Meet the Team

Velissa Aplin

Velissa Aplin is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Packages 1 and 3 and the Project Management Committee.

She brings almost 30 years’ experience in the mental health and trauma informed care fields, during which time they have worked in leadership, training, policy, consulting, research and senior clinical roles.  Velissa is currently the Profession Lead for Social Work for Canberra Health Services and the Coordinator of the Variations in Sex Characteristics Psychosocial Service in the ACT.  Velissa has contributed to journal publications in the trauma informed care space. 

Velissa holds degrees of Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and Bachelor of Social Work.

Phil Batterham

Professor Phil Batterham is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1 and the Project Management Committee.

He is a Professor and Co-Head at the Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. He brings to the project extensive experience in implementation science, research design, measurement and mental health. Phil is a research leader in trialing and implementing programs to prevent suicide and mental health problems, detecting mental ill health in the community, and reducing barriers to care.

Phil has won prestigious awards including Rising Star Awards from the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions and Society for Mental Health Research, the Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research, NHMRC Research Excellence Award, and the Paul Bourke Award from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He has published >300 peer-reviewed journal articles related to mental health and received >$48M in competitive research funding as a chief investigator. He completed a PhD at ANU in 2011, a Master’s degree in Public Health (biostatistics, 2003, UCLA) and a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Psychology (UNSW, 1997).

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn, ORCID, and Bluesky.

Adam Bourne

Professor Adam Bourne is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 2. He plays a key role in leading the survey of health and wellbeing among people with innate variations of sex characteristics.

They bring more than 15 years’ experience in health and wellbeing research among marginalised populations with a particular focus on LGBTIQ+ communities. Adam’s research has had wide-reaching impact on health policy, strategy and service provision all across Australia, and in other parts of the world – particularly in relation to suicidality or mental health, alcohol and other drug use, and family violence among LGBTIQ+ communities.

They are currently Director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University and oversees a Centre of nearly 50 staff and 20 HDR students who work focusses on health equity, inclusion and human rights. Professor Bourne is Co-Chair of the Victorian LGBTIQ+ Whole of Government Ministerial Taskforce and served on the LGBTIQ+ Health and Wellbeing 10-year Action Plan Expert Advisory Group. He hold a BSc (Hons) and PhD in health psychology.

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn.

Annette Brömdal

Associate Professor Annette Brömdal is a Chief Investigator contributing to Interconnect’s Work Package 1.

Annette is an Associate Professor in Sport, Health and Physical Education at UniSQ. Prior to this, Annette worked at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (now UN WOMEN) and coordinated projects and initiatives preventing trafficking in women in Thailand by addressing normative dimensions of demand.

Annette’s health promotion and rights research focuses on bodies, gender, and sexuality through co-designing and working in partnerships with LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy community stakeholders. As an internationally recognised expert, their research contributes to an important evidence-base utilised by multi-stakeholders to alleviate injustices for diverse LGBTQIA+ communities across societal settings.

They have been invited to deliver transgender affirming PDs to international staff caring for transgender persons in prison, provided policy directives to the VIC and the NT Departments of Corrections on transgender incarcerated persons, are currently an Editor for the International Journal of Transgender Health, and have had their work cited by the UN report “Mapping of Good Practices for the Management of Transgender Prisoners” (2020) and the recent Word Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care (2022).

Annette’s publications include articles in scholarly journals such as the International Journal of Transgender Health and Intersex – A Challenge for Human Rights and Citizenship Rights (2008 VDM Verlag).

Annette has a Master of Social Sciences from Södertörn University, and a PhD from Monash University.

Connect with Annette on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Morgan Carpenter

Associate Professor Morgan Carpenter is the Chief Investigator – A for the Interconnect Health Research Project, providing lived experience expertise across the Work Packages, and acting as Chair of Work Package 3.

Morgan is an Associate Professor at Sydney Health Ethics, in the University of Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health. He is an internationally recognised expert on human rights and ethics in relation to the treatment of people with innate variations of sex characteristics (also known as intersex variations or differences of sex development). His work focuses on medicine, health policy and social policy.

Morgan is also the Executive Director of InterAction for Health and Human Rights, a charity that promotes the health and human rights of people with innate variations of sex characteristics through advocacy and psychosocial support services. He is also an inaugural member of the Australian Capital Territory’s new Restricted Medical Treatment Assessment Board, and the New South Wales government’s LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council.

Morgan has been contracted to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Australian Capital Territory government and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. He is a reference or advisory group member for the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, Australian Bureau of Statistics and New South Wales Health.

Connect with Morgan on LinkedIn, ORCID, and BlueSky.

Bridget Haire

Associate Professor Bridget Haire is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to WP 2 (the population survey work package) and as deputy chair of WP 3 (the bioethics work package).

Bridget is an empirical bioethicist with over a decade’s experience in conducting participatory research on sex, sexuality and gender issues in collaboration with community partners. She lectures in public health ethics at UNSW Sydney, and is an associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute. She has an extensive professional background in the HIV community sector an advocate, journalist and policy analyst, and was the President of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations from 2015-18.

Bridget has authored more than 115 peer reviewed publications and 10 book chapters. She regularly writes for The Conversation

Bridget holds a Master of Bioethics (hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney.

Connect with Bridget on LinkedIn, ORCID, or Research Gate.

Bonnie Hart

Bonnie Hart is a member of Interconnect Health Research’s Project Management Committee, contributes across the project’s Work Packages and governance committees, and is the Lived Experience Lead and Chair of Work Package 1.  

Bonnie is a Research Fellow (Intersex Psychosocial Models of Care) with the University of Southern Queensland, where she is also a PhD candidate. She has published 6 articles and 1 book, primarily on the lived experiences and healthcare and mental health needs of people with innate variations of sex characteristics.

Bonnie is the founding Service Manager of InterLink, the intersex psychosocial support service and is the Deputy Executive Director of InterAction for Health & Human Rights. She is a nationally recognised intersex content expert with 17 years working with the intersex community members as an intersex peer worker, systemic advocate, consultant and mental health worker. Bonnie was an organising signatory of the 2017 Darlington Statement of intersex community consensus and founder of the YellowTick intersex education and inclusion initiative.

Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn and Orcid.

Aileen Kennedy

Dr Aileen Kennedy is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 3 and the Project Management Committee.

Aileen is a leading national and international scholar on law relating to sex and gender, with a specific focus on research and advocacy on intersex human rights law. She joined the UTS Law Health Justice Research Centre in April 2023 as a Chancellor’s Research Fellow. The focus of Aileen’s current research is to provide an analysis of Australian law as it impacts on the intersex population and develop a comprehensive suite of law reform proposals to promote the human rights of people with innate variations of sex characteristics (IVSC).

Following a Bachelor of Arts/Law (Honours) at Macquarie University (1989) and a Master of Law at the University of Sydney (2006), Aileen completed her PhD at UTS (2021). Her thesis considered the impact of neurological theories of binary gender on judicial decision-making for transgender and intersex minors in Australia. Previously, she has worked in the legal profession and held academic roles at University of New England, University of Western Sydney, UNSW Sydney and Macquarie University.

Aileen is the author of Law, Gender Identity, and the Brain (2024) published by Routledge Press.

Connect with Aileen on LinkedIn and Orcid.

Ashleigh Lin

Professor Ashleigh Lin is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, the Deputy Chair of Work Package 2, and a member of the Project Management Committee.

Ashleigh is a youth mental health researcher conducting research on the mental health and wellbeing of marginalised young people. She is a Principal Senior Research Fellow at the School of Population and Global Health at The University of Western Australia, and an NHMRC Investigator Fellow. Ashleigh has previously held NHMRC Early Career and Career Development Fellowships.

In 2024, Ashleigh was awarded the UWA Vice Challenor’s Mid-Career Research Award. In 2023, she was awarded the Minister’s Award at the West Australian Mental Health Awards, which recognises someone who has displayed best practice at every level in the mental health sector and proven to hold an all-round skill set to benefit the outcomes of people living with mental health challenges in the community.

Ashleigh has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has written 3 book chapters. She holds a BSc (Psychology) with Honours (2024) and Masters of Clinical Neuropsychology and PhD (2011) from the University of Melbourne.

Connect with Ashleigh on Orcid and Google Scholar.

Ainsley Newson

Professor Ainsley Newson (she/her) is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 3 and the Project Management Committee.

Ainsley is Professor of Bioethics at Sydney Health Ethics, The University of Sydney. She is an internationally recognised expert in the ethical aspects of genomics and human reproduction.

An elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (2023), Ainsley has received numerous awards including the Mito Foundation Award for Excellence in Research (2019). She is currently a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee for the NHMRC, the Gene Technology Ethics and Community Consultative Committee for the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, and an elected Board member for the International Association of Bioethics (IAB). Ainsley also serves on multiple other advisory bodies including the NSW Health Ethics Advisory Panel.  

Ainsley’s work focuses on the appropriate implementation of genomic technologies in health. She has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications and given more than 120 invited presentations internationally.

Ainsley holds a PhD in Bioethics, Bachelor of Laws (Hons), and Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Human Genetics from the University of Melbourne. Ainsley is endosex.

Connect with Ainsley on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Ingrid Rowlands

Dr Ingrid Rowlands contributes to the Interconnect Health project as a Lived Experience Lead, Chief Investigator, and Chair of Work Package 2.

She is currently a Senior Research Officer at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Queensland’s School of Public Health.

Ingrid has over 15 years’ experience in the management and analysis of complex data from large-scale cohort and case-control studies. Her research primarily focuses on women’s reproductive health across the life course, with expertise in the psychosocial aspects of adverse health conditions including miscarriage, infertility, endometriosis, and gynaecological cancer.

Ingrid has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Queensland, with her doctoral work examined women’s adjustment to miscarriage using data from more than 14,000 young women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health.

Connect with Ingrid on Orcid.

Prakash Poudel

Dr Prakash Poudel is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1.

He bring more than eight years’ experience in health services research, during which time he also led a doctoral project engaging with diabetes care providers and patients in Australia that have informed development a new model of oral health care in diabetes. He has been part of several successful research grants and has also published 20+ papers peer reviewed journals with high impact factor.  Dr Poudel is currently the Research Manager in Canberra Health Services, and also holds an Adjunct Fellow position with Western Sydney University. In 2019, he received the prestigious Western Sydney University Excellence in University Engagement and Sustainability award. He holds PhD from Western Sydney University and MPH from the University of Sydney. His research interests are on improving health care services, targeting priority populations.

Connect with Prakash on LinkedIn.

Alyssa Morse

Dr Alyssa Morse is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1.

Alyssa is an emerging leader in lived experience mental health research. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University (https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/alyssa-morse). Previously, Alyssa held a Suicide Prevention Australia Post-Doctoral Fellowship. She led the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) arm of a co-created evaluation of Safe Haven suicide prevention services, working in partnership with the SWSLHD Towards Zero Suicides Initiative team. Alyssa’s research focuses on three main areas: (1) improving lived experience involvement in health policy, services and research, (2) prevention and promotion in youth mental health, and (3) mental health service evaluation.

Alyssa is a co-author of “This is doin’ My Head in’: The Ethics of Psychological Research” a chapter in the recently published Routledge Handbook of Human Research Ethics and Integrity in Australia (Edited by Bruce M. Smyth, Michael A. Martin, and Mandy Downing, 2024, Routledge International Handbooks).

Alyssa holds a PhD from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU.

Connect with Alyssa via ORCID.

Penelope Strauss

Dr Penelope Strauss is a Chief Investigator contributing to Work Package 2.

Penelope is currently a Research Fellow in Youth Suicide Prevention at The Kids Research Institute Australia, and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the School of Population and Global Health, Population and Public Health at the University of Western Australia. She recently led the Trans Pathways project, which is the largest study conducted on the mental health of trans and gender diverse young people in Australia. Her current research aims to decrease rates of suicidality among high risk groups of young people in Australia with a current focus on LGBTQA+ young people and homeless young people.

Penelope holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Western Australia and a PhD.

Connect with Penelope on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Martin Holt

Professor Martin Holt is a Chief Investigator in the Interconnect Health Project, contributing to survey design and qualitative research in WP 2.

He has over 20 years’ experience conducting mixed methods research with marginalised populations. His primary areas of research are HIV prevention and sexual health. He is a Professor in the Centre for Social Research in Health, and the Associate Dean, Research Quality and Culture, in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, UNSW Sydney. He is the author of over 190 journal articles and over 110 reports for community organisations and governments. He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Birmingham, UK.

You can connect with Martin on Bluesky.

Julie Mooney-Somers

Associate Professor Julie Mooney-Somers is a Chief Investigator contributing to Work Package 2.

Julie is an Associate Professor in Qualitative Research in Health at Sydney Health Ethics (School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney), and a visiting fellow at the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (University of Wollongong).

Julie uses her academic resources to understand and advance the health of socially disadvantaged people and communities. Engagement with LGBTIQ and First Nation peoples profoundly shaped her approach to academia. She is committed to working ethically with communities to undertake meaningful research that produces knowledge for advocacy, health promotion, and service design and delivery.

Connect with Julie on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Elissa Jacobs

Elissa Jacobs is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1. 

Elissa has practiced as a clinical psychologist for the last 24 years, working primarily in public health settings specialising in working with children who have chronic conditions and their families.  She is currently acting as the Director of Allied Health for Women, Youth and Children within Canberra Health Services (CHS) .  A key achievement in this role was establishing the Variation in Sex Characteristics Psychosocial Service in 2024.  Elissa continues to oversee this service and support the implementation of this significant ACT Government health reform designed to improve care for young people with variations in sex characteristics.  Prior to this position, Elissa was Manager of the Psychology Department at The Canberra Hospital, CHS.   A feature of her leadership during this period was embedding the integration of psychological, social and physical care within services such as Paediatrics.  She continues to provide psychological services to children and adolescents at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.

Elissa holds a Master in Clinical Psychology from the Australian National University.

Gwen Smith

Gwen Smith is a member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.

She also works as a peer navigator at Interlink, where she co-facilitate support groups and provide guidance to individuals navigating complex personal and social challenges. Gwen has been an active peer worker for many years, and has a strong background in community support including as a state representative for Intersex Peer Support Australia (IPSA). 

Previously, Gwen served on the IPSA board contributing to national peer support initiatives and advocacy efforts. Her work is informed by both peer support training and lived experience with innate variations in sex characteristics, fostering inclusive, affirming spaces for diverse communities.

Currently, Gwen is furthering her past counseling qualifications by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and counseling, aiming to register as a counselor by the end of 2025. Gwen has a special interest in group therapy and is part of a psychodrama training group and other body-based therapeutic modalities.

Beyond her professional and academic commitments, Gwen practices yoga and beach tennis. Dedicated to fostering selfcare and professional development, she continues to explore innovative therapeutic approaches that integrate psychology, embodiment, and peer support.

Cynthia Kraus

Dr Cynthia Kraus is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Cynthia is a philosopher, lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and an Ewha Global Fellow at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

Her main areas of research are: gender studies; social studies of the body and sexuality; social studies of science and medicine. She works from an interdisciplinary perspective on the dynamics between laboratory research and clinical practice, professional and lay expertise, knowledge production and political action.

Cynthia holds a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Lausanne.

Connect with Cynthia on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Agli Zavros-Orr

Dr Agli Zavros-Orr is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Agli is a teacher educator, academic and advocate for diversity and inclusion in schooling contexts. They are currently an Education Lecturer in the Institute of Education, Arts and Community at Federation University, the Founder and Director of Diversitywise Educational Services, and serve on the Victorian Government Intersex Advisory Group (IEAG),

One area that has become a focus of their advocacy, activism and research is the promotion of education and awareness about variations in sex characteristics. An important aspect of this is promoting the acquisition of accurate and un-biased language to know about and talk about diverse bodies (their sex, gender and sexuality). In 2023 Agli led the drafting of a Senate submission on the national trend of school refusal and related matters, highlighting the needs and challenges faced by children born with a variation in sex characteristics.

Agli holds PhD from the University of Queensland, with their thesis taking a mixed methods approach to explore teacher efficacy beliefs and the ethic of care.

Connect with Agli on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Brian Earp

Associate Professor Brian Earp is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

He is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Ethics within the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and an Associate Professor of Philosophy and of Psychology at NUS by courtesy. Also a Research Associate of the Uehiro Oxford Institute of the University of Oxford, Brian directs the Oxford-NUS Centre for Neuroethics and Society and is Associate Director of the Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy at Yale University and The Hastings Center. In 2022, Brian was elected to the UK Young Academy under the auspices of the British Academy and the Royal Society.

Brian is especially known for working on philosophical and ethical questions relating to the human rights to bodily integrity and to bodily autonomy, and how these intersect with questions of sex, gender, identity, and children’s rights. Brian leads an informal network of international scholars known as the Brussels Collaboration on Bodily Integrity that has published on the rights of persons with intersex variations to be protected from medically unnecessary, non-voluntary alterations of their bodies. 

Brian’s work is cross-disciplinary, following training in philosophy, cognitive science, experimental psychology, history and sociology of science and medicine, and ethics. A co-recipient of the Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Brian was also one of four named finalists for the 2020 John Maddox Prize for “standing up for science” (awarded by Nature). Brian is also recipient of both the Robert G. Crowder Prize in Psychology and the Ledyard Cogswell Award for Citizenship from Yale University, where, as an undergraduate, Brian was elected President of the Yale Philosophy Society and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Philosophy Review. 

Brian then conducted graduate research in psychological methods as a Henry Fellow of New College at the University of Oxford, followed by a degree in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, technology, and medicine as a Cambridge Trust Scholar and Rausing Award recipient at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. After spending a year in residence as the inaugural Presidential Scholar in Bioethics at The Hastings Center in Garrison, New York, Brian was appointed Benjamin Franklin Resident Graduate Fellow while completing a dual Ph.D. in philosophy and psychology at Yale University. Brian’s essays have been translated into Polish, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hebrew.

Stephen Stathis

Professor Stephen Stathis MBBS, FRANZCP, Cert. Child Adol. Psych, DTM&H, MSc is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Stephen obtained a dual fellowship in paediatrics and psychiatry, with certificates in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. He is the Medical Director of Child and Youth Mental Health Services, Children’s Health Queensland and acts as the Clinical Advisor for child and youth mental health at the Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Branch. 

Stephen has extensive experience working among vulnerable and marginalised young people within the community. His clinical interests include ‘bridging the gap’ between paediatrics and psychiatry, gender dysphoria, and mental health policy and strategic planning. He has worked for 20 years with intersex children, adolescents and their families.

Y. Gávriel Ansara

Dr Y. Gávriel (Gávi) Ansara is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Gávi (He/him) is a polycultural man living and working on unceded Wurundjeri Country in the Kulin Nations. He works as a Registered Clinical Psychotherapist and Accredited Clinical Supervisor who completed advanced training in Supervision in the Family Violence sector. He specialises in anti-oppressive, anti-racist, trans-affirming intersectionally feminist, trauma-and-violence-informed approaches to working solo and with two or more people, including relationship constellations, kinship groups, and communities. He is recognised by Pink Therapy as an Advanced Accredited Gender, Sexuality, Sex Characteristics, and Relationship Diversities Therapist (AAGSRDT). He is also founding director and a learning facilitator of courses, workshops, and groups with the Centre for Liberating Practices, a global virtual hub for people around the world seeking non-violent, non-coercive, and creative ways to challenge oppressions and cultivate thriving communities.

Gávi has over a decade of commitment within intersex communities. He testified at the Australian Senate Committee hearing on the involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people, led intersex rights initiatives on multiple continents, served as a contributing authors for the Yellow Tick mental health training, conducted intersex-affirming health practitioner training and intersex community workshops, and published several peer-reviewed publications on intersex-affirming practice– including an open access book chapter with practitioner guidelines for intersex-centred sex therapy and relationship counselling with adults who have innate variations of sex characteristics. His relationship constellation and kinship work centre racialised and colonially equity-denied communities and cultural traditions, as well as polyamorous, multi-partner, queer, queerplatonic, neurodivergent, fursona-based, Otherkin/Therian, and D/s kinships. He has specialisations in B/I/POC-centred ecotherapy, polycultural creative arts approaches, grief and loss,  solo/intergenerational/community lived experiences of traumatising violence, supporting forcibly displaced people seeking asylum, and anti-oppressive group facilitation.

Gávi is recognised globally for research, lecturing, health policy work, and involvement in international human rights and social justice efforts. He has received various scholarships and awards, including being the 2012 recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 Transgender Research Award for his original and significant research contributions to the field.

Gávi holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Surrey. His detailed societal positioning reflection on his lived experiences of marginalisation, privilege, and affinity is available here.

Connect with Gávi on LinkedIn and ORCID. 

Phoebe Hart

Associate Professor Phoebe Hart is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Phoebe is an accomplished Australian filmmaker, academic, and intersex rights activist. She serves as an Associate Professor in Film and Screen at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). In addition to her academic role, Phoebe is the principal of Hartflicker, a Brisbane-based video and film production company.

Phoebe’s notable work includes the autobiographical documentary “Orchids: My Intersex Adventure,” which explores her personal journey and has garnered critical acclaim. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on creative practice, diversity on and off screen, and screen education, aiming to challenge and transform representations of marginalised groups.

Throughout her career, Phoebe has received several accolades, including the ATOM Award for Best Documentary and the Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Documentary. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Business from QUT, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice.

Phoebe’s contributions to both the film industry and academia have established her as a leading figure in advocating for diversity and inclusion through storytelling and education.

Connect with Phoebe on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Paul Byrne-Moroney

Paul Byrne-Moroney is a Member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.  

They bring more than 18 years’ experience as an advocate, spokesperson and peer support representative for the intersex community. Paul has led support groups, addressed government agencies, and spoken at conferences about intersex generally, and his lived experience as an intersex male. Since 2006 Paul has held State and Federal Government Policy and Program Officer positions within Aboriginal Affairs, Community Development and Health-based Departments.

Paul is currently a Board Director at InterAction Health and Human Rights, a Victorian Peer Support Representative for Intersex Peer Support Australia, sits on several government and organisational community reference groups, and is the creator, producer and co-host of the only known intersex radio show, The I in Us, on JOY94.9.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Health Science from La Trobe University. Paul majored in Public Health and his honours thesis investigated Public Health strategies targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians. Paul was inducted into the International Golden Key Honour Society and initiated and co-founded the University’s Public Health Students’ Association (PHSA), serving as its founding President. The PHSA remains active today.

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

Alison Calear

Professor Alison Calear is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1 as Deputy Chair.

She brings more than 20 years’ experience in youth mental health, eHealth and the prevention and early intervention of anxiety, depression, suicide and self-harm. Alison  is currently the Co-Head of the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University (https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/alison-calear), and oversees the Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit. Alison is also a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Black Dog Institute (University of New South Wales) and currently holds an NHMRC Emerging Leadership II Fellowship. 

Alison is author of 228 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters. She regularly contributes to policy briefs as a member of Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank and the Wellbeing and Prevention Coalition in Mental Health.

Alison holds a PhD in Psychology from the Australian National University.

Connect with Alison on LinkedIn, ORCiD, and Bluesky.

James Fowler

Dr James Fowler (he/they) is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow within the Interconnect Health Research Project and based at The University of Southern Queensland. James contributes to Work Package 1 including the evaluation of the InterLink Program.

James’ background is in the design and evaluation of mental health support programs and building affirming and inclusive models of care. This includes their PhD, which explored the acceptability and efficacy of digital, self-guided mental health programs for LGBTQ+ people in Australia. James holds a simultaneous appointment at The University of Queensland, Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, where they coordinate the ‘Blak and Proud’ study. Beyond this, James is involved in a range of projects focused on healthcare access and utilisation, primarily within LGBTQ+ communities and using mixed-method designs.

James currently serves on the Queensland Government’s LGBTQIA+ roundtable and previously was a Youth Advisor for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. In acknowledgement of James’ contributions to diversity and inclusion, James was nominated for two ‘Queens Ball’ awards in 2023 and won The University of Queensland’s ‘Ally Award’ in 2022.

James holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours I) from The University of Queensland and will complete his PhD in 2025. James is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Michelle McGrath

Michelle McGrath is a member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.

She holds positions in the WA LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Strategy Reference Group and was the President of Intersex Peer Support Australia between 2023 – 2024. Michelle is a Co-Chair of InterAction for Health and Human Rights and is a current WA peer support representative for Intersex Peer Support Australia (IPSA). She was part of the InterLink+ Resources Co-design Working Group and the Victorian Intersex Health and Wellbeing Centre Co-Design Project, both in 2024. 

Michelle is passionate about ensuring that all intersex people and their families are given the best psychosocial support that is available.

Katrina Roen

Professor Katrina Roen (she/they) is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Katrina is a professor within Psychological and Social Sciences at the University of Waikato (Aotearoa New Zealand). Katrina takes a queer, feminist and critical psychology approach to intersex research. They have carried out research in the UK and Scandinavia (the SENS project), seeking to build psychosocial understandings into healthcare for people with variations in sex characteristics. Katrina is a founding member of Psychosocial Studies Intersex – International (PSI-I).

Since returning to Aotearoa New Zealand, Katrina has turned their attention to the construction of intersex in settler colonial contexts. Katrina’s newly-funded project involves running workshops with government and healthcare officials to investigate the lack of substantive response to UN recommendations regarding the human rights of intersex people in Aotearoa New Zealand. This project is intended to be transformative, mapping out a pathway to healthcare changes and identifying strategically positioned change agents.

Katrina’s other research has addressed topics such as queer youth self-harm, trans embodiment and digital affect.

Katrina also enjoys ocean swimming and yoga.

Amy Mullens

Professor Amy Mullens (she/her) is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 1, and providing clinical and health psychology perspectives across work packages.  

She brings more than 25+ years’ experience in clinical and health psychology (AHPRA-registered since 2001), during which time she has led/co-led collaborative community/industry-based research in Health Equity, including over $8.6 million in externally funded projects (e.g., Medical Research Futures Fund, Dept of Health, Gilead Sciences, Sexual Health Research Fund, Emergency Medicine Foundation) including in the areas of HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Chronic Conditions, and Gender and Sexuality.  Amy is a Professor within the School of Psychology and Wellbeing at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and leads the ‘Health Equity’ Research Theme within the UniSQ Centre for Health Research. 

Amy currently serves as President of the Sexual Health Society of Queensland and Co-Chair of the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance. Her published research has attracted 1775+ citations to date (h index =23, i10 index = 39) as of 14.02.25 (Google Scholar) and received a Diversity & Inclusion award from Women in Technology in 2022.  

Connect with Amy on Google Scholar, LinkedIn, and ORCID.

Peter Hegarty

Professor Peter Hegarty is a Member of the Interconnect Project Advisory Board.

Peter brings more than 25 years’ of academic experience to the Interconnect Project Advisory Board. He became the first elected chair of the British Psychological Society’s Psychology of Sexualities Section in 2004 and received the Society’s 2018 award for Promoting Equality of Opportunity. He was Head of School (2012-2015) and Director of the Social Psychology Research Group at the University of Surrey (2016-2020), before moving to the Open University to co-direct its Open Psychology Research Centre (2020-2024).

Now Professor of Psychology at the Open University, he previously taught at the University of Michigan, Yale University, and the City University of New York, and was the 2017-18 Suzanne Tassier Chair of Gender and Human Rights at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.   One of the first of Peter’s 100+ peer reviewed research articles, co-authored with Cheryl Chase in 2000, examined the intersection of psychology and intersex activism. With the SENS research collective he has examined clinical reasoning about medical necessity within VSC healthcare. He directed the grant Intersex UK: A History for the Age of Consensus funded by The Wellcome Trust (2015-2020), including co-organizing the 2016 conference Intersex After Human Rights. He coordinates the professional network PSI-I: Psychosocial Intersex International, works with the UK charity Interconnected, and is a member of the American Psychological Association Task Force on DSD. Peter has also written two sole-authored and one co-authored book on the history of psychology.

Connect with Peter on LinkedIn and Google Scholar.

Christy E. Newman

Professor Christy E. Newman (they/them) is a Chief Investigator with the Interconnect Health Research Project, contributing to Work Package 2.

Christy is a Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Health, and Deputy Dean Research for the faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture at UNSW Sydney. They are a qualitative sociologist with more than two decades of experience in collaborative, community-partnered social research on health, with a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health, and inclusive approaches to health system reform.

Christy is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Gender, Health and Rights (2^nd ed), the Elgar Encyclopedia of Queer Studies, and Social Perspectives on Trans Health, in addition to more than 150 other peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Christy has a PhD in interdisciplinary studies in health, sexuality, and culture from UNSW and a BA(Hons) in communication and cultural studies from Murdoch University, where they were awarded a University Medal in Arts. They were also awarded the Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2010, and the Mid-Career Interdisciplinary Achiever Award from the Australasian Sexual Health Alliance in 2017.

Connect with Christy on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Katie Gabriel

Katie Gabriel is the Project Coordinator supporting the Interconnect Health Research Project.

Katie has more than 10 years’ experience supporting public engagement programs and community-engaged research in the social justice and public policy spaces. She is passionate about applying her extensive administrative, project management and operational management skills to support projects that make life better for underserved communities

She previously served as Executive Officer at the Sydney Peace Foundation and Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney, and was the Institute Coordinator at the NSW Public Policy Institute (now Australian Public Policy Institute) during its establishment period.

Katie has a Bachelors of Arts, with double majors in Politics/International Relations and Social Justice from the University of Notre Dame Australia.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.

Kate Burry

Dr Kate Burry is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow with the Interconnect Health Research project, contributing to Work Packages 2 and 3. She is also an Associate with the Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW.

Kate brings over a decade of experience in sexual, domestic and family violence, human rights, and sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. She has led research on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of sex workers in Luganville, Vanuatu; barriers to sexual and reproductive health services remote communities in Vanuatu; and reproductive abuse and coercion in New Zealand and Australia. Kate’s PhD explored reproductive (in)justice in the Pacific islands and included an empirical study on Cook Islands women’s experiences accessing abortion from their legally restricted context.

Kate has published in bioethics, health and social work journals, and in a book on sexual and reproductive justice.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Development Studies from Victoria University of Wellington, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine from the University of New South Wales.   

Connect with Kate on LinkedIn and ORCID.

Vik Fraser

Dr Vik Fraser is a Member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.

Vik is currently the Executive Director of A Gender Agenda, a Consumer Director with the Capital Health Network, and has had a working life that has spanned education, research and government sectors.

They have been an advocate for LGBTIQ+ rights since they were 17 years old, and are passionate about the social determinants of health and the role that human rights has in building good health care. The intersections they experience in their own life, including as a queer person with a hidden disability, drive Vik’s understanding of some of the complexities of health access and health needs across the community.

Vik holds a PhD in Education from Western Sydney University.

Connect with Vik on LinkedIn.

Simone-lisa Anderson

Simone-lisa Anderson is a Member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.

She is the Project Lead and Coordinator of Better Lives – a Tasmanian project creating better lifelong outcomes in both education and health through professional development, for people with IVSC. Through the Better Lives Project, Simone-lisa has found herself consulting with government bodies around Australia; holding a visiting lecturer position with the University of Tasmania; co-designing and reviewing resources for national organisations; presenting at numerous conferences both intra and interstate; and leading a team to create national first patient/student resources for people with IVSC.

Simone-lisa holds additional positions, including as a founding board member for the Restriction of Medical Treatments Act in the ACT under 4 categories, a co-investigator of Interlink, a co-designer of the Victorian Intersex Health and Wellbeing Project, the Tasmanian and Parent Representative for IPSA, and a member of the Tasmanian Whole of Government, Department of Health and Department of Justice LGBTIQA+ reference groups, where she has driven considerable amount of change, including: a clinical definition of IVSC, legislative, policy, procedure and protocol change in most government departments; as well as policy for employees with IVSC.

Simone-lisa has written Primary Health Pathways for GP’s and works closely with the Tasmanian Secretary of Health to support better outcomes for people with IVSC.

Connect with Simone-lisa on LinkedIn.

Cody Smith

Cody Smith is a Member of the Interconnect Community Reference Group.

Cody has been a Canberra based intersex educator and activist for more than a decade, starting off in grassroots community education. They have been involved in building organisational capacity, policy development, running peer support programs, as well as developing resources and training from a lived experience perspective. With a background in science communication and in library and information services, Cody brings a bright and sincere voice to the space and believes that visibility and conversation are the right way forward to improving the circumstances of people with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia.

They were previously a Peer Worker with A Gender Agenda, and a Senior Project Officer at Intersex Human Rights Australia (now InterAction for Health and Human Rights).