Opening speaker, Rachael Robertson:Leading on the edge
Rachael led the Australian expedition to Davis Station, Antarctica – the second female to lead a team at the Station and the youngest ever leader. She managed a team of 18 people through the long, dark, Antarctic winter and through trial and error built a resilient and highly successful team based on the foundation that ‘respect trumps harmony’. Since returning Rachael has completed her MBA, written 2 best-selling books, Leading on the Edge and Respect Trumps Harmony, and has presented at over 1500 events around the world.
Closing speaker, Kemi Nekvapil:Stepping into your worth and owning your voice
Kemi is one of Australia’s leading credentialed coaches for female executives and entrepreneurs, an author and a highly sought-after international speaker. Kemi will share transformative stories and coaching processes to give you tools to step into your worth, empower your leadership and own your voice. Imposter syndrome is often seen as a negative affliction, and although it can be harmful, we can harness this inner voice to our benefit. Only when we see ourselves as worthy will we have the courage to ask for what we need and want in all areas of our lives.
CLINICAL STREAM
Dr Brooke Harcourt: Childhood obesity: Less is not more and more is not less
When is the right time to talk about weight with children? In this presentation, Dr Brooke Harcourt will delve into the evidence-based strategies for managing childhood obesity in private practice. She will also explore non-diet approaches in childhood obesity management, and explain how dietitians can help parents and children overcome stigma while addressing their concerns.
Brooke is an approachable Accredited Practicing Dietitian and nutrition therapist with over a decade of experience in infant and child nutrition and metabolism conditions. She is nationally and internationally recognised for her medical research into diabetes and obesity and was part of the team who established the longitudinal “Childhood Overweight BioRepository of Australia” study at the Royal Children’s Hospital and MCRI, from which her focus was to study the causes, consequences and best treatment approaches for obesity that develops in childhood. Brooke has a private practice, Family Dietetics, and a specialised ‘Therapy Kitchen’ which with her team of 10 dietitians services central and greater Victorian communities and the Victorian Department of Corrections and Youth Justice System. Brooke sees clients for all reasons, but has a particular passion for helping establish healthy growth curves, overcome eating disorders and traumatic feeding histories, and improving nutrition access for young people with disability, developmental and neurodevelopmental conditions.
DrNicole Kiss: The evolving nature of assessing and treating malnutrition in oncology
How has the definition and assessment of malnutrition in oncology changed over the past decade? And how does this impact practice? In this presentation, Dr Nicole Kiss will answer these questions – and more. Nicole will examine the various components of malnutrition and risk stratification for identifying people who most need nutrition intervention, and also touch on resources and options for supporting malnourished patients in low resource health care environments.
Associate Professor Dr Nicole Kiss is an advanced APD with more than 20 years’ experience in cancer nutrition including clinical, research and health service management positions. Nicole is a Clinical Associate Professor and Victorian Cancer Agency Clinical Research Fellow in the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University and co-leads the Exercise and Nutrition for Cancer research group. Nicole’s research interests include interventions to optimise nutritional and functional outcomes during and after cancer therapy with a particular focus on body composition.
Dr Scott Teasdale: The role of nutrition for people living with mental illness
People living with mental illness experience significant psychosocial challenges and physical health disparities in comparison to their peers without mental illness. In this presentation, Dr Scott Teasdale will cover the spectrum of mental illnesses and the current evidence base for nutrition interventions in prevention and as adjunctive treatment for mental illness. He will also explore ways to increase engagement and effectiveness when implementing nutrition interventions.
Dr Teasdale is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Mindgardens Neuroscience Network and UNSW Sydney. Dr Teasdale focuses on real world effectiveness and implementation research relating to nutrition and lifestyle in the field of mental illness. Dr Teasdale was the original dietitian for the Keeping the Body in Mind Lifestyle Pilot Program which aimed to prevent and manage physical health disparities in people living with severe mental illness. This program is now delivered as routine clinical care in the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.
Dr Heidi Staudacher: FODMAPs, fibre and the microbiome in irritable bowel syndrome
Our understanding of the benefits of dietary intervention for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has progressed rapidly in the last 15 years. This has been coupled with scientific advancements around the microbiome and its role in treating disease. In this presentation, Dr Heidi Staudacher will review the role of the microbiome in the pathophysiology and treatment of IBS. She will touch on the current evidence for a range of nutrition interventions and their impact on the microbiome and also provide practical recommendations for dietitians to use in their practice.
Dr Heidi Staudacher is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with extensive experience in the clinical management of individuals with gastrointestinal disorders. She undertook her PhD at King’s College London investigating the role of diet in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its impact on the gut microbiota. She has published numerous papers, including the first placebo-controlled trial of low FODMAP dietary advice in IBS. Heidi is now an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research fellow at the Food and Mood Centre, extending her research to investigate the relationship between diet, the gut and mental health.
BUSINESS STREAM
Kate Save: Five lessons learnt from scaling a business
Can you imagine waking up one day and your whole life has changed because your dream business somehow became your worst nightmare? That’s exactly what happened to dietitian Kate Save after just 7 minutes on national television on the show Shark Tank. In this presentation, Kate will share her story of heartache and triumph as her team at Be Fit Food tried to scale her business 1500% overnight. Kate will highlight what you need to know to effectively scale a business and share her top tips for surviving the turbulence of the everchanging competitor landscape.
Kate Save is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Accredited Exercise Physiologist. She holds a double degree in Nutrition / Dietetics and Exercise Science from Deakin University, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Diabetes Education and a Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology. Her passion for continued learning extended her earlier in her career to educating the future health practitioners via her Education and Course Development roles at Deakin University, Chisholm Tafe and FIA Fitnation. With more than 18 years’ experience working within the health and fitness industry, Kate is committed to delivering credible health and wellness advice based on the latest scientific research and industry best practice. She is truly passionate about helping to empower individuals across all walks of life make real change within their own lives. Kate is the Founder of PPN – a dietitian consultancy which services various hospitals and medical centres. Kate is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Be Fit Food along with a Bariatric Surgeon.
Kim Tikellis: From tractor to trolley to table: improving population health by working with the food industry
The food supply system includes agricultural food producers, processors, retailers and distributors of food; consumers who make choices about what to purchase and eat; and policymakers who regulate the industry. Food is fundamental to our health and wellbeing, but our food supply system also affects the world around us. Working with food industry provides an opportunity to optimise the food supply system to positively impact population health. In this presentation, Kim Tikellis will cover the dietetics skillset required for working in the food industry; navigating & influencing nutrition in a commercial environment; and the nutrition outcomes for population health as a result of dietitians working within food industry.
Kim Tikellis is an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian with over 25 years food industry experience in consumer education and food promotion, at diverse companies including Heinz Wattie’s, National Foods, Fonterra and Simplot. Kim gained food regulatory experience working for the federal government in food regulation at FSANZ plus marketing activation experience at Dairy Australia and Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition. Adding to her diverse skill set, Kim has successfully developed & executed a retail brand strategy for health & wellness for Coles Group Supermarkets. Performing her current role requires creating integrated strategic nutrition leadership to help deliver the Coles vision for healthier & happier Australians.
Nicole Dynan: Growing a successful telehealth practice
Telehealth nutrition businesses were few and far between before the pandemic, but they now provide patients with easier access to dietitians. In this presentation, Nicole Dynan looks at the key tools and techniques you need to build a profitable, sustainable telehealth practice. She will share her tips for saving time and money whilst optimising your productivity, and help you understand the importance of differentiating your offering. Plus, Nicole will teach you the basics of utilising social media to attract your ideal patients.
Nicole Dynan is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, Accredited Sports Dietitian and the Founder and Director of The Good Nutrition Co. Nicole was inspired to start The Good Nutrition Co. after she came to understand the unique health challenges faced by people working in the corporate environment, having worked for a large pharmaceutical company for many years. When Nicole established the business eight years ago, she had a simple goal: To help busy people eat and perform at their best. The Good Nutrition Co. now has a team of ten dietitians and is recognised as one of Australia’s largest telehealth nutrition providers, having consulted to over 30,000 individuals and hundreds of corporate organisations. Nicole is a guest lecturer for The University of Sydney, The University of NSW and media spokesperson for Dietitians Australia.
Sarah Leung: A crash course in starting a food business
Sarah Leung is a nutrition entrepreneur in the seaweed space. In this presentation, Sarah opens up about how and why she started her seaweed-based food company, Alg Seaweed, and what she did to tackle her audience’s neophobia to seaweed. Sarah will share her tips for creating your dream career while overcoming one of the biggest entrepreneurial challenges: self doubt.
Sarah Leung is a Melbourne-based dietitian. Prior to starting her food business, Alg Seaweed, Sarah worked in private practice, corporate nutrition and with universities. She is also a freelance food photographer and food stylist. Sarah is a foodie and has always wanted to inspire her audience through cooking. She created ‘Cooksultations’ (cooking consultations) at her private practice, partnered with her mum (a.k.a The Dumpling Queen) to teach cooking in a spice merchant, and she is always Instagramming her creations! Her passion for cooking finally led her to creating her own brand, Alg Seaweed, after recognising iodine deficiencies remerging in Australia and how this under-utilised yet delicious resource, seaweed, can play a role in solving the issue.
COACHING AND COUNSELLING STREAM
Fiona Sutherland: When Trauma is at the Table
There is significant incidence of trauma and chronic stress in our community, and coping skills often emerge in food, eating and body-related experiences. For this reason, it is critical that all dietitians understand trauma-informed care principles. In this workshop, Fiona Sutherland will explain how you can adopt these principles in ways that offer safety to our clients and address high rates of burnout. You’ll also have the opportunity to put this new knowledge into practice, through hands-on activities and case studies.
Please note: The virtual doors for this presentation will close after the first 15 minutes.
Fiona is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Director of The Mindful Dietitian, based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been practising for over 20 years focussing on the areas of eating and food behaviour across the lifespan, eating disorders, body image and sports nutrition. Fiona is a committed Weight Inclusive and Trauma-Informed Dietitian spending most of her working week supervising other Dietitians, or running training for Dietitians and health professionals. She is host of the Podcast “The Mindful Dietitian” and a Sports Dietitian, consulting at The Australian Ballet School and national sporting organisations. Fiona also teaches across Masters Level Dietetic training programs at several different Universities in Melbourne specifically in Counselling Skills and Weight Inclusive Approaches in Dietetics.
Shivaun Conn: Communicating to create positive momentum and transform a client’s mindset for change
Appreciative inquiry and affirmation can help to shift a client who is stuck. In this workshop, dietitian and health coach Shivaun Conn will help you build a toolkit for generating positive momentum with your patients and clients in private practice. You’ll identify communication roadblocks and refine your appreciative inquiry skills. Through hands-on group work, you’ll discover new strategies for building confidence in change and shift their focus from barriers to solutions.
Shivaun is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD), Accredited Nutritionist (AN), Certified Health Coach, Certified Trainer & Assessor, Director of Accredited Health Coaching Australia, Former Vice President of The Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, and Professional Member of Dietitians Australia (DA) and Health Coaches Australia & New Zealand (HCANZA). Shivaun has worked for 19 years as a dietitian and presenter, and 11 years as an executive health coach. She currently coaches individuals in nutrition and lifestyle, trains practitioners in health behaviour change, and develops nutrition and health coaching programs across a range of sectors.
MC
MC: Dr Joanna McMillan
Dr Joanna McMillan originally hails from Scotland, and came to Australia in 1999, where she won a scholarship to complete her PhD in Nutritional Science at The University of Sydney. As a dietitian and former fitness instructor, she is driven by a passion to promote the influence that diet and lifestyle have on our health and wellbeing. She is a published author, an international presenter and regular on our TV screens, including being the host for the Gut Revolution series on ABC Catalyst.
MC: Dr Tim Crowe
Dr Tim Crowe is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian who has spent most of his career in the world of university nutrition teaching and research. He now works chiefly as a freelance health and medical writer and scientific consultant. He has an active media profile and a large social media following through his Thinking Nutrition blog and podcast.
MC: Dr Jane Winter
Dr Jane Winter is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and the Account Director at Dietitian Connection. Jane brings several decades of experience in clinical, community, industry and academic dietetics to Dietitian Connection. In addition to her dietetic qualifications, Jane holds a Masters of Professional Education & Training from Deakin University and in 2017 completed her PhD in the area of nutritional risk in community based older adults.
All ticket holders will get access to the recordings of the keynote presentations for 10 days after the live event. Recordings of the business, clinical and coaching and counselling streams will be available for ticket holders for 12 months after the live event.