Key Dates

Registration Open:
Open

Call for Abstracts:
Closed

Early Bird Registration Close:
11 May 2022

RSA Conference:
16-18 June 2022

Conference Managers

Association Professionals
PO Box 7345
Beaumaris VIC 3193
Email the Conference Manager
or call on 1300 941 480

Invited Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Ms Sarah Morse
Surviving and Thriving in a Challenging Environment

Sarah Morse has been registered as a nurse in Australia for more than twenty years and knows what it’s like to work in the healthcare system in Australia, both in public and private sectors, in large hospitals, and small clinics, in clinical education and student facilitation.  Just like the audiences she addresses, Sarah is frustrated that the human cost of healthcare on health professionals is not being recognised. Through her keynote presentations, Sarah is transforming the way healthcare is delivered.  The measurable outcomes of her presentations include stronger leadership, healthier teams, increased staff retention rates, and ultimately, better health outcomes for patients.

Plenary Speakers

Dr Asanga Abeyaratne
Improving the Longevity of Peritoneal Dialysis

Dr Abeyaratne, a Consultant Nephrologist & general medicine physician at Royal Darwin Hospital since 2012, provides clinical consultations on kidney disease in remote aboriginal communities.  As the clinical lead for home based renal replacement therapies in NT he was instrumental in establishing renal telehealth clinics to remote communities such as West Arnhem land, Katherine East & West, & Port Keats.  He's also been involved with several clinical research trials with Top End Health Service including NHMRC funded randomised controlled trial for Iron Infusion in Haemodialysis Study (INFERR) as an Associate Investigator, & is an investigator of the CKD Consortium that aims to evaluate CKD identification & management in primary care in 3 jurisdictions - NT, Tas & VIC.

 

 

Mr Graeme Turner
What is Happening in CKD II and III?

Graeme is a Nurse Practitioner, with 27 years of nephrology nursing experience. Since 2006 he has worked in the area of early detection and management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). In 2015 Graeme’s pilot project “Identification of CKD in Aboriginal People” won the Integrated Care category of the NSW Health innovation awards. Graeme is involved in development of renal Health Pathways with North Coast Primary Health Network. Graeme is current chair of the RSA early CKD SIG.  In 2018 Graeme commenced a Master’s of Science by Thesis with Southern Cross University his project being “Evaluating a training program for practice nurses in early identification and management of chronic kidney disease”. Due to the initial success of this project the scope of the project has been expanded and he transferred from Masters to PhD candidature. 

 

 

Dr Leanne Brown
Sexuality and Fertility in Patients with CKD

Dr Leanne Brown is a nephrology nurse practitioner for the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service. She is also a casual academic for School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology. Leanne has extensive experience in renal nursing and has been a nurse practitioner for nearly 15 years. She completed a PhD in 2017 with focus on shared decision making for the older person with advanced kidney disease. She has mentored Nurse Practitioners from a variety of specialities.

Leanne is recognised nationally as an expert renal nurse and is a member of the CKD working group for the Australian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN), member of the HD working group for ANZDATA, an Associate Editor for the Renal Society of Australasia Journal, and the Vice President for the Renal Society of Australasia. Representative on the Primary Care Education Advisory Committee for Kidney Health Australia (PEAK- KHA), guest editor for Journal of Advanced Nursing, Journal of Renal Care and JBI evidence synthesis.
Awarded the ACNP Hesta Nurse Practitioner of the Year 2021

 

 

A/Prof. Matthew Worthley
Cardiac Changes in CKD

Matthew Worthley is an interventional cardiologist and Director of Cardiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is a clinician and remains actively involved in both inpatient and outpatient services. He is a Research Fellow at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide. He has published over 100 manuscripts in cardiology and vascular dynamic function with an interest in renal disease. He is the convenor of the Advance Training Committee at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and sits on the board of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.

 

 

Prof. Rachael Morton
CKD Health Equity

Professor Rachael Morton (PhD, MSc(Clin Epi)(Hons)) is a senior health economist and CKD researcher. She is Deputy Director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and Professor of Health Economics in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney where she leads a specialised team of economists and economic modellers. Prof Morton is the Principal Investigator of the Symptom monitoring WIth Feedback Trial (SWIFT), a large national ANZDATA patient reported outcome measures trial. Prof Morton is a past recipient of NHMRC Emerging Leadership and TRIP Fellowships and NHMRC Sidney Sax Fellowship to Oxford University where she undertook one of the first equity-focused systematic reviews. She specialises in within-trial and modelled economic evaluation, to inform policy on the basis of cost-effectiveness and health equity. In 2018 she was awarded a prestigious Robinson Fellowship from the University of Sydney, and elected President of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ).

 

 

Ms Yvonne Tafirenyika
Renal Supportive Care Pathways in TEHS

Yvonne has 22 years of clinical nursing experience with 16 of those years being in TERS. She has worked in various departments within the TERS as renal nurse since 2006, gaining insight and knowledge into the health care of Indigenous Australians. Yvonne has been in the Renal Supportive care role since 2016. She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Nursing (renal strand). Yvonne is a team player in providing patient centred care, partnering with the consumers and ensuring renal patients’ wishes are acknowledged and valued in a culturally appropriate manner throughout their journeys.

 

 

Ms Sarah Brown
Purple House

Sarah Brown AM is the Chief Executive Officer of Purple House, working with a
Board of Pintupi-Luritja Directors to run the organisation since its inception two decades ago. Sarah was recognised with an Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List “for significant service to community health, to remote area nursing, and to the Indigenous community”.

In 2017 she was Hesta Australia’s Nurse of the Year and in 2018 made the AFR BOSS magazine’s ‘True Leaders’ list. A fearless advocate for high quality, community-led healthcare for Indigenous Australians, Sarah has invested three decades of her life in this work across Australia. She holds a Master of Nursing, a Graduate Diploma in Aboriginal Education and a Graduate Diploma in Health Service Management. Prior to joining Purple House, Sarah worked as a remote nurse in Tasmania, WA and the NT and has also been a university lecturer and Aboriginal health service manager in the Kimberley.

 

 

A/Prof William Majoni
Diabetes and the Renal Patient

A/Prof William Majoni is a Senior Staff Specialist in Nephrology and Internal Medicine and Director of Renal Services for Top End Health Service at the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals in Darwin, Australia. He is also a Clinical Fellow with the Menzies School of Health Research and A/Prof with the Flinders University Northern Territory Medical Program. His research interests include Indigenous health, the epidemiology of renal, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases, access to transplantation and clinical trials to improve the evidence base for treatment of renal, infectious  and cardiovascular disease.

 

 

Prof. Stephen McDonald
ANZDATA

Prof Stephen McDonald is Director of Dialysis at the Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplantation Service, and Executive Officer of the ANZDATA Registry. He chairs the South Australian Renal Community of Practice, and the National Indigenous Kidney Transplant Taskforce.

His research interests centre around the epidemiology of end-stage renal disease. Current areas of focus include: effects of consumer engagement and how Registry data informs clinical practice; Registry based clinical trials; pregnancy among dialysis and transplant patients; and access to and outcomes of kidney transplantation among Aboriginal people.

 

Mr Chris Forbes

CEO - Kidney Health Australia