Speakers

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KEYNOTE SPEAKER

DR KATE ACKERMAN

MD, MPH, FACSM

Kathryn (Kate) Ackerman, MD, MPH, FACSM is the Founder and Director of the Female Athlete Program and Biennial International Female Athlete Conference at Boston Children’s Hospital, the Associate Director of the Sports Endocrine Research Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She earned her BA from Cornell University, MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her sports medicine fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and endocrinology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

She chairs the US Rowing medical committee, is a member of the World Rowing medical commission, and is a Deputy Editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Her research focuses on female athlete health and the various aspects of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). She has authored/co-authored over 100 articles and book chapters related to sports medicine, endocrinology, rowing, bone health, and female athletes, including position statements with the International Olympic Committee. Athletically, Dr. Ackerman represented the US as a lightweight rower at the World Championships, having taken up rowing as a walk-on at Cornell. She has multiple National Championships titles and still competes with her teammates for life as a masters athlete. Most recently, she has become a Member of the National Leadership Council for the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a $220mill initiative to improve health and performance globally. Dr. Ackerman is leading the Alliance’s focus on scientific advancements for women.

INVITED SPEAKERS

PROFESSOR LOUISE BURKE OAM

Australian Catholic University; Chair in Sports Nutrition, Mary MacKillop Institute of Health Research; Australian Olympic Team Sports Dietician, 1996-2012.

Louise is a sports dietitian with 40 years of experience in education and counselling of elite athletes. She worked at the Australian Institute of Sport for thirty years, first as Head of Sports Nutrition and then as Chief of Nutrition Strategy. She was the team dietitian for the Australian Olympic Teams for the 1996-2012 Summer Olympic Games and attended the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as an appointment to Athletics. She has over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and the authorship or editorship of several textbooks on sports nutrition. She is an editor of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Louise was a founding member of the Executive of Sports Dietitians Australia and is a Director of the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 for her contribution to sports nutrition. Louise was appointed as Chair in Sports Nutrition in the Mary MacKillop Institute of Health Research at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne in 2014.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DEIRDRE MCGHEE

University of Wollongong; Director, Breast Research Australia; Sports Physiotherapist

Associate Professor Deirdre McGhee is a sports physiotherapist and director of Breast Research Australia. She leads Breast Research and Education within the Australian Institute of Sport Female Performance and Health Initiative and is a Fellow of Sports Medicine Australia. Her teaching at the University of Wollongong focuses on musculoskeletal anatomy and pathology within both Graduate Medicine and the School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences. She has extensive experience as a clinician, researcher, and teacher in breast support and protection in relation to breast pain and breast injuries in female athletes and active women, and breast-related musculoskeletal issues experienced by women with large breasts and following breast cancer surgery. She has written several evidence-based educational resources.

PROFESSOR KATE HENNE

Australian National University; Director, RegNet School or Regulation and Global Governance; Professor Justice and Technoscience Lab (JusTech)

Professor Kathryn (Kate) Henne is the Director of RegNet, the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance. Her research focuses on how gender, science and technology contribute to wider governance agendas to support more equitable regulatory approaches and outcomes. Over the last 15 years, she has carried out research on data governance, gender-specific rules, health and inclusion initiatives, mega-events, performance enhancement and sport for development programming. She is currently leading an Australian Research Council-funded project that aims to understand why, despite gains in women's sport participation, inclusion efforts in Australian sport have not yet led to gender parity in leadership roles or broad accessibility for marginalised groups.

DR EMMA BECKMAN

University of Queensland; Head of Para Sport, Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association; International Classifier, Para Athletics

Dr Emma Beckman is a Teaching and Research academic at the University of Queensland and is currently working in a conjoint position with Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association as the Head of Para Sport. Emma is passionate about engaging in research to improve the lives of people with a disability through sports, physical activity, and exercise. Following a master’s degree in Adapted physical activity, Emma completed her PhD in strength assessment for classification in Para Sport. She is currently a co-investigator in the UQ IPC Classification Research Partnership, and an internationally accredited classifier in Para Athletics.

MS JODIE DAKIC

Monash University; Senior Lecturer; Sports Physiotherapist; PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne

Jodie Dakic is a Lecturer in the School of Primary and Allied Health Care at Monash University. She is a practising physiotherapist in sports medicine and women’s health. Jodie has a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) and Post-Graduate Certificate in Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She has worked with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA); including Director of Athlete Medical Services and a full-time travelling position. Jodie acts as a Research Consultant to the WTA, publishing and presenting on injury epidemiology and prevention in professional female tennis. She is currently completing her PhD investigating pelvic floor disorders in exercising women/female athletes at The University of Melbourne.

PROFESSOR KAY CROSSLEY

La Trobe University, Director, La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre; Director, HerSport Latrobe; Physiotherapist

Professor Kay Crossley is the Director of the La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre. Kay is a physiotherapist with many years of experience in clinical sports physiotherapy. Her main research focus is on the prevention and management of persistent symptoms, poor quality of life and early-onset osteoarthritis after sports-related injuries. Her fields are in patellofemoral osteoarthritis following patellofemoral pain, knee osteoarthritis following ACL reconstruction and hip OA following hip-related injuries (including FAI and labral tears). Kay is focussed on the prevention of knee injuries, and enhancing health, participation and performance of women in sport and exercise. She leads the HERsport program.

DR RACHEL HARRIS

Sport & Exercise Medicine Physician; Project Lead, Australian Institute of Sport Female Performance & Health Initiative; Chief Medical Officer Paralympics Australia

Dr Rachel Harris is a Sport and Exercise Physician, and Project Lead for the Australian Institute of Sport Female Performance & Health Initiative. She is the Chief Medical Officer for Paralympics Australia and was the Chief Medical Officer for Water Polo Australia for the Tokyo Olympic Cycle. She works in private practice at Perth Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Centre. She has worked with the Australian Women’s Cricket team, Australian Rowing and Swimming teams amongst others, and is heading to the 2022 Commonwealth Games with the Australian Swimming Team. She swam for Australia at the Sydney Olympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

DR PIP INGE

Sport & Exercise Physician; Chief Medical Officer Australian Women’s Cricket Team

Pip is a Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician based in Melbourne at the Victorian Institute of Sport. Pip has a strong interest in female athlete health working as the team doctor for the Australian Womens' Cricket Team and the AFL as medical lead for the AFLW. In addition to these roles, she is the chief medical officer for the W/BBL cricket leagues and the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CLARE MINAHAN

Griffith University; Accredited Sports Scientist; Australian Institute of Sport Female Performance & Health Initiative Research Lead

Clare Minahan is an Associate Professor at Griffith University, Queensland Australia, and has led the Griffith Sports Science group since 2002. Clare’s interests are in the advancement of human performance with a key focus on the determinants of performance in female athletes. She has documented unique responses to exercise in female athletes including locomotor movement patterns, muscle damage, thermoregulation, and immune function. Clare has published over 85 peer-reviewed scientific articles, has successfully supervised multiple post-doctoral fellows and PhD students to completion, and is currently supervising numerous post-graduate students embedded in Australian high-performance sport organisations.

DR MELANIE HAYMAN

Central Queensland University; Co-author, 2020 Australian Exercise during Pregnancy Guidelines

Dr Hayman’s is a Senior Lecturer at Central Queensland University, in Allied Health at the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences. She has been an author for the 2021 Australian Physical Activity Screening Tool for pregnant women, the co-authorship of the 2020 Australian Exercise during Pregnancy Guidelines. Dr Hayman is also currently supervising PhD students working in partnership with AIS and QLD Academy of Sport to develop evidence-based best practice recommendations for exercise during pregnancy and return to sport among elite athletes.