Lauren Anthes – CEO
Lauren is an experienced and passionate healthcare executive, having worked in the research and service development space for 15 years. Lauren’s aim is to be able to improve the health system, health outcomes and experiences for women. She has a particular interest in mental health, domestic violence and reproductive health issues including endometriosis and PCOS.
Lauren completed a Bachelor of Psychology through Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW and started her career working at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health in Orange, NSW. She had the opportunity to work on and lead a number of clinical research projects around early psychosis, severe mental illness, suicide risk and a longitudinal mental health and wellbeing study focusing on Australians living in regional and rural areas. She completed a Masters in Evaluation through the University of Melbourne, with a focus on real world formative and impact evaluation, which has contributed to her expertise in value based healthcare and health system planning.
With her health system knowledge and experience gained from working across not-for-profit, private, government and education sectors, Lauren hopes to be able to develop strong cross sector partnerships to better address women’s health issues in the ACT.
Lauren is excited to explore how the organisation can work differently and in innovative ways to raise the profile of women’s health in the ACT.
Jodie Kirkness– Communications Manager
Jodie is an experienced communications and digital media professional with a background in journalism. Her passion for story telling resulted in her completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism with a major in Literary Studies.
She has a keen interest in women’s health and youth advocacy and has advocated for cancer prevention and research. Prior to joining Women’s Health Matters, Jodie has worked in government and across the health, and agriculture not-for-profit space.
She also has ample experience in the journalism industry having experience at 2CC Radio, ABC Canberra, and UC Curieux and plans on using her media contacts to promote Women’s Health Matters work.
Dr Merri Andrew – Health Promotion & Research Officer
Merrindahl has worked in social policy and advocacy for over fifteen years, across both the ACT and national levels, with a focus on gender equality and gender-based violence. Most recently, Merrindahl spent five years managing a national alliance of organisations working to end gender-based violence, before working locally to deliver violence prevention training to educators, businesses, and community members.
Through her PhD in political science at the Australian National University (ANU), Merrindahl studied feminists’ attempts to shape social policies affecting work and care.
She subsequently researched the development of women’s services and women’s policy agencies, including those focused on health. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters on gender equality, gender-based violence and human rights, including articles in Australian and international journals.
Merrindahl is happy to be part of a community-based organisation working for women’s health in the ACT, where she can contribute to violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health, better access to health information, and all the changes needed so that women can have full enjoyment of their lives.
Dr Romy Listo – Health Promotion & Research Officer
Romy joined Women’s Health Matters because of her passion for gender and health justice .
For the last seven years she has worked across women’s and gendered health issues in research, policy and advocacy and health promotion.
She has experience as a sexuality and relationships educator, in gender equality policy and advocacy and most recently, coordinating an aged care navigation program for multicultural communities.
Romy has a PhD in gender studies from the University of Queensland, where her research explored the role of energy in women’s organising and empowerment in urban and peri-urban South Africa. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Community Development.
Romy is interested in sexual and reproductive health rights and information and migrant and refugee women’s health. Through her PhD research she has also developed expertise and an interest in the gendered nature of infrastructure and the environment.
Julia Tran – Health Promotion & Research Officer
Julia joined the Women’s Centre for Health Matters as a Health Promotion Officer in 2017. With a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and Neuroscience and a Master of International Public Health, Julia’s previous experience has had a mental health focus through researching dementia and music at the MARCS Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Development, interning in the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Unit at the Western Pacific Regional Office World Health Organization in the Philippines, interning in the psychological counselling and therapy at the Children’s Hospital #2 in Ho Chi Minh City, and research in road traffic accidents and trauma in Vietnam with the University of NSW.
Julia’s area of expertise lies in mental health and wellbeing and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Her focus areas at Women’s Health Matters have been in SRH research and policy (aimed at young women and all women of the ACT) and mental health, with an interest in Borderline Personality Disorder, reduction in self harm, suicide prevention and youth mental health. As a keen bike rider, she is also interested in contributing to ACT’s active travel and women’s safety in public.
She implements her health promotion skills through social research, organising training workshops, and using technology to develop websites and film. Julia is Women’s Health Matters’ representative on the Reference Group for the ACT’s Public Health services for Eating Disorders Project, combining her interest and expertise in mental health and women’s wellbeing, ensuring that a women’s perspective is represented on the Reference Group.
Molly has over seven years of experience in professional administration, the past three of which have been spent in the community and not-for-profit sectors. Previously Molly worked with the Australasian College of Road Safety national office to support better road safety outcomes. Molly shares her time between Women’s Health Matters and the ACT Down Syndrome Association. She provides skill development and peer support opportunities for people with an intellectual disability at the ACT Down Syndrome Association.
Molly completed herBachelor of Archaeology at Flinders University in Adelaide and is currently studying a Master of Archaeological and Evolutionary Science at the Australian National University, where she has been honing her research and writing experience.
More recently, her own personal experiences in the healthcare system have prompted her to explore women’s health, with a particular interest in women’s experiences in the healthcare system. She hopes that by working with Women’s Health Matters she can play a contributing role in improving health outcomes for women in the ACT while increasing her knowledge of the field.
Molly enjoys using her knowledge and experience to develop efficient administrative processes that support small organisations to provide better outcomes for the community. She hopes that her blend of professional administrative and postgraduate research experience will support Women’s Health Matters to improve women’s health outcomes in the ACT.
