In Our Hands – UNSW Medicine NAIDOC Webinar

Associate Professor Kelvin Kong
Specialist in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children’s Hospital, and Conjoint Associate Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle

Kelvin qualified as the first Aboriginal Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), specialisng in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Kelvin hails from the Worimi people of Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. He completed his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the University of NSW in 1999. He embarked on his internship at St. Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst and pursued a surgical career, completing resident medical officer and registrar positions at various attachments.

Keziah Bennett-Brook
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, The George Institute for Global Health

Keziah is a proud Torres Strait Islander woman, born and raised on Dharawal Country and works on Gadigal Country where she is Program Lead of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health. Keziah is also Indigenous Executive member of the Australasian Injury Prevention Network Executive and a Board Director of Hepatitis NSW.

Brett Biles (facilitator)
Director of Indigenous Health Education, UNSW Medicine

Brett is a Murrawarri man from Brewarrina. He has been living on Wiradjuri country for the last 16 years. He holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy, a Masters in Indigenous Health and is currently a PhD candidate. He is currently the Director of Indigenous Health Education in the Office of Medical Education, UNSW Medicine. Prior to this he was a lecturer in Indigenous Health at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health at Charles Sturt University. With a passion for education and health equality, Brett is an early career researcher with a keen interest in Aboriginal men and cardiovascular disease.

Julieann Coombes
Research Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, The George Institute

Julieann is a Gumbaynggirr woman through her grandmother and has connections to Gamilaraay country where she grew up. Julieann is a Research Fellow on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health and has extensive experience in social and cultural determinants of health research, Indigenous methodologies and applies decolonising methods to all her research projects. Julieann has a commitment to ensure that all research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is conducted in an ethical correct way and research integrity should be underpinned by equity, transparency and self-determination. Julieann is also a Researcher on the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

Wendy Jopson
Research Officer, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney

Wendy is an Aboriginal researcher and human rights advocate, she holds an Honours degree in Health Science, from Sydney University majoring in Aboriginal health and Community Development. Wendy has been working and advocating for Aboriginal rights to self-determination for over 30 years and is currently a Scientia scholar undertaking her PhD research into Aboriginal cultural governance of research. Wendy proudly acknowledges her teachers and cultural lore of Umbarra from the far south coast of NSW, which sustains and inspires her.

Robert Monaghan
Project Officer, Kirby Institute Institute

Robert is a descendant of the Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr Nations and has spent over 25 years working within the Health sector with National, State and Local Governments working within the Aboriginal community-controlled sector. Currently, Robert is involved in research projects at the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney for the past 7 years in Aboriginal communities across Australia, whilst completing a Master of Public Health degree and is currently completing his PhD involving research in Novel initiatives to enhance Indigenous people's engagement in health services.

Skye Trudgett
Research Officer, NDARC

Skye is a proud mother and First Nations woman who is currently completing a PhD in Indigenous Data Sovereignty and models of care for high risk young people, at the University of NSW. Skye is an experienced social researcher and evaluator, in addition to her study, Skye is supporting the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) to establish an evaluation unit, Blak Impact. Skye has contributed to numerous research and evaluation projects nationally. Skye has a particular interest in Indigenous data sovereignty and governance and grounds these principles within her work and research.