Speakers

Dr Abbenbroek is the Sepsis Australia and Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance Program Manager within the Critical Care Division at The George Institute for Global Health and serves on the Global Sepsis Alliance Executive Board which advises the World Health Organisation sepsis program. In his current role, Brett is responsible for driving implementation of the Australian Stopping Sepsis National Action Plan, supporting implementation of the national Sepsis Clinical Care Standard for health services, and coordinating efforts to reduce the burden of sepsis across the Asia-Pacific region.

Rose Messiha is a Project Officer at the National Critical Care Research Collaboration. She has contributed to the Australian New Zealand Consortium in Paediatric Oncofertility (ANZCO) guidelines group and previously worked as an Administration Officer at the Monash University Clinical Trial Centre (MUCTC). Rose has experience coordinating primary endpoints for the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE XT) trial. She holds a First-Class Honours degree in Cardiovascular Pharmacology from Monash University and completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy at Heinrich Heine University, Germany.

FCICM, EDA, EDIC, FCARCSI, DDU (Critical Care), MLd, MPH

Judit is an Intensive Care Specialist and ICU deputy director at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne. Her interests include care of deteriorating patients, cardiac arrest management including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, Rapid Response and sepsis management. She is the Intensive Care Medical Lead for Medical Emergency Teams and plays an integral part in the planning and development of hospital wide management of deteriorating patients.

Dr. Avinash Sharma is a Specialist in Intensive Care at South Western Sydney Local Health District, with a Master’s degree in Health Data Science. He brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and data-driven insight to critical care, with a strong focus on leveraging big data for translational research. Dr. Sharma’s primary research interest lies in sepsis, where he explores how large-scale health data can be harnessed to improve early detection, treatment strategies, and patient outcomes. His work bridges the gap between bedside care and data science, aiming to drive innovation in intensive care through evidence-based, data informed approaches.

Winston Cheung is a Senior Staff Specialist in the Intensive Care Unit at Concord Repatriation General Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Sydney, School of Medicine, at Concord.

He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health – Australia, is a fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Winston has a keen interest in the health and wellbeing of healthcare staff. He is the current Chair of the Medical Staff Council at Concord Hospital. He is the current steering committee Chair of a taskforce representing 18 organisations in writing the workforce roadmap document for Intensive Care Units in Australia and New Zealand.

His talk will be an update on the progress of this ICU workforce roadmap document.

Professor Tracey Bucknall is a Distinguished Professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University and Co-Director of the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, in the Institute of Health Transformation. She holds a joint appointment at Alfred Health as the Foundational Chair in Nursing, and Director of Nursing Research.

Tracey is internationally recognised as a decision scientist and knowledge translation expert. With a focus on patient safety, she has conducted extensive research on improving communication and decision-making with patients and families. Her research has informed communication toolkits, decision aids, policies, patient portals, multi-lingual fact sheets, and checklists to support engagement with consumers. Other research has focused on improving communication during transitions of care including from ICU to the wards using the COLD tool. She has authored almost 300 publications and is listed in the top 2% of international scientists (Stanford University). She led the NHMRC funded PRONTO clinical trial, to increase recognition and response to clinical deterioration by nurses, awarded the most impactful article in BMJ Quality & Safety Journal in 2022.

Amy Capetola is a Critical Care Registered Nurse working in the Intensive Care Unit at Austin Health in Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing from La Trobe University and completed her Graduate Year at Austin Health. Amy has clinical experience in Gastroenterology, Liver Transplant, and Radiology nursing. Her passion for intensive care nursing began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was redeployed to the ICU to support the high volume of critically ill patients. This experience inspired her to pursue a career in critical care. She subsequently completed the Transition to Specialty Practice Program in Intensive Care, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing from the University of Melbourne. Amy is actively involved in quality improvement initiatives, particularly through her contributions to Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers, where she focuses on enhancing the patient experience within her unit.

Matt is a specialist of intensive care medicine at Royal Melbourne Hospital, St John of God Hospital Geelong, and an associate professor with the Department of Critical Care at the University of Melbourne.  Along with overseeing clinical trials, and conducting laboratory-based studies, Matt has burgeoning interest to ensure intensive care is equitable, sustainable, and supports a healthy community.

Dr Ashwin Subramaniam is a Intensive Care Specialist. Ashwin completed his medical degree in India in 1997 and a Master of Medicine at the University of Melbourne in 2005. Ashwin then completed his Fellowships in Internal Medicine (FRACP) in 2008 and Intensive Care Medicine (FCICM) in 2013. After completing his physician training at Eastern Health, he has worked at The Alfred Hospital, Austin Health, Latrobe Regional Hospital and Peninsula Health. This broad exposure has consolidated his experience before he commenced employment as a specialist in Peninsula Health Intensive Care Unit. He was the Head of the Acute Admission and Assessment Unit (AAA) for Peninsula Health in 2015. He also held the position of Medical Lead for Simulation in Peninsula Health with a keen interest in education, especially early identification and management of clinical deteriorating patients. He is a keen researcher. The Master of Medicine through The University of Melbourne gave him a. strong foundation. His interests are Rapid Response Calls, Frailty and Nutrition in Critically ill. He is site Principal investigator for 4 multi centre projects.

Brent is a paediatric intensivist from Sunshine Coast University Hospital. He spent the first 14 years of his consultant career in Starship Hospital Auckland, where he assisted various paediatric and adult Cardio-thoracic and transplant services monitor and benchmark their complication rates and outcomes, as well as currently sitting on the ANZPIC Registry Clinical Advisory Committee.

Professor Daryl Jones graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1996 and is an Intensive Care Specialist at Austin Health.

Daryl is also an adjunct Professor at the University of Melbourne and Monash University and an advisor to the Safer Care Victoria

He has completed a doctor of medicine in aspects of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) and has also completed a PhD on the RRT that will assess the characteristics and outcomes of patient who are reviewed by the RRT, and details of resource utilization of the MET in ICU-equipped hospitals throughout Australia.

Daryl is the medical director of critical care outreach at the Austin Hospital and is the president-elect of the international society for Rapid Response Systems.

He has an interest in strategies to improve the recognition and response to clinical deterioration for deteriorating patients, including those with sepsis.

Dr Tapan Parikh is the Head of Quality and Governance at Monash Intensive Care Service, leading quality and safety initiatives across all ICU campuses within Monash Health. He is responsible for driving system-level improvements in clinical governance, procedural compliance, and accreditation readiness, with a strong focus on embedding safe, consistent, and high-quality practice in critical care.

As a current trainee with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA), Dr Parikh brings a systems-thinking approach to leadership, balancing clinical insight with strategic oversight. His interests include quality and safety education, procedural accreditation, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within ICU teams.

Dr Parikh is particularly passionate about supporting high-risk procedural practice through structured training, audit, and credentialing frameworks. He is also actively involved in the development of clinical decision support tools aimed at improving patient outcomes and enhancing real-time decision-making in intensive care.

He is a strong advocate for multidisciplinary collaboration, data-informed learning, medicolegal and psychological safety in the workplace. Through his leadership and role in safety & leadership education, Dr Parikh is committed to building a resilient, high-performing ICU service that prioritises patient safety, staff development, and sustained excellence in care.

Màiri is an early career Intensivist from Melbourne with particular interests in multidisciplinary and soft skills education, occupational violence and aggression and trainee welfare. She originally trained in Scotland before seeking refuge from the rain and industrial strikes in Australia. As a trainee, Màiri has worked in Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs and other regional centres in Victoria, Tasmania and NSW. She is passionate about equality of access for both patients and trainees to the services and opportunities they require to thrive.

David is an Intensive Care Specialist at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and Chairman of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation (CORE). He is an Adjunct Clinical Professor with Monash University, the Honorary Secretary of ANZICS and past Clinical Lead for the Safer Care Victoria Critical Care Clinical Network.

Professor Frances Lin, RN, PhD, FACCCN, SFHEA

Professor Frances Lin is the Dean Research, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Director, Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University. Frances is passionate about discovering and translating research evidence into clinical practice to improve the quality and safety of patient care and service delivery in acute and critical care settings. She has expertise in leading large multi-disciplinary teams and co-designing solutions with clinicians, consumers, healthcare organisations, and government bodies to solve complex clinical problems. In close partnerships, and with strong support from multiple health services and professional organisations, her current program of research, focuses on “unblock” the bed block issues in intensive care.

Frances is a strategic leader who strives to build nursing research capacity. She is a strong believer in the benefits of mentorship and has been a dedicated mentor to many academics and clinicians, including her PhD students. She has established strong partnerships with researchers from a wide range of organisations, locally, nationally, and internationally. She is the Associate Editor for Intensive and Critical Care Nursing (#1 by impact factor for critical care nursing in 2022). Frances has been an active contributor to Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN). She is currently the Chair of ACCCN’s Quality Advisory Panel.

Dr Harvey Lander B Med MBA FRACMA is Director, Systems Improvement at the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), Sydney, Australia. The CEC has specialists in patient safety and is tasked with partnering with Local Health Districts to support improvements in safety and reliability of care across NSW Health. Harvey currently has responsibility for leading the adult, older persons’, maternity, paediatric and mental health patient safety programs, as well as the medication safety programs including NSW Medicines Formulary both inpatients and outpatients. He contributes at a state level in supporting clinical and specifically medical leadership, executives, and health services to improve the quality and safety of patient care in more than 200 hospitals and smaller health facilities. He has contributed to publications on improving the recognition and response to sepsis and the deteriorating patient. He is passionate about systems improvements to help support safe, reliable, integrated and sustainable person-centred systems of care that reduce harm and improve patient experience and outcomes.

Harvey has previously worked as a Director of Medical Services in range of acute tertiary, outer metropolitan, and regional hospitals (including an Area Clinical Governance Unit) across Australia and had responsibility for clinical governance, quality, and safety, medical, pharmacy, and related services. He has previously served on the RACMA (Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators) Council, a Victorian Health Service Board Subcommittee, and a School Council.

Gemma Pound is a physiotherapist with almost 20 years of experience in acute and critical care across metropolitan, regional, and rural settings. She has recently submitted her PhD through Monash University, investigating long-term outcomes following in-hospital cardiac arrest. Her research focuses on physical function, disability, health-related quality of life, and the trajectory of recovery beyond hospital discharge.

Gemma currently works in private practice, providing care for people with complex cardiorespiratory conditions. She is passionate about bridging the gap between acute care and the community, with a strong focus on patient-centred outcomes and survivorship.

Forbes McGain is the Director of the Footscray Hospital ICU, and an anaesthetist and intensive care physician at Western Health, Melbourne.  Forbes is also Associate Dean of Sustainable Healthcare at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences. Forbes is a clinician researcher with broad interests and publications spanning from healthcare sustainability, to ICU multicentre clinical trials, and to COVID-19 patented inventions. Forbes remains keenly involved in teaching intensive care and anaesthesia for junior doctors and students, as well as being engaged in all sorts of environmental sustainability efforts.

Professor Deepak Bhonagiri is the Chair of the ANZICS Safety and Quality Committee and a senior Intensivist from Sydney Australia. His research interests include rapid response systems, teleICU, artificial intelligence and remote monitoring. He is the Net Zero Environmental Sustainability lead for Intensive Care at NSW Health and is undertaking multiple projects to promote environmental sustainability in ICU. He is on the Board of Director and a Clinical Director for Critical Care in South Western Sydney Local Health District and leads many quality improvement projects to improve safety and quality as well as patient and clinician experience in this culturally and linguistically diverse population. He recently completed his terms as an examiner for the Fellowship exam of the College of Intensive Care Medicine and mentors students and young research candidates in higher degree research.

Li is a senior intensivist at Alfred Health. She is the CICM SOT lead and has an interest in echocardiography. Outside of work, she enjoys cold open water swimming and has aspirations of becoming a professional labradoodle trainer.

Dr Naren Gunja is an emergency physician and toxicologist in Western Sydney. He commenced his informatics journey in the emergency department 10 years ago and formally entered the field with the eMeds project in 2015. As Clinical Lead at Western Sydney he has led the clinician engagement and rollout for eMeds. Over the last 10 years, Naren has been the Chief Medical Information Officer with an ambitious program of eMR capability and expansion. Naren’s interests include health technology, medication safety and clinical analytics. He is clinical associate professor at Sydney Medical school teaching in pharmacology and toxicology.

Eugene Kwek is a highly experienced Clinical Data Scientist and Team Lead at Western Health, with over 20 years of experience navigating complex, multidisciplinary environments across healthcare operations, clinical quality, and data analytics. He specialises in integrating clinical operations with digital innovation to drive data-informed, patient-centred improvements across critical and acute care services.

Eugene has led transformative work in Oracle Health’s Electronic Medical Record for ANZICS, Power BI dashboards, and national registry reporting, including ANZICS, the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry, and Breast Cancer Surgery audits. His ability to translate complex clinical data into actionable insights has been instrumental in enhancing operational efficiency and care delivery.

He has received state-wide recognition for perioperative improvement initiatives, notably the development and implementation of Post Anaesthesia Care Unit Track & Trigger Observation Charts. Eugene also brings international leadership experience, having held various management roles within Singapore’s public healthcare system.

Passionate about building data capability across clinical operations teams, Eugene collaborates closely with frontline clinicians, IT specialists, data experts, and health executives to co-design practical, sustainable solutions.

He holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Data Science Fundamentals from La Trobe University and combines technical proficiency with a passion to improving patient outcomes and healthcare service delivery.

Involved in Rapid Response Systems since 2003. Now, as an Intensive Care and Renal physician on the Sunshine Coast for the last 13 years, have gained an understanding of both the critical care and ward requirements of recognition and management of patient deterioration. As clinical lead of the Queensland Health Digital Early Warning Tool steering committee for the last 3 years, I am proud to be part of a team of patient-focused, state-wide visionary leaders and clinical and technical experts. We support evolving National Safety Standard requirements, and aspire to navigate the challenges of data management, AI in healthcare, heuristic optimisation, and successful implementation. We look forward to seeing the results of digital health innovation in providing better and safer health care for our community.

David is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor (Monash University) and Intensive Care physician with Master’s degrees in Health & Medical Law and Bioethics, practicing in both clinical medicine and medicolegal medicine. David is a member of the Monash Health Human Research Ethics Committee and serves as an Australian Medical Association (AMA) representative on the Joint AMA/Law Institute of Victoria/Bar Medico-legal Standing Committee. He has a Ministerial appointment as both Deputy Convenor and Presiding Member for Medical Panels, an alternative dispute resolution tribunal for resolving medical disputes involving workplace injuries and medical negligence claims in Victoria.

David has previously served as a National Board Member and Education Officer for the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine; as Victorian Chairman and National Board Member of ANZICS; and has provided advice as a member of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Custodial Health Service (Victoria Police) and for the Victorian Medical Expert Committee for Avant

David also has a strong research background in investigator led and multicentre trials and has presented as an invited speaker at local and international medicolegal meetings on a range of topics including organ donation; advance directives; and informed consent.

Paul has extensive experience in health law. Since 1991 he has advised and represented both hospitals and doctors in many hundreds of matters, including medical negligence claims, coronial inquest hearings and professional conduct/disciplinary proceedings. Paul understands the stresses and strains Avant’s members face in the daily practice of their profession and their need for medico-legal support to help them do what they do best.

Ian Seppelt is a senior specialist in Intensive Care Medicine at Nepean Hospital, Sydney and the University of Sydney Medical School, Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Professorial Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health, Sydney and Adjunct Professor (Research) at Monash University. He is an active clinical researcher and teacher in intensive care medicine. Research interests include critical care infection (including gut microbiology in critical illness), fluid resuscitation, complex airway management, and sedation and delirium in intensive care. He has NHMRC/MRFF grant funding for the SuDDICU, SPICE and REMAP-CAP programs. Other interests include neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care, and the ethics of clinical research in critical illness. He is senior horse transport technician and deputy assistant groom for his children and a member of the Medical Advisory Committee to Equestrian Australia. He is also part owner of a very nice vineyard near Orange in central New South Wales.

Dr Hemang Doshi, a recently graduated Intensive Care Specialist, is currently working as an ICU Fellow at Nepean Hospital, Sydney. He brings with him a wealth of experience, having completed his Anaesthesia and ICU fellowships from India along with a European Diploma in Intensive Care. His career is marked by a strong passion for Intensive care Quality and Safety, as evidenced by his involvement in various QA projects, adverse incident reviews, ANZICS core data reviews, representation of ICU in Deteriorating patient committee and Clinical Digital Systems advisory group.

He has completed the quality improvement lead training program from the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) and Leadership for Clinicans program form RACMA. He has special interest in health economics of low value care.

I am passionate about delivering best possible health outcomes for my patients and communities. I am both excited and prepared for the transition to consultant practice. I am dual qualified as a doctor and lawyer with interests in complex medicolegal and ethical decision-making, health system policies and processes, and have demonstrated expertise in clinical governance, as well as safety and quality. I have completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and am admitted as a Lawyer to the Supreme Court of Victoria. I have applied for Fellowship of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine and anticipate Fellowship being awarded in early 2026. My research interests include health law and clinical ethics. I have more than 10 years of varied Board experience, with expertise in; Governance and Risk, Clinical Governance and Quality, Complex Risk and Crisis Management.

MBBS , FANZCA, FCICM

Dr Edward Stachowski is a Specialist in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, and a graduate of the University of Sydney Medical School. He has a strong interest in medicolegal issues related to anaesthesia and intensive care, as well as the business side of private practice.

Outside of medicine, Eddie enjoys a diverse range of hands-on pursuits including goat farming, blacksmithing, knife making, and woodworking.

My career in healthcare started in corporate primary care, where I held various roles spanning medical centre operations, health professional engagement, government relations, and project management focused on operational efficiency. I later transitioned into public health, working as a project manager with the Ministry of Health and HealthShare NSW. At HealthShare NSW, I became deeply involved in sustainability initiatives, aligning my professional work with a personal passion for environmental sustainability. Over the past three years, I have focused exclusively on sustainability, supporting the organisation in understanding its footprint, building engagement and awareness, and identifying emissions reduction opportunities which are contributing directly to the development of a HealthShare NSW Net Zero Roadmap.

With over 13 years’ experience in the NSW Health system, I began my career at Royal North Shore Hospital in clinical nursing roles. I have since moved into project management, focusing on delivering system-level change. I’ve contributed to a range of improvement initiatives, including statewide projects during my time at the Agency for Clinical Innovation. For the past three years, I’ve been with HealthShare NSW, leading system-wide projects aimed at improving quality, safety, and service delivery. Currently, I’m working on a linen catalogue project with potential benefits across operations and sustainability, aligned with HealthShare’s Net Zero goals. I look forward to sharing my experience and exploring how we can continue to drive meaningful improvements across ICU and the broader health system.

Jennifer is the Education Program Manager for the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS).  She has held senior nursing leadership roles, including Manager of Simulation Education and Monash and Melbourne Health. A previous recipient of the Top 100 Leaders Award, Jennifer has a background in intensive care nursing and has a master’s degree in clinical education.  She has diverse interprofessional teaching experience and an interest in human factors science in healthcare.

Ms Marie Pase has experience with clinical quality registries and health data. She is a Data Analyst at ANZICS with the CORE Registry team. Prior to joining ANZICS, she worked at the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (SPHPM) with the Australian Breast Device Registry (ABDR) as the Database Coordinator and Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry (PCOR) as the Project Coordinator. Marie has extensive experience with databases and applications across a diverse range of industries including Health, Pharmaceutical, Agriculture and Retail.