Meet the ADS Council

Jenny Gunton - President

Associate Professor Jenny Gunton is head of the Diabetes and Transcription Factors Group at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, and is an Endocrinologist with a 20% Staff Specialist appointment at Westmead Hospital. The primary research focus of her laboratory is beta-cell function, in Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. She was elected to Council of the Australian Diabetes Society in 2006.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michael d'Emden - Vice President

Professor Michael d'Emden graduated from University of Tasmania in 1978. He was a resident and registrar at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane before moving to Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1983. He obtained his fellowship in 1985 and completed a PhD at University of Melbourne in 1988. He undertook post-doctoral studies at the University of Iowa, USA for two years before taking up his current position at the Royal Brisbane & Womens Hospital in 1990, where he is now a Senior Staff Endocrinologist. He was appointed the Clinical Chair of the Queensland state-wide clinical network in January 2008. His major clinical interests are diabetes and lipid metabolism. He is an active clinical trialist. He serves on several national advisory boards has been on the International Management committees of the several studies, including the FIELD and ASPEN studies. He also has a major interest in computers and their use to enhance medical practice. He has been appointed the Medical Director of Extensia Pty Ltd, a leading developer of shared electronic health records and interactive health services directories.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ashim Sinha - Honorary Secretary

Asham Sinha Associate Professor Ashim Sinha is the Director of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Cairns Base Hospital and Diabetes Centre, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at James Cook University. Member of the Queensland Health Statewide Steering Committee on Diabetes. He is the Director Of Physician training in Cairns, Member of the Expert Advisory Group of the RACP ATSI Health Committee and Member of the QLD Statewide Diabetes Steering Comm His major clinical and research interests are in Diabetes and Indigenous health. He has previously been on the organising committee of the ADS meeting in Cairns in 2000 and joined the ADS Council in 2006.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sof Andrikopoulos - Honorary* Treasurer & POC Chair*

Sof Andrikopoulos Associate Professor Sof Andrkopoulos is head of the Islet Biology Research Group at the University of Melbourne Department of Medicine (Austin Health) to investigate the genetic susceptibility of islet dysfunction using animal models of diabetes. This research has lead to the hypothesis that increased insulin secretory demand may be a mechanism that contributes to diabetes. This has clinical implications since a common class of drug used to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes causes increased insulin secretion and in fact may be detrimental in the long term. Sof has had grant support from the NH&MRC since 1998, is on the editorial board of Journal of Endocrinology, on the JDRF/Australia Islet Transplantation Program Advisory Committee, has served on NH&MRC Grant Review Panels and regularly reviews manuscripts for leading journals in the field including Diabetes and Diabetologia.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jennifer Conn

Dr Jennifer Conn graduated in medicine from The University of Melbourne in 1988. She subsequently undertook specialist training in diabetes and endocrinology at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, and The Middlesex and University College London Hospitals in London. She currently works as an endocrinologist in the Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and in the Diabetes Service at The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne. Her major clinical focus is diabetes management in the clinic setting, especially in the areas of type 1 diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and insulin pump therapy. A former secondary school teacher, Jennifer has a strong interest in medical education and is currently a Senior Education Fellow at The University of Melbourne. In 2009, she was leader of a team that won an Australian Learning and Teaching Council award for innovation in curriculum design. Her interests in education include generic medical student and physician trainee education, as well as patient and professional education in the area of diabetes. Jennifer Conn was elected to ADS Council on 26 August 2008.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sophia Zoungas

Associate Professor Sophia Zoungas (MBBS FRACP PhD) an academic endocrinologist with an emerging national and international reputation as aclinical researcher in the fields of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Her current primary appointment is as the Head, Diabetes and Clinical Research Program, Monash Applied Research Stream, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. In this capacity she directs and supports projects on diabetes, cardiovascular health, kidney health and health care delivery, as well as advise on clinical epidemiological methods and trial design/conduct/reporting. A/Prof Zoungas has a conjoint Professorial Research Fellow appointment at the George Institute for Global Health. A/Prof Zoungas’ current clinical appointment is as a senior staff specialist in Endocrinology and Diabetes at Monash Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospital, Southern Health, Victoria. In addition to a strong record of publications and grant success including funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, International Diabetes Federation, Diabetes Australia Research Trust and Australian Diabetes Society, A/Prof Zoungas has received a number of significant awards including National Heart Foundation Career Development Award, Diabetes Australia Research Fellowship, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Postdoctoral Health Professional Award, Pfizer Research Fellowship, High Blood Pressure Research Council Fellowship and Henry Burger Prize for the Best Original research publication.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Glynis Ross

Dr Glynis Ross is a Visiting Endocrinologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, as well as part-time Senior Staff Specialist at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney. She has been in charge of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Service at Royal Prince Alfred Women’s and Babies’ Hospital for twenty years and has been on the Council of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) from 1991-1998 and 2002-2010. Dr Ross was President of ADIPS from 2008-2010 and has continued to be involved with Council since then as Immediate Past-President. Her major clinical and research interests are in Diabetes in Pregnancy, Type 1 Diabetes, Insulin Pump Therapy and In-patient Diabetes Management. Dr Ross serves on a number of State and National Working Parties in these areas. She is involved in the teaching programmes of trainees of the Australasian Colleges of Anaesthetics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and Physicians, as well as continuing education programmes for Midwives and General Practitioners and lectures for Medical Undergraduates.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ross Laybutt

Dr Ross Laybutt is head of the Islet Biology Group within the Diabetes and Obesity Research Program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. His research investigates the mechanisms of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction and death using animal models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. His work has identified Id1 as a novel inhibitor of insulin secretion and beta-cell differentiation. Other work has identified a key role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in beta-cell death. Dr Laybutt received his PhD from the Garvan Institute and he undertook postdoctoral studies at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston. He has received research funding from JDRF, DART and NHMRC. He has served on NHMRC Grant Review Panels (Project Grant, Career Development Award and Early Career Training Fellowships) and the JDRF Islet Transplantation Program Advisory Committee. He serves on the Australian Islet Study Group (AISG) Committee and was Convenor of the inaugural AISG meeting in 2008.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suzie Neylon - Chief Executive Officer

Suzie Neylon is the Chief Executive Officer, Senior Project Officer and Company Secretary for the Australian Diabetes Society. Suzie joined the ADS in 1992 with a background in nursing, travel, advertising, promotions and public relations. She completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in 2004 and is currently utilising her research skills on ADS projects as well as running the administration of the busy ADS Secretariat.