialty training in 2001 and saw a need for a menopause clinic at The Canberra Hospital when specialty outpatient clinics were in their infancy. She now runs a menopause and pelvic floor clinic at TCH and is involved in the supervision and teaching of medical students, residents and registrars. She has been involved in GP education through Family Planning and RACGP training and general education sessions. She also has a busy private obstetric & gynaecology practice at the John James Medical Centre, again with a strong interest in menopause and prolapse.

DR LINDA SPINKS, MBBS (QLD)