Our board

Jacki is a specialist in Community Child Health and since 1998 has worked in multidisciplinary teams for children, adolescents and adults suspected to have or diagnosed with a developmental disability (Disability Specialist Unit, and Specialist Team for Intellectual Disability Sydney, SLHD).

Jacki was President and Chair Board RACP from 2022–2024 and served on the Board for 6 years. She also had numerous other RACP roles over nearly 30 years. Jacki has served as President and Chair Executive Committee Australian Association Developmental Disabilities and remains involved with advocacy for people with intellectual disability through her national roles on the Roadmap Implementation Governance Group and National Advisory Committee National Centre of Excellence for Intellectual Disability Health.

Hasantha is a Clinical Academic and Professor of Paediatric Priority Populations in the Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney. He is engaged in research partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across Australia and established and helps run a service delivery project for Aboriginal children across NSW. He loves teaching, both in large group settings but also the flipped classroom approach and small interactive tutorials with approximately 600 medical students annually.

In his spare time, he works as a General Paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead where he has worked in the Health Assessment for Refugee Kids clinic for over a decade. He was the Convenor of the successful ACAH2022 Conference in Sydney “Gamechangers in Child and Adolescent Health”, which brought us back together after the long COVID-19 hiatus.

Kim is a paediatrician who trained in Sydney, London and Boston. Most of his professional work has been associated with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the University of Sydney. He was the first holder of the University’s Douglas Burrows Chair of Paediatrics and Child Health (1985–1997) and was simultaneously Chairman of the Hospital’s Division of Medicine. He was the Hospital’s Chief Executive from 1997–2006. He was the inaugural chair of the New South Wales Child Death Review Team and founding Chair of the Federal Government’s National Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

He has been a President of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and spent a year as Head of the Kempe National Center for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in the USA. Kim has published widely on child abuse, particularly its longer-term effects, and in general paediatrics. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Sydney and a clinical consultant at the Clinical Excellence Commission, teaching in five medical schools about medical error. He co-founded a program for identifying and teaching future medical leaders in Vietnam where he still teaches.

Anysha is a paediatric trainee at the Royal Children’s Hospital. She completed her undergraduate medical degree at Monash University and internship at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne in 2022, where she was shortlisted for Intern of the Year and was a representative of the Junior Medical Society Education Committee. Anysha has been involved in the Academy since she was a medical student and was the co-convenor of ACAH23: A Voice for Children alongside previous ACAH board member, Ash Quadir. She is passionate about medical education, social justice, migrant and refugee health; she currently volunteers for the Water Well Project and is involved in refugee health research.

Simone is a Wotjobaluk woman who lives and works on Wiradjuri country and is a Research Fellow at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at Sydney University. Simone has extensive experience working in the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector in NSW and has worked with Aboriginal community organisations for the last 15 years on health research and the implementation of services around key priority areas for communities. Simone’s research interests are around food security, breastfeeding, and child health.

Devin Deo is a Paediatric Trainee at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW. He completed his undergraduate medical degree from The University of Newcastle in 2020, before completing his internship in rural Taree.

He is currently the President of the Kids Resident Medical Officer Association at Westmead Kids and also a member of the Clinical Council of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network. Devin also serves as the Hospital Representative for Westmead Kids in the Australian Medical Association NSW Doctors-In-Training Committee.

Devin is passionate about medical education, having previously been the Clinical Associate Lecturer at his alma mater of The University of Newcastle. He currently does regular bedside teaching for the University of Sydney, and was awarded the Annual Kilham Award for Best JMO FRACP teacher and support 2024.

Peter Barclay is the Director of Pharmacy at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN) and has worked as a Hospital Pharmacist for over 40 years. Peter is deeply committed to enabling access to appropriate medications for children and families and actively works to remove health barriers that exist in the health system. He is currently engaged in the provision of precision medicines, including gene therapies, for children at SCHN.

With extensive experience, Peter utilises pharmacy technology to deliver both patient safety and business efficiency. He is a strong advocate for the role of Hospital Pharmacists as clinicians, patient safety advocates, efficient pharmaceutical procurers, and key stakeholders in medication-related clinical governance.

Amelia is the Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Disability Specialist Unit, Sydney Local Health District. With over a decade of experience supporting children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental differences and disabilities, she brings expertise in clinical neuropsychology, research, and health policy. Amelia’s work is guided by systems thinking, collaboration, and child-and-family-centred care. She is deeply committed to promoting the wellbeing of children and young people, as well as their families and communities.