Melissa has been a Clinical Nurse Consultant with The Bolton Clarke HIV Team for 5 years. The HIV team is based within the Homeless Persons Program and funded by the Sexual Health and Viral Hepatitis Section, Public Health Division of the Victorian Department of Health. Within the HIV team, Melissa provides and coordinates nursing care, support and health promotion to PLHIV living in the community.  She also educates nurses and community workers about HIV. 

Melissa also has experience working as a Clinical Manager in various aged care facilities including community and correctional health, with over 15 years’ experience. She has undertaken post graduate studies in aged care, emergency nursing and immunisation. 

Melissa has a strong interest in helping PLHIV particularly older people and long term survivors improve their wellbeing and quality of life. 

Tom Dickson (he/they) is a Specialist General Practitioner working in Melbourne/Narrm who is passionate about ensuring all his patients are able to receive care without assumption or judgement. He has worked in HIV medicine since 2013 and has had a keen interest in both sexual and mental health since university. He has been a registered provider with the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Program since 2020. Tom completed his medical degree (MBBS) at the University of Queensland, where he also obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biomedicine and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He has completed a Masters of Medicine in Sexual and Reproductive Health at the University of Sydney and is a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He has done further training with the Australian Society of Psychological Medicine in mental health counselling and provides informed consent gender affirming care. Tom holds membership with RACGP, AMA, ASHM, AUSPATH, ANZMHA, AADPA, ASPM and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia. He is a registered S100 HIV treatment provider and regularly teaches new prescribers with VHHITAL’s HIV prescriber program. Tom lectures both Monash University medical students and Victorian GP registrars on the topics of sexual health and LGBTIQAP+ health. Tom volunteers his time as a committee member for the Melbourne Argonauts Rowing Club and a mentor with The Pinnacle Foundation. Tom hosts “Meet Q” a LGBTIQAP+ mental health podcast with Dr Dave Demmer and Dr Jamie Byrne.

Dr Alix Dumitrescu has been working as a Pain and Palliative Medicine Staff Specialist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney since 2018. Her special interests are cancer pain, medical education and practitioner wellbeing.

Prof Jeffrey V. Lazarus (PhD, MIH, MA) is the head of the Health Systems Research Group at ISGlobal and Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona as well as a senior scholar at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. He earlier served as Professor at LUHS Medical Academy, Lithuania, and as Affiliated Professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre on HIV and Viral Hepatitis at Rigshospitalet, the University of Copenhagen, and at the University of Porto, Portugal.

His decade-long career as a health systems, HIV and viral hepatitis expert at WHO’s Regional Office for Europe was followed by three years at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He is the past Vice-Chair of the EASL International Liver Foundation, Board Chair of AFEW International and he was the first director of Health Systems Global. He currently serves as co-chair of the HIV Outcomes Beyond Viral Suppression coalition, a member of the board of directors of the SHARE Global Health Foundation and as a member of the EASL Public Health and Policy Committee and the Global NASH Council.

He is the author of more than 300 publications, including the global consensus statement on HIV and health systems, which followed up his proposal for a “fourth 90 in HIV monitoring”. As Principal Investigator (PI) of the HCV Free Baleares, EU-COMSAVAC, COVID-VAC and the NAFLD public health and global policy studies he has had continued competitive funding for over a decade, since leaving WHO. He is a co-author of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, the Lancet GastroHep Commission on viral hepatitis and the EASL-Lancet European Liver Commission and led The Lancet HIV series on HIV Beyond Viral Suppression. He is on the editorial board of HIV Medicine, the International Journal of Drug Policy and the Journal of Hepatology.

Associate Professor Kavitha Muthiah is a Staff Specialist in Cardiology (Advanced heart failure and transplant) at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Following completion of her PhD in left ventricular assist devices, she undertook several clinical fellowships in the United Kingdom at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Kings College Hospital in London, and Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. Prior to returning to St Vincent’s in 2017, she completed a further fellowship at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne in Advanced Heart Failure. A/Prof Muthiah is a conjoint Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales and Clinical Faculty at Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. She has won several competitive scholarships and grants including the National Heart Foundation Post-Doctoral Scholarship and Innovation Grant in 2018. She was the first female and first Australian recipient of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant MCS Award in Translational Research in 2018. She is recipient of the Young Investigator Award for the American Society of Artificial Implantable Organs.

Dimity Pond is a GP in clinical practice in Berowra, NSW. She has Honorary Professor positions at Western Sydney, Tasmania, and the University of New England. She has a particular interest in the field of aged care, in particular dementia and in end of life issues, and has contributed to a number of projects and policy groups in this area.

Dr Richard Savdie is a Urologist and Robotic Surgeon who specialises in Minimally Invasive cancer surgery. Dr Savdie has a special interest in prostate conditions and the innovative management of BPH.

He received his FRACS in 2014 before completing a prestigious 2-year surgical training Fellowship at the internationally renowned Vancouver Prostate Centre.

Dr Savdie runs a general urological clinic and treats conditions ranging from vasectomy, circumcision, bladder and urinary conditions, kidney stone surgery, sexual health and dysfunction, penile curvature surgery and laser prostate surgery.

Dr Savdie is a VMO at Prince of Wales Public Hospital and also operates at POW Private and St Vincent’s Private Hospitals.

Charlie has worked in a range of communications and community development roles both internationally and in the Australian HIV sector for over 10 years.  He previously worked at Body Positive New Zealand and the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa/New Zealand, and at the Durban, Amsterdam and Montreal International AIDS Conferences supporting global organisations including MPact, ICASO, and Prevention Access Campaign.  Additionally, Charlie has been featured in various media such as DNA Magazine, Vice, and SBS.

Charlie’s most recent role since 2019, was as the Project Officer – Social Media & Community Engagement at the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWHA). In September 2022, he was appointed to the UNAIDS NGO Delegation’s Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) for the 51st Programme Coordinating Board’s (PCB) Thematic Segment.

A graduate and facilitator with the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) and moderator of the international online support group The Institute of Many (TIM), Charlie brings a strong understanding of community engagement and health promotion to the roles of Positive Life NSW Communications Officer and Coordinator of the Positive Speakers Bureau.

Over the last decade, Russell led Seniors Rights Service (SRS) as CEO. SRS provides legal, aged care advocacy and education and awareness-raising services, reaching over 40,000 older people in NSW each year. It also plays an integral role in systemic policy advocacy at both state and national levels. Under Russell’s guidance, SRS rebranded and almost tripled in size and service reach. In addition, he actively participated in the United Nations process to advocate for an international convention on the rights of older people and played key roles in establishing two national peak bodies: the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and Elder Abuse Action Australia (EAAA).

Russell has 35 years experience across HIV and aged rights organisations. In his early career, Russell focused on supporting some of the most vulnerable people in the LGBTIQ+ community. He held senior roles at ACON in Sydney and Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, developing educational campaigns and lobbying government on critical issues with community partners. Driving health promotion campaigns across Australia, Russell worked with peak bodies, such as the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the National Association of People with HIV/AIDS and, more recently, with LGBTIQ+ Health Australia.

Russell holds several board roles, including Co-chair of EAAA, National Council Member of National Seniors Australia, Advisory Board Member of the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission and is an active participant of the Global Alliance of the Rights of Older People. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of NSW, majoring in sociology, political science and international relations.

He now runs Auxilia, providing a professional helping hand to leaders of smaller not-for-profits.