Dr Amy Peden - Committee Chair

Lecturer, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney

Amy is a lecturer and researcher at UNSW Sydney. Her research explores injury prevention with a focus on drowning prevention and the intersecting issues of rurality, alcohol and exposure. Amy holds adjunct positions with James Cook University, The George Institute for Global Health and is a Senior Research Fellow with Royal Life Saving Society – Australia. Amy is an early career researcher whose PhD, which explored the epidemiology, risk factors and prevention strategies for unintentional river drowning, was awarded in 2019. Her PhD programme of research was awarded the Sax Institute Research Action Award in 2019, the 2020 Dean’s Award for Higher Degree by Research Excellence and also in 2020 was also acknowledged as the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions in Australia (CAPHIA) Award winner for PhD Excellence in Public Health. Amy is a member of the Australasian Injury Prevention Network executive.

Medhavi Gupta

PhD Student, The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW, Sydney, Australia

Medhavi Gupta is a final-year PhD Candidate at the George Institute for Global Health, focusing on community-level drowning reduction in India and Bangladesh. Drawing on previous experiences in management consulting, community work in LMICs and research in psychology, Medhavi is particularly interested in understanding and addressing the practical challenges of program delivery and policy change in these contexts.

Nicole Tuddenham

PhD Candidate, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Nicole is a PhD candidate with Edith Cowan University and a physiotherapist interested in community sports injury prevention. She completed her undergraduate physiotherapy studies at LaTrobe University and has since worked in elite junior sport, women's sport and private practice settings. Nicole is currently completing her PhD exploring serious and permanent injury in community level Australian rugby union with the Australian centre for research into injury in sport and its prevention (ACRISP). She lives on Sydney's north shore with her partner and children and works at a local sports physiotherapy practice. 

Jonathan P. Guevarra

PhD in Development Communication Student, College of Development Communication

University of the Philippines – Los Baħos, Los Baħos, Laguna, Philippines

Jonathan is an Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Education at the College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila (UPM), Manila, Philippines. Hie is currently pursuing his PhD in Development Communication studies and is in the process of implementing his doctoral dissertation with focus on road traffic injury. He has been involved in drowning prevention programs, activities, and researches in the Philippines in the past 10 years. Jonathan is also interested in understanding the risk factors and ways of addressing the other unintentional injuries among children in the Philippines.

Soumyadeep Bhaumik

PhD Student, The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW, Australia & Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health, India

Soumyadeep is a medical doctor and international public health specialist working on injuries and evidence synthesis. He is leading the work on snakebite using a health policy and systems approach and is a methods lead for on-demand Rapid Evidence Synthesis to inform decision making. He is also a co-investigator in several projects in the injury division on drowning in Sundarbans, burns in Uttar Pradesh and disaster risk resilience in Assam. Soumyadeep is also an Associate Editor, Evidence Synthesis, BMJ Global Health and Co-Convenor of the Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group.

Stacey Pidgeon

National Manager of Research and Policy, Royal Life Saving Society – Australia

Stacey is the National manager of Research and Policy with Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, with 10 years+ experience in the drowning prevention field. Stacey has a background is in health promotion and injury prevention, having done her undergraduate degree in Health Science majoring in health promotion and psychology, and postgraduate studies in Public Health (Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Public Health) in New Zealand. Stacey is currently undertaking a PhD at James Cook University focusing on drowning prevention among high-risk populations in Australia. Stacey has conducted a range drowning related research and program evaluation in Australia and New Zealand. Her areas of interest include diverse populations, youth and the impact of social determinants on injury and public health outcomes.

William Koon

PhD Candidate, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences,  UNSW Sydne

Will is a PhD Candidate in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNSW Sydney studying coastal hazards, drowning and injury. He spent over a decade working as a professional ocean lifeguard in California, and also has experienced managing hospital-based water safety programs and various injury research projects related to drowning and beach injuries.

Dr. Prasanthi Attwood (nee Puvanachandra)

Injury Epidemiologist, The George Institute, Imperial College London

Dr. Prasanthi Attwood (nee Puvanachandra) is an Injury Epidemiologist at The George Institute, Imperial College London with 15 years experience in the field of injury prevention. Following completion of her medical degree at Cambridge University and a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, she joined the Hopkins faculty in the International Injury Research Unit working in injury prevention with a focus on road traffic injuries and child injuries. Her PhD focuses on the prevention of unintentional injuries within the home for children under 5 years in Uganda. She has authored several publications on injury prevention and has worked as a consultant for the WHO on the development of a variety of injury-related documents and reports.