I am a clinical academic neurologist at Flinders University in South Australia with particular interest in immune mediated nervous system disease, especially multiple sclerosis. I have also an interest in medical education and vocational training in medicine, and the clinical neurosciences.

As of End-2019:

I am a clinical-academic neurologist and since my appointment to Flinders University/Southern Adelaide Local Health Network in 2007 I have high-level experience in clinical neurology, academic neurosciences and medical education as evidenced by my roles as Associate Dean, Head of Medical Science and Technology, Flinders University, Network Head of Neurology, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network 2011-17, and Associate Dean (MD) Director of the Flinders MD 2012-15. Please see http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4323-2453.

Teaching and Medical/Vocational training

I teach across the medical education spectrum. I am currently Academic Lead, Department of Neurology, SALHN. As coordinator of the Neurology component of second year medicine (2006-13, 2016+) I substantially updated the graduate medical curriculum in clinical neuroscience. I teach into all years of the medical program and into other courses within the College of Medicine and Public Health. I have an active role in Physician training education and have served as a National Examiner, RACP since 2011 and appointed as a Senior Examiner, 2018. In my role as Associate Dean (MD), Director of the Medical Program (2012-15), I led the course through the transition  from a Bachelors level degree to the Doctor of Medicine (MD), fostered and supported innovative curriculum reforms, and played a major role in the very successful Australian Medical Council Accreditation of the MD program in 2014.

Research

At the time of commencement at Flinders in 2006, I was awarded the inaugural NHMRC- MSRA Betty Cuthbert clinical research fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis. Despite a substantial clinical load, I completed my PhD in the mitochondrial biology of Multiple Sclerosis in 2012. I have consolidated local, national and international research collaborations in Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology and have over 100 scholarly outputs of which 78 are peer reviewed papers, many in high impact journals such as JAMA (IF 51.47) Nature Genetics (IF 25.45), Annals of Neurology (IF 9.49), Brain (IF 11.81), and Neurology (IF 8.05). I have been an expert external reviewer for NHMRC Project Grant rounds and have reviewed project grant applications for the MS Society of the UK. From 2009-13 I was Inaugural Chair, Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Network and in 2014 was appointed as Vice-Chair of the National Research Committee of Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia, which administers several million dollars of Category 1 research funding annually. In 2013 I was appointed to the Scientific Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists of which I was elected Chair in 2018. I am a member of the International Data Quality Committee of the MSBase Global MS registry (www.MSBase.org). In 2018 I was invited to the research review panel of the Bethlehem-Griffiths foundation. I have been invited to speak on Neurology and Neuroimmunology and Medical Education nationally and internationally and act as a reviewer for national and international journals. I am Director, the South Australian Brain Bank, South Australian Neurological Tumour Bank.

Clinical Service and Clinical Research

From 2006 to 2017 I progressed from staff specialist to Network Head of Neurology. In 2015 I played a lead role in the integration of the departments of Neurology and Stroke. I stepped down as Network Head in 2017 to take up the role of Associate Dean in the School of Medicine. I have established the Flinders Multiple Sclerosis Service – one of the largest in Australia. I served on the Flinders Human Research Ethics committee for 7 years (2006-12) and in 2018 was appointed Chair, Committee H, Bellberry Human Research Ethics organisation that reviews phase I-IV  biomedical and social research applications. 

Administration, Academic Leadership, Service to the University and Community

In my role as Head of Neurology I led a large clinical unit in SALHN, with 9 consultant staff and over 25 staff including nurses, technicians, scientists and trainees. From late 2012 to early 2015 I was the Associate Dean (MD) in the School of Medicine, Course Director for the Flinders Medical Program (Flinders MD), a role that leads the entire medical program, involving over 600 students, delivered across South Australia and the Northern Territory. In my time as course director I initiated or supported a number of curriculum and course reforms and led policy change and compliance with national regulatory requirements such as the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and Australian Medical Council. I have been invited to speak on medical course reform and curriculum implementation internationally (Brasilia, Brazil and Changsha, China, 2013) and nationally (Griffith University, 2013). I have participated as panel member for the Australian Medical Council (AMC) medical school accreditation process. I have authored the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Section of the Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH) since 2014.

Current Senior Appointments

Senior National Examiner, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 2012 +

Vice-Chair, Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia National Research Management Council 2014 +

Convenor, Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia Incubator Grants Program 2014+

Director, South Australian Brain Bank and Neurological Tumour Bank; 2011 +

Chair, Scientific and Program committee, Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists, 2018+

Chair, Bellberry Committee H (EC00459), NHMRC endorsed national Human Research Ethics Committee, 2018+

Member, Bethlehem-Griffiths Scientific Reference panel, 2018+

Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Flinders Foundation, 2018+