2022 Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting - 3 May

Dr Caroline West is a GP and Medical Advisor for NPS Medicine Wise. As a GP she has worked in both city and rural / remote locations. Caroline is the past President of the Australasian Society for Lifestyle medicine and she has expertise in her interest areas of preventative medicine, exercise, nutrition, sleep, performance, the Quality Use of Medicines and technologies and mental health. Dr Caroline is also well known as a medical journalist and broadcaster. She has been the host/ reporter on programs including Ask the Doctor, Catalyst, Beyond 2000, Beyond Tomorrow, Good Medicine, Guide to the Good Life and 60 minutes. As a health commentator , Caroline regularly appears on a variety of TV programs including The Drum and The Project and is a regular on radio, podcasts and in print.

Dr. Wendy Levinson is a Professor of Medicine and Past Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is an expert in the field of physician-patient communication, studying topics including the disclosure of medical errors to patients and informed decision making. She is the Chair of Choosing Wisely Canada, a campaign to help physicians and patients engage in conversations about unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures. She also coordinates Choosing Wisely International, a collaborative of the Choosing Wisely campaigns in over 30 countries worldwide. In 2014, Dr. Levinson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for her work.

Dr Arnagretta Hunter is a physician, cardiologist and the Human Futures Fellow, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University. She has practiced medicine in major cities and regional centres with patient‐centred focus. She has a broad interest in public policy across Australia and internationally. She is a member of the ANU Institute for Climate Disaster and Energy Solutions and is chair of the Commission for the Human Future. She is a cohost of Policy Forum Podcast for the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. Her research work is diverse and centres around human health and wellbeing, the relationship between health an the environment, and the challenge of climate change. She is a Bob and June Prickett Churchill Fellow for 2019 examining narrative medicine. She is based on Ngunnawal land in Canberra.

Denise O’Connor is Associate Professor and Co-Deputy Director of the Monash-Cabrini Department of Musculoskeletal Health and Clinical Epidemiology, in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University and Cabrini Health. She is Director of the Australasian Satellite of Cochrane Collaboration Effective Practice and Organisation of Care, which publishes reviews of interventions to improve health care delivery and systems. She is also Editor with Cochrane Musculoskeletal, which publishes reviews of interventions for the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. She is lead investigator of Wiser Healthcare, a research collaboration of over 100 researchers across four Australian universities aimed at reducing overdiagnosis, overtesting and overtreatment. She also leads the Australian node of the Audit and Feedback MetaLab, an international research collaboration that aims to improve healthcare outcomes by optimising performance feedback. Denise is an implementation scientist and health services researcher and her work explores the causes of, and the design and evaluation of solutions to address, research translation problems. This includes reducing low-value care and improving uptake of effective and efficient models of healthcare service delivery. She uses quantitative methods such as randomised trials, evidence syntheses and qualitative methods. A/Prof O’Connor has received over $17 million in competitive research funding in the last 5 FTE years and has over 100 publications.

Rachelle Buchbinder combines rheumatology practice with clinical research. She is an NHMRC Investigator Fellow, Director of the Monash-Cabrini Department Musculoskeletal Health and Clinical Epidemiology at Cabrini Health, and a Professor in the Monash University Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. She is known internationally as a vocal proponent of evidence-based medicine and for her landmark studies, particularly those examining treatments accepted into practice before their proper evaluation. Her book, 'Hippocrasy, how doctors are betraying their oath', written with Prof Ian Harris (a Sydney-based orthopaedic surgeon) and with support from a Rockefeller Foundation writing fellowship at the Bellagio Center in Italy, was published at the end of 2021.

Professor Anne Duggan is the Chief Medical Officer at the Commission, providing expert clinical advice for the wide range of programs managed by the organisation.

Professor Duggan is a highly respected gastroenterologist with significant operating and leadership experience in a range of healthcare settings. She is also Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle.

Professor Duggan is passionate about improving healthcare services through sharing knowledge and collaborating across all aspects of the health system. She leads the development of the Commission's Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation series.

As Chief Medical Officer, Professor Duggan has a significant role in identifying potential synergies, partnerships and opportunities across the Australian health sector in collaboration with all health sector stakeholders, and providing leadership and education around the latest evidence on safety and quality in health care.

As of September 2021 Anne is Chair of the new Australian Government Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Advisory Committee (MRAC).

As of November 2021 Anne is a member of the Expert Panel of Ahpra and Medical Board of Australia Review of the Regulation of Health Practitioners in Cosmetic Surgery

Debra is passionate about improving health equity & literacy, safety & quality use of medicine, and empowering other consumers to be active in their health care to support shared decision making.

Currently she is a community/consumer member of the Pharmacy Registration Board of Western Australia, Choosing Wisely Advisory Group, NPS Medicine Wise Consumer Advisory Group and Co-Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Consumer Advisory Group.