Council

Louise Conwell

President

Louise Conwell is a Senior Staff Specialist (Eminent) in Paediatric Endocrinology at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane (Children’s Health Queensland) and Associate Professor, Head of Children’s Health Queensland Clinical Unit, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland.

Louise is a graduate of the University of Queensland and trained in paediatrics at the Mater Children’s Hospital, Brisbane. She then trained in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane while completing a PhD at the University of Queensland. She undertook a post-specialty Clinical Fellowship at the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education (University of Dundee, Scotland).Louise has expertise in Congenital Hyperinsulinism and other beta-cell disorders including Type 1 and Monogenic Diabetes. Her other clinical interest areas include Disorders of Sexual Differentiation and endocrine oncology. She is a supervisor of basic and advanced paediatric trainees of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Other roles include Supervisor, Reader and Examiner for Postgraduate Higher Degree Research students of the University of Queensland and other academic institutions in Australia.

Louise has served on the APEG Diabetes, Scientific Organising, Differences of Sexual Development and Research Grant Subcommittees. Louise was a convenor of the APEG Fellows Meeting from 2008-2011 and chaired the APEG Research Grant Subcommittee 2020-2021. Louise has served on Council since 2017, is the outgoing Secretary and currently a member of the DSD/CAH, Registry, Research Grants and Thyroid Subcommittees.A/Prof Conwell is co-chair of the Intersociety Clinical Guidelines Committee of the International Consortium of Paediatric Endocrinology and co-chair of the Centres of Excellence / Care Guidelines Care Stream of the Collaborative Research Network, Congenital Hyperinsulinism. She has engagement with stakeholder groups, particularly Congenital Hyperinsulinism International.Louise enjoys reading, travel, photography and playing the violin in the Queensland Medical Orchestra.

Peter Simm

Secretary & President - Elect

Peter Simm is a Paediatric Endocrinologist, who is based at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. He completed his Fellowship at RCH, including a Doctor of Medicine degree in growth plate regulation, and then undertook post-Fellowship training at Children’s Hospital, Westmead, Sydney, in Bone and Mineral medicine under Prof Craig Munns. Since returning to RCH in 2010, he has set up a multidisciplinary bone health clinic at RCH and continues to lead the Bone and Mineral clinical/densitometry service. He is involved in all aspects of Paediatric Endocrine clinical care including diabetes, growth and pubertal disorders. His research is focused on bone health in young people, with particular areas of interest including population bone health studies and the role of body composition/activity, bone health in epilepsy, and outcomes of paediatric bone health care.

In addition to his clinical and research interests, Peter has been chair of the Medical Staff Association at RCH, as well as a former Council member of the Asia Pacific Paediatric Endocrine Society. He has had been a former member of both the APEG grants committee and the Fellows’ school committee, and since 2014 has been the secretary of the APEG Bone and Mineral Working Group.
Away from work, Peter enjoys time with his family, especially outdoor/sporting activities with his sons, as well as music (most genres) and middle-distance running.

Carmel Smart

Treasurer

Dr Carmel Smart is a Specialist Endocrinology Dietician at the John Hunter Children’s Hospital, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. She was awarded a Clinical Research Fellowship by Hunter New England Health and is a conjoint senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle. Carmel has led national and international clinical practice guidelines in the dietary management of diabetes and is the only Australian representative on the International Preschool guidelines in diabetes (2017) and the new Ramadan guidelines for paediatric diabetes. She has served on the Organising Committee for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions and is an author of the ADA Medical Nutrition Therapy Handbook. Her commitment to the translation of research into clinical practice has seen her regularly an invited plenary speaker across Australia and internationally to front-line clinicians. She is an invited member of the expert faculty of the Arabic Society Paediatric Endocrinology Diabetes academy. Carmel’s primary research interests are in the effect of macronutrients on postprandial glycaemia and developing an effective dosing strategy for these. She loves bush walking with her husband and three sons in remote areas with no internet access.

Jenny Harrington

Council Member

Jenny Harrington is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital. She undertook her Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship training in Adelaide, during which her she completed a PhD which focused on the monitoring of vascular health in children at risk for accelerated atherosclerosis. Following this, she completed an additional clinical Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, joining the faculty as a Staff Pediatric Endocrinologist in 2015. Her clinical and research interests include the management of children with disorders of calcium homeostasis and bone fragility, hyperinsulinism as well as quality improvement. She returned to Adelaide in 2021 and is the Clinical Lead in Endocrinology in the Department.

Jenny is a member of the APEG Training Committee, Bone and Mineral Working Group and Grants Committee.

Outside of work Jenny is kept busy keeping up with her young son and spending lots of time in the outdoors.

Tony Huynh

Council Member

Dr Tony Huynh is the Director of Endocrinology & Diabetes at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, Chemical Pathologist at Mater Pathology in Brisbane, and Associate Professor in the School of Clinical Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland. He completed his PhD at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC investigating glucocorticoid receptor signalling in dystrophic muscle. He is co-chair of the APEG Laboratory & Newborn Screening Subcommittee. His interests include neonatal endocrinology, T1D immunity, and laboratory medicine.

Aris Siafarikas

Council Member

Dr Aris Siafarikas is Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist at Perth Children’s Hospital, WA. He holds appointments at the University of Western Australia, the Health Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame, the Exercise Medicine Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, and the Telethon Kids Institute, WA. He completed his specialist training in Berlin, Germany, before coming to Australia. Aris is a founding member and the clinical lead of the Western Australian Bone Research Collaboration (WABRC), which explores bone health and disease over the life span in a cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary environment with academics and clinicians. His current research is focusing on ways to identify children and adolescents at risk of osteoporosis and on the prevention of osteoporosis.

Aris has been a member of the Growth Hormone Advisory Committee and APEG grant committee and also participates in the APEG committee for Child and Adolescent Growth and the APEG Bone and Mineral Working Group.

Shubha Srinivasan

Council Member

Clinical Associate Professor Shubha Srinivasan is a paediatric endocrinologist in The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network. She is co-head of department of the Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Clinical Associate Professor in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health in the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Sydney. Shubha trained in general paediatrics in the UK and in paediatric endocrinology Sydney including her PhD on body composition and insulin resistance in children. Her clinical areas of expertise and research include lipid disorders, DSD and a broad range of Endocrinology and diabetes. She has been an active member and chair of various APEG subcommittees including DSD, training and education and the APEG patient registry. She has also represented APEG on the International iDSD steering committee and  is the Paediatric member on the National Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Registry Board, whose activities include developing and implementing guidelines for multidisciplinary whole of life care for people with FH.

Shubha supervises many of the paediatric endocrine trainees at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and is the APEG member on the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Endocrinology Advanced Training Committee.

Ben Wheeler

Council Member

Dr Ben Wheeler MBCHB, DCH, CCE, FRACP, PhD is a Paediatric Endocrinologist and Associate Professor working with the Southern District Health board and University of Otago. He is current head of child health at the Dunedin School of Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of Otago and did his endocrinology training in New Zealand and also the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney. He provides clinical paediatric endocrinology care spanning the lower half of the South Island of New Zealand. He has special interests in advanced diabetes technology and bone health in children. Current research is primarily focused on closed loop therapy in type 1 diabetes, as well as various applications of continuous glucose monitoring. This research is very collaborative with co-investigators and participants based out of all major (and sometimes not so major) New Zealand sites. In addition to APEG council he is an active council member of APPES, and a past convenor of the APEG fellows school (4 year term). He is also a member of the APEG Bone and Mineral Working Group. Away from work, Ben enjoys time with his family, including a variety of outdoor/sporting activities, travel (when possible!), and reading.