Speakers
We are excited to bring together some of the brightest minds in the field of nutrition and dietetics for DA2024. Our keynote speakers and invited speakers are experts in their respective areas and are here to share their insights with you. Join us for an engaging conference, filled with thought-provoking discussions and networking opportunities.
Laureate Professor Clare Collins
Clare Collins AO is a Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Co-Director of the Food and Nutrition Research Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute and a Life member of Dietitians Australia. She is an internationally distinguished leader in nutrition and dietetics, with a track record in research leadership and whose research performance places her in the top 1% of the world’s most cited scientists in her field of research.
Laureate Professor Collins was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in January 2023 for distinguished service to nutritional health and dietetics research, scientific organisations and science communication. Her research includes developing and evaluating the impact of nutrition interventions based on life stage and risk of nutrition-related conditions including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The personalised nutrition eHealth tools, including the Healthy Eating Quiz, have a broad reach and impact on improving eating patterns, diet-related health and wellbeing.
Career outputs include over AUS $33 million in research funding, publication of >550 journal articles, and supervision of over 50 Research Higher Degree candidates to date, with 40 completed. A trailblazer in her field, Professor Collins was awarded the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award for Leadership in Clinical Medicine and Science in 2021, as the highest ranked female applicant for her research in Personalised Nutrition.
Yas Grigaliunas
Yas Grigaliunas is the Founder and Chief Evangelist of Circonomy, a TEDx Speaker and named as one of the Global 100 Inspirational Leaders. Yas is also the current President of the Queensland Social Enterprise Council and was appointed the inaugural Chief Circular Entrepreneur at Circular Australia.
Yas is that girl that sat in the front row in class, a firstborn child with energy to burn, having worn many career hats, including being an early adopter and innovator in the ICT sector, when in her early 20’s, she grew a multimillion-dollar department from the ground up as an entrepreneur for a Queensland technology leader.
Her why? It's simple! To make a difference and create meaningful impact daily.
An entrepreneur of impact, with a focus on designing and executing solutions for the circular economy, through the activation of dormant goods (excess stuff). Yas led her company to scale stage, following a successful capital raise, where Officeworks (a Wesfarmers company) lead the successful Seed round.
With a focus on team, tools and tech, Circonomy is leading the charge with some of the largest corporates in our country, partnering and engaging Circonomy for their circular products, services and software solutions.
Positive, energising and occasionally exhausting. Yas loves people and has an innate passion to give and help others.
Yas believes in the importance of authentic leadership and is unafraid to share the scars and the depths of her REAL REEL (not the show reel) of leadership, business, life and love.
Tracy Hardy
Tracy Hardy is a Gamilaroi woman, Accredited Nutritionist/Practising Dietitian and founder of Wattleseed Nutrition, Health and Wellbeing. Wattleseed Nutrition, a 100% First Nations owned business based on Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi Country, Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Tracy enjoyed a Board Director tenure with Dietitians Australia between 2020 – 2023. She continually works to deepen her knowledge and understanding of health, wellbeing and Indigenous Healing Practices and is excited to embarking on a PhD that relates to her work this year. Tracy has completed the Dulwich Centre’s intensive training in Narrative Therapy for Aboriginal Workers; Griffith University’s “Trauma Integrated Practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples”; University of Wollongong’s Grad Cert in Indigenous Trauma and Recovery Practice and We Al-Li’s “Recreating Song lines from Trauma Trails: The Ceremony of Indigenous Facilitation Practice”.
Tracy strongly advocates for food and health systems reform, to grow collective leadership that drives antiracist, culturally grounded, trauma responsive and healing centred systems, care, practice and engagement so that current and future generations of First Nations Peoples can enjoy the same fundamental right to self-determined and thriving health and wellbeing as other Australians. Tracy applies a strengths-based, holistic and cultural lens, focusing on sustainable and healing connections, conversations and actions. She recognises the value of understanding the past and ongoing impacts of trauma and the power of revalorising Indigenous healing approaches and connections to cultural foods, lands, and practices. Tracy believes through two-way sharing of knowledge we foster understanding and grow collective healing.
Tracy Sheen
Dive into the world of digital enlightenment with Tracy Sheen, your very own Digital Guide. Tracy doesn’t just talk tech, she brings it to life with a unique blend of humor and wisdom, making the daunting world of digital tools a piece of cake for small businesses.
Having sailed through storms of technological change, Tracy’s charted courses for over 20,000 business owners, transforming overwhelm into confidence. With a treasure trove of tales from her 2,000+ workshops and keynotes, Tracy’s insights are as valuable as gold. She’s not only a speaker; she’s a storyteller, a tech whisperer, and, occasionally, a digital wizard.
With Tracy as your guide, you're set for a journey where mastering the digital world becomes part of your business's success story. Let's navigate this digital era with smarts, strategy, and a sprinkle of fun.
Professor Clair Sullivan
Professor Clair Sullivan is an internationally recognised leading practising and academic clinical informatician, and is helping drive digital health transformation to deliver better health outcomes. She has generated over $60M in funding and is ranked in the top 1% of medical informatics researchers globally.
Clair is Director of the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC), managing a globally significant program of digital health research. She is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Metro North Hospital and Health Service. Clair serves on several national advisory boards for digital health, including the Australian Digital Health Agency Clinical and Technical Advisory Committee, and chairs the RACP Digital Health Working group and the National Health Strategy Steering Committee. In addition, she is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian College of Health Informatics and the Australasian Institute of Digital Health.
After achieving Honours in Medicine from UQ and a Research Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Leeds, Clair began her career as a specialist endocrinologist. She has worked clinically in the NHS UK and Australia.
In 2014, Clair began a parallel career in the emerging field of digital health and has held leadership roles in digital health practice and governance. In 2024, Clair was appointed as the inaugural Professor of Digital Health at the University of Queensland. Clair’s work has been recognised with multiple honours including a national innovation award from the Australian Information Industry Association and a 2022 Telstra Brilliant Women in Digital Award.
Associate Professor Lisa Moran
Associate Professor Moran leads the Healthy Lifestyle Research Program within the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University. She is a research dietitian, Accredited Practicing Dietitian and clinical dietitian at Monash Health and an Affiliate staff member of the Robinson Research Institute at the University of Adelaide. She works in clinical, epidemiological and implementation nutrition research and clinical dietetics.
Her research skills include clinical trials, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine. Her area of interest is optimising weight management and nutritional status in women of reproductive age with the aim of reducing the impact of obesity-related disease in women and their families. Her specific areas of research within this field include working with women with conditions including infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and cardiometabolic complications during pregnancy. It also includes working with women across key life stages for targeting lifestyle interventions including preconception, during pregnancy and post-partum.
She specifically focuses on clinically translatable interventions, reducing attrition, effective components within lifestyle interventions and mechanisms for action. By developing optimal obesity intervention methods for Australian women, her research will result in a reduced risk of pregnancy complications, reduced side-effects of conditions such as PCOS including diabetes, heart disease and depression and provide a foundation to secure a healthier future for newborn children.
Elizabeth Koff
Key strategy achievements include the implementation of value-based care across NSW, the progression of e-Health initiatives and a $2B/year capital infrastructure program. In 2020/2021 Elizabeth lead the NSW Health system through the COVID-19 pandemic and advised NSW crisis cabinet on the management of COVID-19 in NSW, and the subsequent vaccination roll out.
Elizabeth was chair of the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) and its subsequent iteration of Health Chief Executives Forum. She is also a member of Chief Executive Women.
Elizabeth was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours. In September 2022 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Western Sydney University for her contribution to healthcare in Western Sydney and in May 2023 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney in recognition of exceptional service to healthcare and her significant role in shaping and guiding the future of health in NSW and across the nation. In November 2023 Elizabeth was appointed to the Australian Government’s Executive Cyber Council, representing the health, aged care, and digital health sectors
Rupert Bryce
Rupert is executive leadership coach and registered psychologist with over 20 years’ experience in leadership development, human resources, consulting and coaching. Rupert is currently working with CEO's, C-suite leaders and senior executives of listed companies, supporting leadership transitions, transformations and strategy and alignment to deliver high impact outcomes. Highly result-oriented and solution-focussed, Rupert has worked with senior executives to enhance their performance in the work place.