Clinical Ethics Committee - SESLHD

Justin Agale is highly experienced in governance, anti-corruption and First Nations issues. Justin is focused on thought-leadership and strategies to improve the impact of engagement of First Nations in Australian governance. Justin is currently the Sector Lead – First Nations at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, his previous experience includes work with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Con Arronis trained in internal medicine and cardiology in Sydney and is a consultant cardiologist at the Prince of Wales Hospital. He specialises in cardiac imaging and has training and qualifications from Australia, UK and the USA. His interests include clinical ethics and he is currently completing a Master of Bioethics at the University of Sydney.

Sarah Baldwin is a senior staff specialist geriatrician and joint head of Department of Aged Care at St George Hospital. She is also a conjoint lecturer at The University of New South Wales. She is a member of the RACP Ethics Committee. Sarah pursued her interest in medical ethics and health law at Sydney University and was awarded a Masters of Bioethics in 2015. As an experienced geriatrician, she has interest and expertise in medical, ethical and legal aspects of decision-making, including capacity assessments and end of life care and navigating conflict around health care choices. 

Duncan George is a consultant psychiatrist who has trained in consultation liaison psychiatry and psychogeriatrics. His training also included two years in Berlin, Germany. He has a strong interest in novel strategies to treat mood disorders, as well as HIV-related cognitive impairment.

Georgie Haysom is the General Manager, Advocacy Education and Research at medical defence organisation Avant. She has a Masters in Law specialising in bioethics and has worked in health law for nearly 30 years, assisting and advising doctors on a wide range of medico-legal issues, including several years representing doctors in medical negligence litigation. She has a long-standing interest in the interaction between law, medicine and ethics, and the way in which the law impacts on medical practice.

Dr Susan Hertzberg is a senior staff specialist in the Emergency Department at the Prince of Wales Hospital and a senior consultant medical advisor at Avant Mutual. She has an interest in health law and ethics and has completed the Masters of Health Law and the Masters of Bioethics programs at Sydney University. She is a member of the Medico-legal Society, Australian Association of Bioethics and Health Law and is on various committees of the College of Emergency Medicine.

Director, Clinical Governance and Medical Services, SESLHD

Debra Kennedy graduated in Medicine from the University of Sydney and trained in Paediatrics and Clinical Genetics in Sydney before completing a Fellowship in Clinical Genetics and Teratology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto Canada. She established MotherSafe, the NSW Statewide Medications in Pregnancy and Lactation Advisory Service at the Royal Hospital for Women in January 2000. Debra is Director of MotherSafe where she oversees the telephone counselling service and also runs the clinic. She is a conjoint senior lecturer in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health at UNSW and is involved in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Debra also directs the provision of Clinical Genetics Services at IVF Australia with a particular focus on genetic counselling in relation to preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Ian Kerridge is Staff Haematologist/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) physician at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney and Professor of Bioethics and Medicine at Sydney Health Ethics (SHE) at the University of Sydney. He is Chair of the South East Sydney LHD Clinical Ethics Committee, Steering Committee member of the Australian Ethical Health Alliance (AEHA), a member of the NSW Health Ethics Advisory Panel and a Director of Praxis Australia – an Australian NFP devoted to education in research and research ethics. Ian trained in medicine at the University of Newcastle, BMT at the Royal Free and University College Hospital in London and philosophy at the Universities of Sydney, Newcastle and Cambridge. He is the author of 6 textbooks of ethics and over 500 papers on ethics, philosophy, haematology and BMT. 

Edwina Light is Clinical Ethics Coordinator and Researcher at the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Clinical Ethics Service. She has a PhD in Bioethics from the University of Sydney, is an adjunct senior lecturer with Sydney Health Ethics, and a researcher at Macquarie University.

Dr Julia Maclean is the Clinical Specialist in Speech Pathology at St George Hospital and holds a Conjoint Associate Professor position within the UNSW School of Clinical Medicine. In 2010, she completed a PhD in the management of swallowing disorders following total laryngectomy surgery and continues to research complex swallow dysfunction with the St George Swallow team. She has a long involvement and interest in research ethics, having served on the St George Hospital Ethics Committee. She is an active supporter of the Clinical Ethics Service and advocates for their involvement in complex multidisciplinary patient management decisions.  

Gemma McErlean is an Associate Professor in Nursing at the University of Wollongong and Director of the Centre for Research in Nursing and Health at St George Hospital (SESLHD) in NSW. With more than 20 years of nursing experience, she has developed a strong interest in clinical and research ethics through her policy work and her PhD research in cancer and stem cell transplant survivorship. Her clinical and research experiences have highlighted the importance of patient and carer experiences, emphasising that these are shaped not only by the availability of safe and effective therapies but also by the values of the health system and the commitment to ethical principles such as care and equity.

Helena Nascimento-Blair: Production Manager with Australia Post with extensive experience in managing large groups of staff across all operational.

I am currently undergoing Certification as an HR Practitioner. I have no degrees however I am a dedicated life learner and seek opportunities to increase my knowledge and develop as a person so I can contribute to my community and people around me at a deeper level.

I am an immigrant from beautiful Brazil and I have lived in Australia for most of my life. I love my adopted country and the various peoples of it.

Coming from a developing country, public health has always been an interest of mine. 

CEC has shown me that ethical behaviour is mandatory however it is also both a choice and a challenge when servicing the community. Competing priorities placed by politics, social standing, personal and professional dilemmas are very intriguing and an exciting learning opportunity.

Lisa O’Reilly is a Clinical Nurse Consultant based at St George hospital working in the speciality of Organ and Tissue donation as the Donation Specialist Nurse. Within this role she provides a consultative and on call service to the broader health districts including STVH/SESLHD and ISHLHD sites. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nursing and has worked in various senior nursing roles within critical care over the past 25+ years. She is a strong advocate for ensuring quality end-of life care for all potential organ and tissue donors. Lisa has a has a long-standing interest in the intersection of the law and ethics within the organ donation process and the impact this can have on delivery of care to both patients and their families.

Jackie Leach Scully is Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Disability Innovation Institute at the University of New South Wales. Originally trained in biochemistry and molecular biology, Jackie has been active in bioethics for over 30 years in Switzerland, Germany and the UK, before her move to Sydney in 2019. Her research interests include reproductive and genetic ethics, disasters and global health emergencies, organ donation and transplantation, and feminist bioethics. She has a particular focus on bioethical issues as they affect people with disability. She is currently Chair of the NSW Health Ethics Advisory Panel, and a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee.

Dr Linda Sheahan is a Palliative Care Physician and Clinical Ethics Consultant for South East Area Health Service. Her academic appointments include Honorary Associate with Sydney Health Ethics at University of Sydney as a member of the Clinical Ethics Network, and Conjoint Lecturer for UNSW Medical School. She completed a Masters in Bioethics through Monash University, followed by a Fellowship in Clinical and Organisational Ethics with the Joint Centre for Bioethics in Toronto, with which she is an affiliated bioethicist. Linda heads the Clinical Ethics Service at SESLHD.

Dr George Skowronski retired from a long career in intensive care medicine in 2019. He is the Clinical Ethics Lead at St George (Public) Hospital. He also holds a conjoint appointment with the University of NSW as an Associate Professor of Critical Care. The numerous ethical problems of intensive care medicine led to an early interest in clinical ethics and he completed a Master of Bioethics at Sydney University in 2016. His main interest is in clinical ethics consultation and he also has a current research interest in organ donation ethics.

Tiffany Tran is a Senior Social Worker and is Acting Manager of The Ankali Project, a division of the Albion Centre, and a part of Population and Community Health . Her prior experience includes hospital and community-based roles, including oncology social work, acute services social work, and complex discharge coordination at POWH, as well as community development work and social support services roles with local government and NGOs.