Professor Malcolm Battersby PhD, FRANZCP, FAChAM, MBBS

Professor Malcolm Battersby is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Flinders Human Behaviour and Health Research Unit and Course Leader of the Mental Health Science programs at Flinders University. He is also Director of the State-wide Gambling Therapy Service. He trained with Professor Isaac Marks at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, in behavioural treatment of anxiety disorders and severe neurotic conditions.

He was awarded a Harkness Research Fellowship in the study of chronic conditions self-management in the United States during 2003-2004 and has led the development of the Flinders program of chronic condition management, now provided across Australia and internationally.

Dr Lifeng Chen MB, FRANZCP, PhD

Dr Lifeng Chen worked as a consultant psychiatrist in Beijing before coming to Australia. She is currently working as a senior staff psychiatrist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and holds a title of a senior lecturer of Department of Psychiatry, the University of Queensland. Dr Chen is currently a member of Committee of Continuing Medical Education of RANZCP and has been actively involved in a number of training and fellowship examination related activities locally and bi-nationally in the last several years. Dr Chen has special interests in psychiatry of Old Age, transcultural psychiatry, teaching, training and research. 

Dr David Codyre MBChB, FRANZCP

David is a psychiatrist with 25 years' experience working in the mental health sector in New Zealand – initially in public specialist MHS in a range of community mental health, service development and leadership roles. Increasing interest in early intervention in mental illnesses, and in service integration initiatives, led to his moving to the primary care sector in 2001, since which time he has worked with ProCare (a large Auckland primary care organisation serving a patient population of 650,000 people), leading development of their primary mental health program. ProCare has a strong track record in implementing CCM programs (most recently in partnership with Counties Manukau DHB and several other local PHOs, a very successful externally evaluated trial of using CCM methodologies to improve management of depression in primary care), and has had an increasing focus over recent years on self-management support programs utilising both Stanford and Flinders models.

Professor David Clarke MBBS, MPM, PhD, FRACGP, FRANZCP

Professor David Clarke works in the area of Psychological Medicine and psychosomatics, with a particular interest in depression and its co-relation with physical illnesses. He is Clinical Director of Consultation-Liaison and Primary Care Psychiatry at Monash Medical Centre, in Melbourne, Professor in the School of Psychology and Psychiatry at Monash University, and Research Advisor to beyondblue: the national depression initiative in Australia. He has been Chair of the Victorian state branch of the Section of CL psychiatry and has edited a number of supplements of the Medical Journal of Australia in the area of depression with physical disease.  

Dr Margaret Leggatt AM, PhD, BAppSc (OT)

Dr Margaret Leggatt is a sociologist and an occupational therapist. She was the Director of the Mental Illness Fellowship for 17 years and was involved in the development of SANE, a national mental health advocacy organisation. She is a past President of the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders – an international body of family support organisations for people with a mental illness. She has developed family information, education, and support programs, and is now involved in training family carers to work alongside clinicians in mental health services. Publications include articles, book chapters, reports, booklets and pamphlets on many mental health issues.

Ms Janne McMahon OAM

Ms McMahon has worked within the mental health area as a consumer advocate since 1997. She founded the Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network (Australia) which is a recognised peak national Australian organisation advocating in a variety of forums for the issues and needs of mental health consumers and carers.

Ms McMahon has appeared before six parliamentary inquiries, is currently, and has been, a member of a number of Australian Government Committees as well as many other national mental health Expert Advisory Groups, National Reference Groups, Steering Committees and Working Parties including many for the RANZCP.

She is currently a Director of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, a member of the Board of Practice and Partnerships, the Community Collaboration Committee, CIP Project, Chronic Condition Self-management Project, Darwin Congress Organising Committee and Darwin Congress Scientific Committee of the Royal  Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and is currently a member of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, surveying mental health organisations since 2001.  

She was formerly a member of the Board of the Mental Health Council of Australia for three years, a member of the Board of Professional and Community Relations again for three years and was a member of the Board Review Working Group and the Adelaide Congress Organising Committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

In 2008 Ms McMahon was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of her advocacy work.

Dr Rene Pols MBBS, FRANZCP, FAFPHM, FAChAM, FFPMANZCA

Dr Pols is Deputy Director of the Flinders Human Behaviour and Health Research Unit and is a psychiatrist, public health physician, an addiction medicine physician and a pain management physician. His major interests are in the area of Chronic Condition Self-management, particularly unexplained physical symptoms and chronic pain. He is also interested in smoking in psychiatric patients (PhD work with Dr S Lawn) and comorbidity generally, as well as critical incidents such as suicide occurring in psychiatric patients whilst under care in hospital (postgraduate research work with Dr R Long).

Dr Pols managed one of the eight sub-projects on patients with Chronic Somatisation Disorder (patients with unexplained physical symptoms) within the SA HealthPlus Trial. It was found that GPs were not able to manage these patients at all well and together with a reference group of GPs, a successful protocol, manual and education program were developed.

Prior to that Dr Pols was the Foundation Director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, a collaborative venture between Flinders University and the Drug and Alcohol Services Council of SA (DASC), from 1991 to 1995. His report to the National Health & Mental Research Council set the standard for low level risk alcohol consumption in Australia in 1987 and 1992.

Professor Kay Wilhelm AM, MB BS, MD, FRANZCP

Professor Kay Wilhelm AM is a Senior Staff Specialist and Head of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at St Vincent’s Mental Health Service. She is a conjoint Professor in the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales. She is Director of Faces in the Street: St Vincent’s and Mater Health Urban Mental Health Services Research Institute.

She is interested in prevention and early intervention of anxiety and depression, improving coping mechanisms, engaging people with complex mental and physical health problems. She has published about 200 papers, book chapters and educational workshops. Her main interests are depression, deliberate self harm, smoking cessation, brief interventions to assist coping and maintain well-being in the context of adverse life events and in general hospital psychiatry, particularly in the inner city. She has written workshops, programs and clinician aids for GPs for the Black Dog Institute on depression management and programs targeting suicidal ideation and deliberate self harm (the Green Card Clinic and Mood Mapping).

She has a longstanding interest in the mental health of doctors and is a member of the New South Wales Medical Board, chairing the Board’s Doctors’ Health Committee. She is Co-Chair of the NSW Smokefree Mental Health Taskforce and involved in studies related to smoking and depression.

She has been awarded the Founders’ Medal of the Australasian Society of Psychiatric Research, in 2005, she became a Member, Order of Australia, in 2006 and was awarded a College Citation from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 2008.

Dr Chong-Siew Yong MB BS(Syd) FRANZCP Cert Child Adol Psych FAMA

Choong-Siew Yong is a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Newcastle, NSW. He is currently Clinical Director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Hunter New England Area Health Service. He has had long standing interests in medical workforce, regulation, doctors’ health  and mental health policy. Choong-Siew chaired the Working Party developing the Chronic Condition Self-management modules and is deputy chair of the Committee for CME, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Choong-Siew has previously served as Vice-President (Federal) of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and President, AMA (NSW) and is now a member of the AMA Federal Council. He is chair of the AMA Psychiatrists’ Group and previously chaired the AMA Public Health, Economics and Workforce, and Child and Youth Health Committees.

He is an Honorary Fellow, Centre for International Mental Health, the University of Melbourne. Choong-Siew is a member of the NSW Medical Board, which regulates doctors in NSW and serves on its Health and Performance committees.

Ms Adrienne Glancy BA(Hons) PGCE

Ms Adrienne Glancy has managed the Chronic Condition Self-management project on behalf of the Working Party.

She has a background in education and has fifteen years teaching experience. In more recent years she has specialised in the production of education resources both print and e-learning materials and has co-authored seven teaching and learning resources for high school teachers.