HIV session - author bios
Tiffany Phillips (Monash University)
Tiffany Phillips is a research fellow at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and Monash University. Dr Phillips specialises in STI epidemiology and prevention, with a particular interest in health promotion and expanding access to health care.
Habib Taouk (Health Equity Matters)
Habib Taouk is a Senior Project Officer at Health Equity Matters. Previous Education: Bachelor of Science (Immunology, Physiology), Master of International Public Health
Byron Minas (Surveillance and Disease Control Program, Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Department of Health WA)
Byron Minas is a Senior Project Officer with the Surveillance and Disease Control Program in the Communicable Disease Control Directorate, where he oversees the surveillance of HIV notifications in WA.
Sian Churcher (Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program, Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Department of Health WA)
Sian Churcher is a Senior Policy Officer in the Communicable Disease Control Directorate, working within the Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Program.
Curtis Chan (Kirby Institute)
Curtis Chan is a Research Associate in the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program at the Kirby Institute. He is currently working on projects involving behavioural surveillance and HIV prevention among men who have sex with men.
Anthony KJ Smith (Centre for Social Research in Health [CSRH])
Dr Anthony K J Smith is a Research Associate at the Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney. He is a qualitative health researcher and sociologist, investigating how communities and health professionals engage with HIV prevention, care, and surveillance.
Leah Williams (Royal Perth Hospital)
Leah has been a nurse for 30 years, with nearly 20 years working in HIV management. She became a Nurse Practitioner in 2013 and currently works within the Department of Clinical Immunology at Royal Perth Hospital.
Genevieve Nolan (Royal Perth Hospital)
Genevieve has worked in the Royal Perth Hospital Department of Clinical Immunology for 5 years. She is currently a Welfare Assistant and Research Assistant with the main focus of these positions being implementing long-acting injectables in to the existing high-caseload HIV service.
Garry Kuchel (WAAC)
Garry has been working in sexual health for 15 years and is a Clinical Nurse Consultant at the M Clinic where he has been working since the clinic’s inception in 2010. Garry has a passion for working with all people of diverse sexuality and gender, and is especially passionate about providing open, inclusive and non-judgmental care to those who may otherwise not access care due to fear of stigma and discrimination. Garry is also an ‘obsessive’ and impassioned educator, always eager to provide education to clients and other healthcare providers, and has presented at various clinical forums, webinars, conferences plus education sessions for university students. In 2023 Garry also completed a Graduate Diploma in Sexual & Reproductive Health through the University of Sydney, specialising in HIV/BBVs and STIs.
Lenny Brown (WAAC)
Lenny Brown has worked in the community services sector for over ten years. Lenny is currently studying a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) at Murdoch University and has worked as a community practitioner for over five years across the disability, employment, homelessness and chronic health sectors. Currently, Lenny is a Case Manager at WAAC in the Allied Health Services team. Lenny has been the recipient of the Victorian Premiers Young Volunteer Award, Gannawarra Young Citizens Award, Gannawarra Young Australian of the Year and I was a Baton Bearer in the Commonwealth Games.
Saba Danawala (WAAC)
Saba Danawala is an HIV Counsellor currently working in the WA AIDS Council Allied Health Team, as well as a Global Therapy Provider for an employee assistance program (EAP), Spring Health. She is trained in an integrative counselling approach, which means she uses person-centred, psychodynamic, and trauma-informed modalities. These include cognitive and dialectical behaviour therapies, schema therapy, and somatic psychotherapy. Saba is a registered member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). She holds her tertiary qualifications in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling from the Centre for Personal and Professional Development-London (CPPD) and her Master of Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center. She is currently studying on a pathway for general registration as a psychologist with the University of New England. Saba’s areas of interest include neurodevelopmental and intergenerational trauma, recovery from childhood sexual abuse, anxiety, depression, and coping with chronic conditions.
