Board of Directors
The current AusACPDM Board of Directors includes representatives from across Australia and New Zealand.
- Sarah McIntyre, Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Co-President)
- Alicia Spittle, University of Melbourne (Co-President)
- Kirsty Stewart, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney (Past-President)
- Cathy Wang, Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Treasurer)
- Ann Jorgensen, independent advisor
- Gaela Kilgour, University of Queensland
- Sarah Love, Disability Assembly WA
- Sian Williams, Curtin University & University of Auckland
- Adrienne Harvey, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Amy Hogan, Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand
- Georgina Clutterbuck, University of Queensland
- Petra Karlsson, Cerebral Palsy Alliance
- Leanne Sakzewski, Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Centre, The University of Queensland
- Fiona Graham, University of Otago
Get to know our Board…
Professor Sarah McIntyre is a Senior Research Fellow, Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Sarah is an epidemiologist leading the NSW CP Register, and is the current Chair and Policy Group member of the Australian CP Register. She leads and is a team member on research projects focused on the aetiology and epidemiology of neonatal encephalopathy, congenital anomalies and cerebral palsy with the long term aim of identifying avenues for prevention and reducing severity of neuro-disability. She is passionate about social justice issues including equitable access to services, and involving families in research.
Professor Alicia Spittle is the Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. She is a physiotherapist and clinician researcher who leads several grants focused early detection and early intervention for infants at high-risk of neurodevelopmental impairments including infants born preterm and/or with cerebral palsy. She has a brother with a disability and passionate about supporting families throughout the lifespan. Of Ngāi Tahu descent, she is the first Māori member of the AusACPDM board.
Dr Kirsty Stewart is a senior occupational therapist in Kids Rehab at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in Sydney and holds a clinical lecturer position at The University of Sydney. Kirsty has over 30 years of clinical, teaching and research experience in cerebral palsy, with particular interest in movement disorders and neuromodulation interventions. Other areas of interest include upper limb interventions, spinal surveillance for children with cerebral palsy and knowledge translation. Kirsty has been a member of the AusACPDM since 2008 and has been involved on the conference and scientific committees of the AusACPDM since 2014. She became a Board member of the AusACPDM in 2018 and President from 2020 to 2022.
Associate Professor Sian Williams (PhD. BSc (Hons), AEP) is a Senior Aotearoa Research Fellow with the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland, and Associate Professor at the School of Allied health at Curtin University in Western Australia. With a background as an Accredited Clinical Exercise Physiologist (Exercise and Sports Science Australia) and biomechanist, the primary focus of her research is related to paediatric disability (predominantly cerebral palsy), rehabilitation and physical activity, and muscle morphology and function.
Ann Jorgensen is a lawyer with broad experience in community law and policy. She is currently a Senior Research and Policy Officer at the Victorian Law Reform Commission. Prior to this she was the Principal Solicitor of the Mental Health Legal Centre. Ann is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has sat on the boards of a number of public sector and community organisations. She is currently a member of the Victorian Clinical Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (CCOPMM).
Dr Gaela Kilgour is a physiotherapist and physical educator from New Zealand. She has many years of clinical experience in all areas of childhood disability, across all ages and settings. She has completed her PhD in physical activity and participation in children with cerebral palsy. She has a strong interest in health promotion, physical activity, and well-being. As a member of the Professional Development Committee, she is focused on educational opportunities, knowledge translation and has a special interest in equity in health care. She is leading the AusACPDM group addressing engagement with Pasifika peoples.
Dr Georgina Clutterbuck is a physiotherapist, researcher and educator who is passionate about supporting children with disabilities to participate in life-long sport and physical recreation. She has worked clinically in government, not-for-profit and private practice, and is currently a researcher and lecturer at the University of Queensland, Australia. Georgina has led the working committee who operationalised the expansion of the AusACPDM’s membership to include people with lived experience of CP and their families, and people working in the area of childhood disability. Dr Clutterbuck’s research in sports participation for children with disabilities includes the development of the SPORTS participation model and the Sports Stars intervention which supports children to transition from physiotherapy services into community sport participation. She was delighted to join the AusACPDM board in 2022.
Associate Professor Adrienne Harvey has been part of the AusACPDM since its inception. With a background in physiotherapy, she is a clinician researcher with close to 30 years’ experience including extensive clinical involvement and a large growing body of research dedicated to improving the lives of children with developmental disabilities and their families. She is a Senior Research Fellow and Team Leader within Neurodisability and Rehabilitation at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her current research focuses on pain in children and young people with physical disability and dyskinesia in cerebral palsy. She is passionate about empowering and enabling the next generation of clinician researchers, particularly those in allied health professions.
Amy Hogan is the Researcher and Member Support Advisor at the Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand. Amy’s role is to make information and resources accessible to members by writing about key ideas and topics in everyday language. Amy is also working on her Masters Thesis (Psychology) examining the language of experiment treatment claims. Amy works with researchers from places like CP Stem Reference and Australasian Pain Science Group, to keep up to date with international experiences. The work bridges the gap between the paediatric system, adolescence and adulthood with an emphasis on everyday experiences. This is knowledge that was lacking when Amy was growing up with CP. Despite many advances in our understanding of CP across the lifespan, it is still a major developing area, using research and information to assist individuals and families to understand the complexities of CP better. Amy’s primary goal is to be informative but interesting with a particular emphasis on understanding the spectrum of Cerebral Palsy at all ages and stages.
Cathy Wang is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) with over twenty years of experience in management and financial accounting. Currently, she serves as the Senior Grants and Contracts Accountant at Cerebral Palsy Alliance, where she manages the research funding and grants program and oversees the financials for the research institute. In addition to her professional role, Cathy has gained valuable experience as a treasurer through her volunteer work with a community sports program. Dedicated to using her skills to help others, Cathy is also an avid animal lover and passionate advocate for wildlife protection.
Dr. Petra Karlsson (BS (OT); MHs (OT)) is the Program Lead for Technology at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dr. Karlsson is an occupational therapist with a PhD in assistive technology and cerebral palsy. Her research focuses on integrating allied health and biomedical engineering to support communication, cognitive assessment, and daily functioning across the lifespan for individuals living with severe cerebral palsy.
A/Professor Leanne Sakzewski is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Centre, The University of Queensland. Leanne is an occupational therapist leading clinical trials focused on improving motor, participation and social outcomes for children with cerebral palsy. She is passionate about evidence-based care including building caregiver capacity to advocate for the right interventions at the right time for their child with CP, and building clinician capacity to deliver evidence-based care.
Assoc Prof Fi Graham (PhD, PGCert HE, B Occ Ther) is an academic at the University of Otago, Dept of Medicine, Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit. Fi teaches postgraduate interprofessional rehabilitation specialising in paediatric rehabilitation. A core focus of Fi’s research is empowering communication with parents of children with disability including coaching and other autonomy supportive communication tools. Fi is passionate about improving access and equity in rehabilitation, underpinning her research exploring the use of tele-rehabilitation with people with physical disabilities, children and families. As tauiwi, she is committed to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in improving equity of access and outcomes in rehabilitation for all New Zealanders and applying its principles in all her work.