Invited Speakers

Invited Keynote Speaker

Georg Schett is Professor of Internal Medicine and since 2006 head of the Department of Medicine 3 - Rheumatology and Immunology at Uniklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.

Professor Schett graduated from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 1994. After his dissertation from medical school, he worked as scientist at the Institute of BioMedical Aging Research of the Austrian Academy of Science in Innsbruck. Two years later, he joined the Department of Medicine at the University of Vienna, where he completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and subsequently in Rheumatology. In 2003 he was promoted to professor of Internal Medicine. Before accepting his position as the chair of the Department of Internal Medicine 3 in Erlangen, he worked as a scientist in the United States of America for one year.

Georg Schett’s scientific work includes a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological issues, particularly the molecular basics of immune-inflammatory diseases. Initially, he investigated the immunology of atherosclerosis and focused on antibody-mediated endothelial cell damage. His research work led to the understanding of the phenomenon of LE-cells in 2007. He was awarded the renowned START Award in 2002 and established a research group for arthritis in Vienna. In 2008, he initiated in collaboration with colleagues the priority program IMMUNOBONE in Germany, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). IMMUNOBONE aims to elucidate the interactions between the skeletal and the immune systems. Since 2015, Prof. Schett has led the DFG collaborative research centre 1181 “Checkpoints for Resolution of Inflammation” in Erlangen. Additionally, he is spokesperson of the project METARTHROS, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which investigates the impact of the metabolism on arthritis. In 2019, he received funding for the ERC-Synergy grant “4D+ nanoSCOPE Advancing osteoporosis medicine by observing bone microstructure and remodelling using a four- dimensional nanoscope” of which he is spokesperson. 4D nanoSCOPE aims to develop tools and techniques to permit time-resolved imaging and characterization of bone in three spatial dimensions (both in vitro and in vivo), thereby permitting monitoring of bone remodelling and revolutionizing the understanding of bone morphology and its function.

In 2021, Prof. Schett was appointed Vice President for Research at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen- Nürnberg and became a Leopoldina member of the German National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Schett’s scientific work has been honored with several awards, including the Carol-Nachman Prize from Wiesbaden. In March 2023, Prof. Schett received the 2023 “Funding Prize in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Programme” awarded by the DFG. He has published over 1100 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. Rebecca Sadun is an Associate Professor of Adult and Pediatric Rheumatology at Duke University School of Medicine, where she serves as the Program Director for the Combined Adult & Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship and core faculty for Duke's adult and pediatric lupus programs.  Dr. Sadun has research expertise in the areas of vaccine immunogenicity, medication adherence, and clinical outcomes for pediatric lupus patients and for patients transitioning from pediatric to adult care.  Her clinical efforts are focused on the care of lupus patients across the age span as well as adolescent/young adult rheumatology patients, for whom effective contraception and pregnancy counseling and care are crucial.  She looks forward to sharing best practices related to childhood-onset lupus, pediatric-to-adult transition, and reproductive rheumatology.

Invited Keynote Speaker

Dr Mwidimi Ndosi is Associate Professor in Rheumatology Nursing at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. His research aims to improve outcomes for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases through the development and validation of patient-reported outcome measures, rheumatology nursing and self-management interventions, directly informing clinical guidelines and health policy.

He has played a leading role in European rheumatology, serving as Chair of the EULAR Health Professionals in Rheumatology Committee, where he championed professional education and capacity building. He is committed to knowledge translation, engaging public and professional communities to ensure that research has meaningful, lasting impact on patient care and service delivery.

Invited Keynote Speaker

Professor Peter Ebeling is Head of the Department of Medicine, and Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University. Professor Ebeling is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS). The AAHMS aims to advance research throughout Australia in the fields of health and medicine to ensure the application of this research benefits all Australians. In 2023, he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London). He was inaugural Director of the Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Science. In 2015, he was made an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia for distinguished services in the field of bone health. Research interests include: musculoskeletal health and diseases; public health aspects of vitamin D; post- transplantation osteoporosis; and osteoporosis in men. Professor Ebeling was Associate Editor of JBMR®, Editor of Clinical Endocrinology (Oxf) and Editor-in-Chief of Bone Reports and JBMR® Plus. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of B o n e and on the Editorial Board of Osteoporosis International. He is a Past-President of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, Chair of the Board for Healthy Bones Australia, Board member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, a Past-President of the Endocrine Society of Australia, and a Past-President of ANZBMS. He served on the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Research Committee from 2015-2018. There were 156 peer-reviewed publications from 2019-2024, including in Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, and JBMR®. He has over 600 peer-reviewed publications with 43,000 citations and a h- index of 100, including in The New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Clinical Investigation and Science. He also teaches and mentors medical students and supervises a number of research higher degree students and advanced physician trainees in endocrinology.

Invited Online Speaker

Dr Singh is a board-certified adult rheumatologist in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Washington. Before moving to WA, she was a faculty at the University of Iowa where she completed her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. She completed her Rheumatology fellowship at the Temple University in Philadelphia. 

Dr Singh is an "onco-geri-rheumatologist" with her research focusing on the care of patients, especially older adults, with rheumatic diseases who develop cancer or those with cancer who develop complications of cancer therapies. She is currently funded by the NIAMS K23 and an R03 award from the NIA to build an evidence base for this patient population. Besides working on her projects, she enjoys mentoring the next generation of physicians.

When not working, you will find her on the field cheering her two sons during their cricket games and tournaments.

Belinda Beck is a Professor of Exercise Physiology at Griffith University (Gold Coast, QLD) and Director of The Bone Clinic in Brisbane. Her work, primarily related to the effects of mechanical loading on bone, includes a series of clinical trials (the LIFTMOR and MEDEX-OP trials) that changed the way osteoporosis is managed with exercise. In 2015, she established The Bone Clinic, a translational research facility and clinical practice in Brisbane providing the ONERO® exercise program for osteoporosis which has been licenced for delivery around the world. She has been awarded around $8M in research funding and has published over 150 papers and chapters in the field. She is a Fellow of numerous bone and exercise societies (including ACSM, ASBMR, ESSA and SMA), is on the Board of the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, Sports Medicine Australia, the SOS Fracture Alliance, the International Osteoporosis Foundation Capture the Fracture Governance Committee, and the Healthy Bones AustraliaMedicine and Science Advisory Committee.

Hugh Caterson is a staff specialist rheumatologist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney and is dual trained in rheumatology and clinical immunology. He runs a specialised autoinflammatory disease clinic and leads a multidisciplinary haematoinflammatory disease clinic. He is active in research into VEXAS syndrome, particularly its mechanisms of inflammation and its treatment options, and in the broader field of clonal haematopoiesis of immunological significance. Hugh is the Australian representative on the EULAR VEXAS study interest group.

Dr Sonia Davison MBBS FRACP PhD, is an Endocrinologist with a special interest in Women's Health, and has worked in this field for over 20 years. She is a Clinical Fellow at Jean Hailes for Women’s Health and has worked at the Women’s Health Research Program, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.  Sonia is in private practice at the Melbourne Endocrine Clinic, Malvern, and at Jean Hailes for Women's Health.  Her PhD and postdoctoral research examined hormones in women, including measurement of androgens and their relationships with age, mood, sexual function and cognition. Sonia is Past President of the Australasian Menopause Society and former editor of its newsletter, ‘Changes’. She is a current Board member of the Asia Pacific Menopause Federation.  Sonia has published widely in the field of women’s health, and has presented at women’s health conferences, scientific meetings, podcasts, webinars, and community seminars.  She has frequently been invited to appear in the media, including the TV show, “The Truth about Menopause”, featuring Myf Warhurst.

Professor Simon John Denny, M.P.H., Ph.D., FRACP is an internationally recognised Adolescent and Young Adult Physician, researcher, and health system leader with over two decades of experience advancing youth-appropriate healthcare. He is the Director of the Mater Young Adult Health Centre and a Professor at the University of Queensland, where his work focuses on improving health outcomes for adolescents and young adults, particularly within adult hospital settings.

Professor Denny is a leading advocate for youth-centred models of care that extend beyond traditional paediatric–adult transitions, embedding developmentally appropriate, multidisciplinary services within adult health systems. His clinical and research interests include chronic disease management, mental health, health risk behaviours, and healthcare accessibility for young people.

A prolific researcher, he has authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications and has led major population-level studies, including as Principal Investigator of Youth’07, New Zealand’s National Youth Health and Wellbeing Survey. His highly cited work on the social determinants of adolescent health, published in The Lancet, has shaped international policy and practice.

Professor Denny currently was past Chair of the Adolescent and Young Adult Committee at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and has held senior governance roles across hospital and health systems. His work continues to influence youth health policy, clinical practice, and professional education globally.

A/Prof Claire Ellender BSc MBBS FRACP PhD, is a Respiratory and Sleep physician at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.   Her areas of research include evaluating health literacy in sleep medicine, equity in accessing sleep therapies for complex or disadvantaged groups and multi-disciplinary management of hypersomnolence disorders. Dr Ellender is the head of the PA-Southside Clinical Unit at the Faculty of Health Medicine and Behavioural Science, University of Queensland.  In this role she oversees the training of 300 medical students annually.

Professor Tony Kenna is the Head of School of Biomedical Sciences and an immunologist at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). His research focuses on immune-mediated disease, particularly ankylosing spondylitis and scleroderma, integrating genomic data with cellular and molecular immunology to identify key drivers of disease and inform new therapeutic approaches. He is also the current President of the Australian Society for Medical Research, and serves in advisory roles supporting the scleroderma community in Queensland and nationally.

Dr Irwin Lim is a Sydney-based rheumatologist and co-founder of BJC Health, a multidisciplinary community rheumatology service with a strong focus on high-quality, team-based care. 

Over the past few years, he and his colleagues have been involved in supporting advanced rheumatology trainees within a private practice setting, focusing on practical supervision, broad outpatient case exposure, and building the “non-clinical” skills trainees need to thrive—workflow, communication, and safe decision-making in the community context. In this session, Dr Lim will share lessons learned from establishing training in private practice, including what has been feasible, what has been challenging, and what private practices can do to support high-quality training alongside service delivery.

Professor Fabienne Mackay PhD FAHMS FQAAS has just completed her tenure as Director and CEO of QIMR Berghofer.  She joined QIMR Berghofer in May 2020. 

Professor Mackay studied Medicine and Biomedical Engineering before obtaining her PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology from Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France.  She started her research career in the biotech industry at Biogen Inc. in Boston. In 1999, she joined the Garvan Institute in Sydney and became Director of the Autoimmunity Research Unit. In 2009, she became Head of the Department of Immunology at Monash University. In 2015, she became the inaugural Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

She is a world-renowned immunologist and a medical researcher who published 190 impactful papers cited more than 26,000 times. Her highly cited pioneer work on the factor BAFF provided the knowledge foundation for the development of belimumab (Benlystaâ, a BAFF inhibitor), as the first new treatment for lupus in over 50 years. Professor Mackay is the world most highly cited scientist in the BAFF field. She currently holds a NHMRC Investigator Grant Level 3.

Professor Mackay was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS) in 2016, and a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (QAAS) in 2022.  She served six years on the prestigious Medical Advisory Board of the Gairdner Foundation in Canada and 4 years on the NHMRC Research Committee.  She received multiple national and international awards including the 2025 National Health and Medical Research Council 2025 Ethics and Integrity Award.

Prof Seth Masters is Centre Head of the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Disease at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research (Australia). The Masters Laboratory has uncovered the genetic basis for several autoinflammatory diseases and continues to manage the associated Australian Registry, AADRY. Their work to characterise the pathways underlying autoinflammation has facilitated successful therapeutic intervention blocking IL-1, IL-6, TNF or IFN signalling in many patients, and industry partnerships generating novel inhibitors, now in clinical trials. Prof Masters is a Scientific Advisor for NRG Therapeutics (UK) and Odyssey Therapeutics (USA) and was appointed as a Fellow of the Viertel Foundation, HHMI-Wellcome Trust and the NHMRC.

Professor Craig Munns is the Convenor of the UQ First 10,000 Days Wellbeing Network, Head, Mayne Academy of Paediatrics and Director, Child Health Research Centre at The University of Queensland. He is also a Senior Medical Office Department of Endocrinology at Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Prof Munns’ primary clinical and research interest is the diagnosis and management of primary and secondary paediatric bone disorders. He has published widely on nutritional rickets, genetic rickets, osteoporosis and osteogenesis imperfecta with over 190 publications and H-index of 56.  He has undertaken numerous investigator initiated and sponsored clinical trials of novel therapies in paediatric bone disease and their implementation into clinical practice.  Prof Munns is also heavily involved in enabling clinical trials in Advanced Therapeutics, including cell and gene therapy.

Clinical Year-In-Review

Peter Nash is Professor at the School of Medicine at Griffith University, Queensland, Associate Professor Department of Medicine, University of Queensland and Co-Director of the Rheumatology Research Unit on the Sunshine Coast. Prof Nash has Chaired the Professional Affairs Committee, the Therapeutics Committee, and  NHMRC musculoskeletal panels, serves on the CRC and served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australian Rheumatology Association. He is a former member of the Therapeutics Committee of the Australia and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society. He is a founder member of Grappa and serves on the International Steering Committee for GRAPPA. He is on the editorial board of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, RMD Open and the Journal of Rheumatology.

Prof. Nash and his group at the Rheumatology Research Unit have been involved in the pivotal registration clinical trials for all modern targeted and biologic therapies and osteoporosis therapies. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and 6 book chapters  He has been recognized as Rheumatology citation leader of the top 20 rheumatology journals over the last 5 years for 2021-2025. He is a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. His special interests include psoriatic arthritis and novel therapeutics.

Associate Professor Alberto Pinzon Charry is a Paediatric Immunologist based at the Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) and in private practice. He completed doctoral studies in immunology through the University of Queensland and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.  He is an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and supervisor for the advanced trainees in immunology. A/Prof Pinzon Charry has an interest in allergy, hereditary angioedema and immune deficiencies particularly autoinflammatory diseases for which he is supported by a Queensland Health clinical research fellowship.  He holds academic appointments with Griffith University and the University of Queensland and is the Queensland representative for the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), as well as a president of the Clinical Immunology Committee for the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS).

Senior Advisor Policy and Advocacy

Alex was born in Argentina and came to Australia in 1973.

He has a long career in national security, having served in the Australian Army and later the Department of Defence in a number of senior policy and strategy roles. He has also worked for the Australian Parliament as Director of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade within the Research Service of the Parliamentary Library.

He left the Australian Public Service in 2012 and has since worked for a number of not-for-profits in policy and advocacy roles across Veterans and Aged Care portfolios.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy, Honours and a Graduate Diploma in Antarctic Policy, and master’s degrees in both management and in Strategic Studies.

He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Alex has been married to Jacquie for 42 years, and they have three daughters and three granddaughters.

(optional Fun Facts)

· Alex has walked various routes of the Camino de Santiago four times, and walked across the UK once, totalling more than 3,000km across Europe over the past decade and a half.

· He is a keen photographer, with two solo exhibitions under his belt.

ARA President

Dr Whittle is a senior consultant rheumatologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide and an adjunct senior research fellow at Monash University. His primary clinical interest is in fibromyalgia and related disorders. He runs the only public hospital fibromyalgia clinic in South Australia. In addition, he is an ANZMUSC Practitioner Fellow, researching living evidence, and has led the development of the Australian Living Guidelines for Adult Inflammatory Arthritis and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (www.livingguidelines.org). He completes his term as President of the Australian Rheumatology Association in May 2026. He is the founder and inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Rheumatology Journal. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Australia & New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network (ANZMUSC) and the Cochrane Musculoskeletal editorial board.

John Van Der Kallen is a Rheumatologist who has worked in Newcastle for over 20 years. He graduated from UNSW in 1994 and has worked in a number of rural and metropolitan areas on NSW and completed his rheumatology training in Leiden, Netherlands. He established the fracture prevention clinics in the Hunter New England Areas Health Service.

John was the National Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia from 2020-23. He is actively involved in improving biodiversity and carbon sequestration projects.

Dr Sara Winter is a Clinical Psychologist and CBTi practitioner based in Brisbane, Australia, with 20 years' experience and a special interest in sleep disorders and chronic disease. Sara completed her PhD in the area of sleep disorders and health behaviour change, and completed her clinical training at the University of Queensland in the area of Clinical and Neuro Psychology.

Sara is experienced in working with a variety of clinical presentations including sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, trauma, and the psychological aspects of chronic diseases and chronic pain. Sara has a special interest and extensive experience in the psychological aspects of the management of sleep disorders including insomnia, hypersomnolence conditions, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, parasomnias and nightmares.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) is the Gold Standard, first-line recommended treatment for Insomnia (ACP Practice Guideline, 2016). Sara is a skilled clinician and trainer in this intervention modality. Sara is available for workshops and talks to small and large groups on the behavioural management of sleep disorders including CBTi, Motivational Interviewing and health behaviour change. She is also an approved AHPRA Psychology Board of Australia supervisor for all pathways to registration as a Psychologist, including the Clinical Registrar programme. Sara is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT)  SaraWinter | Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).