Who's who in Grace
We have a wonderful team. Here's a run-down of who's who and what they do.
The Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care is managed by three co-heads.
- Prof Nadia Badawi, AM – Neonatologist, Medical Director and co-Head of Grace and Chair, Cerebral Palsy Alliance
- Sarah Morris– Nurse Manager, co-Head of Grace
- Dr Himanshu Popat – Neonatologist, Clinical Lead and co-Head of Grace
They work together with a passionate, experienced and highly skilled multidisciplinary team which include:
Neonatologists
Neonatologists are paediatricians specialising in saving the lives of critically ill newborns.
Medical problems in premature and newborn babies can create challenges when vital organs are not developed adequately to function without intervention.
Neonatologists evaluate and treat these medical problems.
Our neonatologist team include:
- Dr Raj Angiti
- Dr Stephanie Boyd
- Dr Kathryn Carmo-Browning
- Dr Hannah Dalrymple
- Dr Robert Halliday
- Dr Bhavesh Mehta
- Dr Ahmed Moustafa
- Dr Amit Trivedi
- Dr Darazel Perez
- Dr Samuel Cruise
Neonatal nurses
Our nurses are specifically trained to care for neonates and premature babies with complex needs.
They are experienced in interpreting the silent signals and gestures of critically ill infants and support parents in caring for their baby.
The neonatal nurses administer medications, perform complex procedures, work with sophisticated technology, and consult with a multidisciplinary healthcare team to co-ordinate all aspects of the baby’s care.
Our nurses understand the fears and anxieties experienced by parents and provide emotional support and reassurance.
The neonatal nursing team is supported by nurses in a number of different roles. The Nurse Unit Management (NUM) team provides support to staff, baby’s and families on a shift by shift basis helping to co-ordinate patient movement in and out of the unit.
They are responsible for the unit and overall patient care. The NUM is the best person with which to raise any unresolved patient-related concerns or issues.
Members of the Grace NUM team include:
- Holly Murphy
- Bronwyn Parkinson
- Belinda Jacmenjak
Neonatal Nurse Practitioners
The Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice nursing role.
The Grace NP’s conduct comprehensive health assessments, diagnose and treat complex health problems, manage acute and chronic illnesses, prescribe medication and work collaboratively with teams within the Hospital and in the community, to create a more holistic support system for patients and their families.
Members of the Grace NP team include:
- Miranda Agyemang
- Kristen James-Nunez
Clinical Nurse Consultants
The Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) is also an advanced practice nursing role.
The role is focused on the translation of evidence to practice through research, education, consultancy, system support, strategic planning and leadership. Members of the Grace CNC team include:
- Nadine Griffiths
- Priya Govindaswamy
Education team
The Education team in Grace consists of both Nurse Educators (NE) and Clinical Nurse Educators (CNE).
- The NE’s role is to oversee the education team whilst planning, facilitating and evaluating evidence based education programs to improve the outcomes of sick neonates.
- The CNE’s role is to provide orientation, mandatory training and assessment, competency development in basic and advanced nursing skills, and speciality education in conjunction with the Nurse Educator (NE).
Members of the Grace Education team include:
- Kirsty Minter (Nurse Educator)
- Jill Lotoaniu (Clinical Nurse Educator)
- Renae Gengaroli (Nurse Educator)
- Jessica Banks (Clinical Nurse Educator)
- Maree Wooldridge (Clinical Nurse Educator)
- Nicole Dawson (Clinical Nurse Educator)
Allied health professionals
Providing essential service to our patients and their parents, our physiotherapists help with handling and positioning advice, respiratory care and assessment of musculoskeletal, neuromuscular or genetic conditions.
Speech therapists work closely with babies to develop pleasurable experiences around feeding and provide stimuli to help them learn to feed.
Occupational therapists help each baby to bond, explore their environment and engage in care activities such as a nappy change. They teach parents how to help their baby be comfortable, and provide development intervention when parents can’t be with their baby.
Members of the Grace Allied Health team include:
- Dr Cathryn Crowle (Senior Occupational Therapist)
- Natalie Fairbairn (Senior Occupational Therapist)
- Madeleine Sproule (Senior Occupational Therapist)
- Michelle Jurez (Physiotherapist)
- Kate Thompson (Physiotherapist)
- Jane Pettigrew (Senior Speech Therapist)
Lactation specialists
A lactation specialist is a certified nurses who advises, guides and helps with breastfeeding and expressing.
They can provide support to help mothers successfully breastfeed while in hospital and continue when discharged home. Our lactation nurses work with new mothers on all aspects of feeding for each baby, which may include fluids and a nutrition through nasal or intravenous drip, or a gastric tube that carries milk into the baby’s stomach.
Members of the lactation team include:
- Gabrielle Kerslake
Social workers
Our staff are trained and experienced in assisting families with a baby in intensive care.
Focused on supporting the emotional wellbeing of parents, social workers can help with antenatal support, family relationship concerns and accessing support services in the community. Social workers advocate for families, and are there to provide grief and bereavement support to families in cases of the death of their newborn.
Members of the social work team include:
- Holly Gittany
- Shannon Tracey