syphilis session - author bios
Donna Mak (Communicable Disease Control Directorate, WA Dept of Health)
Donna Mak is a public health physician at Communicable Disease Control Directorate. She also teaches medical students at the University of Notre Dame and works clinically in the M Clinic, a sexual health clinic for gay and MSM.
Kim Gates (Aboriginal Health Council WA)
Bio coming soon.
Lisa Bastian (Sexual Health and Bloodborne Virus Program, WA Dept of Health)
Lisa Bastian is the Program Manager of the Western Australian Department of Health’s Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program and the Deputy Chair for the Blood-borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections Standing Committee, that reports to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. Lisa’s team is responsible for the policy and planning associated with the syphilis response in WA.
Rosie Jack (Metropolitan Communicable Disease Control, Syphilis Response Team)
Rosie is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Metropolitan Communicable Disease Control. She has a background in Sexual Health and Midwifery. She has worked in metropolitan and rural and remote WA in both the public and private sector.
Stephen Boccaletti (WA Dept of Health)
Stephen Boccaletti began working in the WA Dept of Health as the Syphilis Senior Program Officer in August 2022. Prior to working at Dept of Health, they work as the LGBTIQA+ Training Coordinator and Educator at SHQ for 5 years. Stephen has also held roles at Inclusive Education WA (formerly Safe Schools WA) and the Freedom Centre. They are passionate about sexual health education, particularly for marginalised and vulnerable young people, and improving the health and wellbeing outcomes of LGBTIQA+ people.
Grace Phua (Metropolitan Communicable Disease Control)
Grace is a GP on the Syphilis Response Team at Metropolitan Communicable Disease Control.
Belinda D'Costa (Curtin University)
Belinda (she/her) is a Senior Research Officer at the WA Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Network (SiREN). She holds a Doctorate in Psychology, specialising in community psychology. Belinda’s professional experience has largely centred on research pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing. More recently, her work at SiREN has focused on evaluating interventions that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Roanna Lobo (Curtin University)
Roanna (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in the Curtin School of Population Health with a focus on Indigenous and cross-cultural psychology. Roanna holds a Doctorate in Public Health – Health Promotion and has over 20 years’ experience conducting exploratory, intervention, and evaluation research in a range of settings using participatory approaches. Her research is particularly focused on increasing access to and utilisation of health services by marginalised groups to improve health outcomes.
Joanne O'Dea (Metropolitan Communicable Disease Control)
Joanne is a Project Officer with the Syphilis Response Team within MCDC, Perth’s Public Health Unit. She works on syphilis prevention and control projects amongst the priority populations in the syphilis outbreak.
