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WHRN2026: Program

TIMETUESDAY 6 OCTOBER
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration
Greenhouse function space
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM Welcome to Country and Welcome to the Symposium
Coral Sea Room
9:10 AM - 10:30 AM PLENARY SESSION
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in research
Lowitja Institute and Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS)
Coral Sea Room
View Session Details
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM Morning Tea
Greenhouse function space
10:50 AM - 11:40 AM PLENARY SESSION
Driving Equity in Research: Supporting Regional, Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities
NHMRC
Coral Sea Room
View Session Details
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Networking and Connection Session
Coral Sea Room
View Session Details
12:35 PM - 12:45 PM Mhihub presentation
[Marathon Health]
Coral Sea Room
12:45 PM - 1:30 PM Lunch
Greenhouse function space
1:35 PM - 3:00 PM Workshop:
Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce Through Research
Pavillion
View Workshop Details 		Workshop:
Things We Have Learnt the Hard Way: An Introduction to Mental Health Research for New Starters
Borneo/Tobruk
View Workshop Details 		Workshop:
Innovating together: A practical workshop on co-designing for rural health research
Moresby
View Workshop Details
3:00 PM - 3:15 PM Afternoon Tea
Greenhouse function space
3:20 PM - 4:45 PM Workshop:
Digital Health, AI and Equity in Rural Settings
Pavillion
View Workshop Details 		Workshop:
Oral health is everyone’s business: Collaborative Oral Health Care in Rural Communities
Borneo/Tobruk
View Workshop Details 		Workshop:
Doing research that matters: How to plan program evaluation in rural health services
Moresby
View Workshop Details
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM Western NSW Researcher of the Year Awards
Gala Dinner
Coral Sea Room
TIMEWEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration
Greenhouse function space
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM Acknowledgement of Country and official opening of Scientific Program
Deb Kenna and Mel Nott
Coral Sea Room
9:15 AM - 9:45 AM Keynote:
Dr Andrew Goodman View Bio
Research Scientist | The Australian e-Health Research Centre | CSIRO
Coral Sea Room
9:45 AM - 9:50 AM Scientific Presentations Overview
Coral Sea Room
Building the Rural Health Workforce: Leadership, Education and Innovation
Moresby 		Digital Rural Health: Connecting Communities, Clinicians and Expertise
Tobruk 		Healthy Beginnings: Improving Care for Rural Mothers, Babies and Children
Borneo 		Rural Mental Health and Wellbeing: Community, Connection and Support
Pavillion
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM Luke Marks
Advancing nursing leadership for health equity: exploring the lived experience of advanced practice nurses in rural New South Wales
[E] 		Heather Russell
Implementation of a novel telehealth intervention supporting expert wound care delivery into rural residential aged care
[E] 		Kate Freire
Community-based continuity of care model: bridging gaps in rural perinatal healthcare
[G] 		Ann-Mareee Fardell Hartley
Rural and Remote Young People in New South Wales: Their Use of Social Media to Communicate Suicidality
[E]
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM Nadia Nissen
Does Location Matter? Exploring Innovation Traits, Barriers and Enablers Among Rural and Metropolitan Paramedics
[E] 		Tim Shaw
Recommendations for how to improve access to comprehensive primary health care in remote communities using digital technologies
[G] 		Matt Thomas
Addressing paediatric health needs in Western NSW: An initial evaluation of the Flying Start program
[G] 		Alison Beck
Exploring the potential of SMART Recovery Mutual-Support Groups for Supporting the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Rural Men: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation
[G]
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM Pip Southwell
Towards a Homegrown Workforce: Evaluation of the implementation of a Dermatology training pathway in Western NSW
[G] 		Ramya Walsan
Rural–Urban Differences in Virtual Oncology Care Use and Associated Patient, Clinical and Service-Related Factors Across Three Australian States
[G] 		Julie Inman
Beyond the Birth: Embedding Woman-Led Fourth Trimester Planning into Routine Maternity Care Through Consumer Co-Design
[O] 		Shakeel Mahmood
Health and Wellbeing Challenges Among Australian Military Veterans in Rural and Remote Communities
[G]
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM Xiang-Yu Hou
Rural connection as an exemplar mechanism for rural health workforce development and retention
[G] 		Sharon Brownie
Enhancing Health Access: Preparing the Health workforce for digital health and Virtual Care
[G] 		Velisha-Mae Bramble
Evaluating the impact of the ‘hard-stop policy’ in reducing neonatal jaundice admissions in regional health services. A retrospective audit
[S] 		Dhani Coe
A co-produced evaluation of a regional, Indigenous-led mental health and wellbeing program
[G]
11:10 AM - 11:15 AM David Schmidt
Innovating Within Rural Medical Education to Advance Health Equity
[G] 		Prithi Ashok Murthy
Sleeve, Snap, Send: validating image-based assessment of breast cancer-related lymphoedema as a rural tele-health detection tool.
[S] 		Shivanshu Garg
Evaluating Hospital-Related Outcomes and Carer Experiences Associated with the Paediatric Acute Review Clinic at Coffs Harbour Health Campus
[S] 		Leigh Davison
The Accredited Mental Health Social Worker Blueprint Program: An innovative approach to supporting the rural mental health workforce
[O]
11:20 AM - 12:00 PM 3min Lightning talks
Pavillion
1.
Catherine Sanford
Identifying Effective Hypertension Screening and Follow-Up Strategies for Rural and Remote Australians
[E] 		2.
Heath Pillen
Targeted community screening for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Far West NSW: an equitable approach to increasing population coverage of individual health screening
[E] 		3.
Matt Thomas
Evaluation of CoreConnect: A collaborative training approach for strengthening the rural psychology workforce
[G] 		4.
Giti Haddadan
A Grazier Ecological Model: Multi-Level Determinants of Mental Health in Rural Australia
[G]
5.
Parvez Mosharaf
Carer Problematic Alcohol Use and Child Mental Health in Rural Australia
[E] 		6.
Saara Silvola
Country Kids on the Move: Regional Interhospital Transfers by the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS)
[S] 		7.
Emily Saurman
Facilitators and Barriers of a Successful Hybrid Outpatient Telehealth Model in a Very Remote Aboriginal Community of Central Australia?
[G] 		8.
Madeleine Tropman
Generative AI in Regional Clinical Practice: Building the Evidence Base for Collaborative Governance in Rural Health
[G]
9.
Daniel Weber
Rural IMPACT: a framework to determine rural site suitability for inclusion into Low-Infrastructure Immunophenotyping Clinical Trials
[S] 		10.
Rachael Beldham-Collins
Rural Research is Achievable: Radiation Therapists' Experiences Implementing a First Clinical Trial
[G] 		11.
Catherine Keniry
Feasibility and acceptability of continuous glucose monitoring for older adults with type 2 diabetes in a rural residential aged care facility: a mixed-methods pilot study
[E] 		12.
Carlos Mesa Castrillon
Mortality patterns of farmers compared to the general population in Australia from 2012 to 2021
[E]
13.
Raisa Rowshan
Pregnancy Outcomes in Women with Class I-III Obesity in Regional and Rural Australia: A 5-year Hospital-Based Retrospective Study
[S] 		14.
Elise Ryan
What are the experiences and outcomes for health students undertaking long term placements in rural or regional areas?
[G]
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM Lunch
Greenhouse function space
12:50 PM - 1:20 PM Keynote:
Dr Anthony Brown View Bio
Research Manager | Health Consumers NSW
Coral Sea
1:20 PM - 1:25 PM Afternoon Scientific Presentations Overview
Coral Sea
Closing the Gap in Chronic and Complex Care
Moresby 		Safer Rural Healthcare: Quality, Communication and Patient Outcomes
Tobruk 		Strengthening Rural Health Systems: Access, Capability and Continuity
Borneo 		Community, Culture and Place: Locally Led Rural Health
Pavillion
1:30 PM - 1:45 PM Sophie Hardy
Innovating for Health Equity: Smarter Radiotherapy Scheduling in Rural Settings
[E] 		Renae Bryant
Environmental Noise in Rural Intensive Care Units: Insights from a Multisite Rural Australian Study
[G] 		John Mackenzie
Organisational Capability for Multidisciplinary Team-based Care in Rural and Remote Areas
[E] 		Karen Beattie
Patient-Reported Factors Influencing Participation in Home-Based Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin (SCIg) Therapy in Rural and Remote NSW: A Qualitative Study
[E]
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM Alison Ainsworth
Adapting HEARTS for rural Australia: integrating primary care context mapping and policy discourse analysis to strengthen hypertension care in Western NSW
[E] 		Patience Moyo
Perioperative Nurses’ Experiences of Recognising and Managing Post‑Anaesthetic Paediatric Emergence Delirium: A Narrative Review Motivated by a Challenging Experience
[G] 		Michelle Tusler
How an infrastructure grant has lead to increased capacity and capability across Western NSW clinical trials landscape
[O] 		Pat Canty
Welcome Baby to Bourke Ceremony. A Cultural Ceremony ensuring our Babies are connected to Country.
[O]
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM Bridgitte Evans
Survivorship Care for Radiation Therapy Patients in Rural, Regional and Remote Populations: A Mixed-Methods Study
[E] 		Ekene Emebiri
Retrospective study on interhospital transfers of general surgical patients: a rural Victorian experience
[S] 		Simon Mahoney
From Dubbo to medical practise: Impacts of an end-to-end rural medical program on medical student professional identities
[S] 		Reza Godwin
Yarning about Marang Dhali: How an Aboriginal healthy eating and cooking program is bridging gaps in Western NSW
[S]
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Emma Cox
Trends in the prevalence of diabetes in Western NSW: a population-level data linkage study
[E] 		Kingston Yeung
Proportion of patients admitted to rural and remote hospitals that experience a 30-day medication-related readmission: a retrospective cohort study
[S] 		Joseph Pearce
Investigating the Impact of Patient Travel Distance on Bowel Preparation Quality for Screening Colonoscopy: A Mixed-Methods Study in Regional New South Wales.
[S] 		Ruby Staunton
Assessing Senior Farmers Work Capacity on Farms in NSW Central West Region
[S]
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM Kam Wong
Opening the Black Box of Atrial Fibrillation Through Rural Clinician–Librarian Collaboration: Building Research Networks to Translate Complex Knowledge into Rural Health Action
[G] 		Connor Drum
Hospital Hypos, Unfortunate Typos, Problems They Might Pose: A retrospective audit of hypoglycaemic episodes in two hospitals in the WNSWLHD
[S] 		Sofia Rundback
Bridging Healthcare Transition Gaps for Young People with Intellectual Disability: A Scoping Review on the Role of Primary Care
[S] 		Heidi Gray
Addressing enablers and barriers to accessing support through Community Reinforcement and Family Training
[S]
2:50 PM - 3:10 PM Afternoon Tea
Pavillion function space
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM Q&A
Coral Sea Room
3:45 PM - 4:00 PM Awards and thank you's
Coral Sea Room
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WHRN 2026 Recent Posts

Plenary Session:

Driving Equity in Research: Supporting Regional, Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities

We will be joined by Dr Natasha Friend and Dr Bronwyn Wyatt from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Equity Team. They will provide an overview of NHMRC’s equity policy activities, with a particular focus on gender, regional, remote and rural (RRR) equity and indigenous equity activities

This presentation will be followed by a session exploring the barriers faced by regional, rural and remote researchers with discussions on advancing equity across the research sector to complete the session.

Workshop:

Digital Health, AI and Equity in Rural Settings

  1. Smilo.ai:
  2. VisionFlex: An interactive experience with a live connection from the workshop room back to the VisionFlex demonstration suite in Sydney. You will watch a real consultation happen across several hundred kilometres, with live diagnostics coming back in real time. A mobile kit will be in situ so you can pick up and handle the devices themselves, including the examination camera, digital stethoscope and camera glasses.
  3. Pharma8:
  4. Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service:
Presenters: Padma Gadiyar, Abe Warwick, Ged Hawthorn
Proudly Sponsored By:

Workshop:

Oral health is everyone’s business: Collaborative Oral Health Care in Rural Communities

  1. From Dental Chair to Primary Care: Integrating Oral and Systemic Health Associate Professor Shalinie King
    Rural Placement Programme Academic Lead, The University of Sydney Dental School, and Oral Health Programme Lead, Westmead Applied Research Centre

  2. Oral health advice in non-dental settings
    Dr Lauren Church
    Lecturer, The University of Sydney Dental School 

  3. Digital platforms to improve access to paediatric care (Vspec project)
    Associate Professor Mel Nott
    Principal Research Fellow | Three Rivers Department of Rural Health Charles Sturt University

  4. Caring and call to action for young smiles: International Recommendations for Children’s Oral Health
    Associate Professor Marco Benini Paschoal 
    Research lead in the Centre for Rural Dentistry and Oral Health at Charles Sturt University
Presenters:

Shalinie King is an Associate Professor with the University of Sydney Dental School where she is the academic lead for Rural Placements, and program lead for Oral Health Research at the Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC). Shalinie is a practising clinician with experience working in both the public and private sectors, she has extensive teaching experience and recently completed a 12-month term as Director of Academic Education at the Sydney Dental School.

Her research interests include understanding the associations between oral health and overall health, developing and evaluating strategies to improve community access to basic oral health information focusing on the use of digital technologies to support oral health promotion. Her work aims to design and implement new models of care that integrate oral and overall health care and, that improve community awareness and knowledge about the importance of good oral health in contributing to better overall health outcomes.

Dr Lauren Church is a Lecturer with the University of Sydney Dental School, where she is third-year unit of study coordinator for the Bachelor of Oral Health. Lauren is a registered clinician with public and private sector experience and teaches BOH students in the acute care setting at Sydney Dental Hospital, where she fosters interprofessional learning between BOH and DMD students.

She recently completed her PhD at the University of Sydney. Her research examines the connection between oral health and cardiovascular disease, oral health education in hospital settings, and protocols for integrating digital oral health interventions into cardiac rehabilitation. Her work aims to shape compassionate, patient-centred clinicians and to advance oral health within broader public health strategies. Lauren is Deputy Chair of the Oral Health Association of Australia (NSW Branch) and NSW Oral Health Representative for the Public Health Association of Australia.

Melissa is a regionally based occupational therapist working with rural communities, health service users, families, health professionals and service providers. She has a strong background in collaborative and partnership-based research that focuses on translating evidence into healthcare practice, supporting health professionals to build sustainable research networks, co-design and co-production with community stakeholders, and evidencing impacts of healthcare initiatives.

Workshop:

Doing research that matters: How to plan program evaluation in rural health services

This workshop aims to provide an overview of key issues and considerations in planning and undertaking evaluation of health and wellbeing programs. Participants will be introduced to a simple step-by-step approach that can be applied successfully in many health program contexts. The workshop will draw on a case study of a Marathon Health program that has recently completed this evaluation process.

Read about the process: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajr.70068
Presenter: Matt Thomas

Matt Thomas is a clinical psychologist working in the role of Principal Practice Lead with Marathon Health, based in Bathurst, NSW. His role includes leading research activities focussed on evaluation of innovative rural health services and rural health workforce development.  He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at Charles Sturt University and in the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of NSW.

Workshop:

Innovating together: A practical workshop on co-designing for rural health research

This workshop aims to equip participants with knowledge and practical skills for engaging health consumers in research co-design and implementation. Facilitated by an experienced team of health consumers and researchers, this will be a engaging and dynamic workshop that unpacks the co-design process.
 
Facilitators: Carrie Hayter, Health Consumers NSW and Melissa Nott, Three Rivers Department of Rural Health

Melissa is a regionally based occupational therapist working with rural communities, health service users, families, health professionals and service providers. She has a strong background in collaborative and partnership-based research that focuses on translating evidence into healthcare practice, supporting health professionals to build sustainable research networks, co-design and co-production with community stakeholders, and evidencing impacts of healthcare initiatives.

Workshop:

Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce Through Research

More details coming soon…

Presenters:
Proudly sponsored by:

Workshop:

Things We Have Learnt the Hard Way: An Introduction to Mental Health Research for New Starters

Mental health research is full of unexpected challenges. In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss some of the common pitfalls and practical solutions we’ve learned through experience. it focuses on the practical things that don’t make it into research methods textbooks. Join us to explore literacy-friendly participant information sheets, distress and wellbeing protocols, reducing research burden on participants and clinicians, recruiting realistic samples in rural communities, and choosing the right outcome measures. Bring your questions and examples from your own projects. Experienced researchers are encouraged to come along and share their learnings too.
Presenters: Professor Julaine Allan, Dr Nicole Snowdon, Dr Kate Freire

Plenary Session:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in research

We will hear from Michael Newman, Deputy CEO of the Lowitja Institute, who will provide an overview of the Institute’s work. He will be followed by Judy Johnson, Chair of the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation, and Simone Sherriff, Senior Research Fellow at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Sydney, who will present a Lowitja Institute-funded research case study from Western NSW.

Nicole Turner, CEO of the Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW, will then discuss the importance of strategic research and its role in improving Aboriginal health outcomes. The session will conclude with an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Following this, Jamie Newman will introduce the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS). We will then hear from Fiona Clarke, Clinical Administration Lead at OAMS, who will present research from the Antecedents of Renal Disease in Aboriginal Children and Young People (ARDAC) Kidney Health Research Program. Anne-Marie Mepham, Chronic Care Coordinator at OAMS, will then present Screen Your Way, a cervical screening self-collection project.

The session will conclude with a further opportunity for Q&A and discussion.

Networking Session:

In this session, you’ll work your way through a fun set of questions to discover new contacts and connections. It’s a networking adventure, with maps of where you travelled – and maybe even some treasure – at the end.

You’ll need to bring your mobile phone along to this session to take part.

 

Dr Anthony Brown

Dr. Anthony Brown is the Research Manager at Health Consumers NSW (HCNSW). HCNSW is the peak consumer group in the state, it is an independent, membership-based charity that works to ensure that health consumers (patients, carers, and families) are involved in the decisions that impact on them. Growing up in the Central West has given Anthony a strong connection to regional communities and a firsthand understanding of the factors that influence health and wellbeing outside major cities. Anthony is both a strong advocate for consumer involvement in research and an experienced researcher. Before joining HCNSW he was the Manager of the Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre at the University of Western Sydney, where he completed a doctorate (PhD) looking at retired men’s community engagement.

Dr Andrew Goodman

Dr Andrew Goodman is an Aboriginal man from Iningai Country in Queensland. Prior to his PhD, Dr Goodman spent more than 13 years as an Indigenous Healthcare Worker in Queensland, focusing on cardiac and healthcare services with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Currently, he is a Research Scientist with CSIROs digital health program, where he leads research initiatives focused on building the evidence base for digital health technologies that align with the priorities, interests, and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Central to his approach is the principle of “Relationships before Partnerships,” which emphasises trust, reciprocity, and accountability as the foundation for meaningful collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations.