Background

Kate is a sexual health, women’s health, research nurse and midwife. She have worked in various roles and locations throughout Australia. Her key area of interest has been working to address inequities in health care quality and access for marginalised community members.

Kate has worked as sexual health nurse or midwife with first nations Indigenous Australians; the LGBTI community, those living with HIV/AIDS; street workers in the sex industry; youth and now people who have a history of injecting drug use.

She worked with Prof Suzanne Garland to coordinate the first Australian HPV vaccine study in Melbourne – the results of which have seen the rates of HPV related cervical cancer plummet.

She also worked with Professor Martha Hickey to develop and coordinate a huge multi-site, international study into the effects of bilateral oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) in women at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. This surgery forced young women into menopause. This research was vital to provide better understand the long term implications for cardio-metabolic, cognitive, sexual and bone health, and provide women with solid evidence to assist them with the difficult decision making process.

Kate was the Treatments Information Officer at the Queensland AIDS Council in the early 1990s, when the Delta Study first identified that combination therapy was far more effective than mono therapy with AZT. This saw the world of HIV treatment combinations explode as more medications and classes of medication became available – sadly too late for many.

Positions

• Research Nurse – Burnet Institute
• Sexual Health and Research Nurse – Lismore Sexual Health Centre (NSW)
• Clinical Research Manager – Women’s Health After Menopause (WHAM) study; Sexuality - After Breast cancer (SAB) study – Royal Women’s Hospital Obs and Gynae Research Unit (Melbourne)
• Women’s Health Nurse/Midwife – Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Alukura (Alice Springs NT)
• Community Midwife – Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (Melbourne)
• Midwife – Birralee Box Hill Hospital (Melbourne)
• Clinical Trial Coordinator – HPV vaccine FUTURE study (Melbourne)
• Sexual Health Nurse – Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (Melbourne)

Qualifications

• Grad Certificate of Midwifery – Deakin University
• Registered Nurse (hospital training Royal Darwin Hospital NT)

Projects (3)

Current (2)

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  The PharmEC REACH study

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  The QuickStart Study