Speakers

The COINN program is coming along and we will be updating the speakers page as we confirm the invited International and National speakers over the coming months.

International Invited Speakers

Renée Flacking
Renée is a neonatal nurse by background and is now Professor in Paediatric Nursing, at the School of Health and Welfare, Dalarna University, Sweden. She is also a Visiting Professor at University of Central Lancashire, UK. Renée’s main research interests are parenting and feeding in families with preterm infants focusing on emotional, relational and socio-cultural influences. She has written more than 65 scientific papers and is the co-author of the book: Ethnographic Research in Maternal and Child Health.

National Invited Speakers

Dr Nat Duffy
Nat is a consultant neonatologist, working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg, a busy tertiary neonatal unit caring for infants born from 22 weeks to full term. She also works for PIPER, the Paediatric Infant and Perinatal Emergency Retrieval service, based at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. In NICU, she is the medical lead for the infant and family centred neurodevelopmental care special interest group and has co-authored the statewide guidelines on this same topic. For PIPER, she works closely with Ambulance Victoria, teaching paramedics how to safely care for infants born out of hospital. She is a NBO trainer, with NBO Australasia, teaching the Newborn Behavioral Observation system to Oceania and beyond and a co-author of the Newborn Traffic Light Tool©, a learning resource for clinicians to utilise when supporting infants during times of pain and stress. Nat has a particular interest in infant mental health and the ways we can improve not only physical health but cognitive, emotional and social health for hospitalised infants. She is completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne. She has utilised qualitative methodology to explore an infant’s lived experience of hospitalisation in NICU. She has numerous publications in this field and has been the invited speaker at both local and international conferences.

 Dr Kathryn Currow 
 Kathryn is a paediatric doctor, medical educator and leader, with broad ranging Australian  and  international experience, Kathryn is dedicated to furthering improvements in the  health  and well-being of  children and young people in Australia and globally. In her early  career,  Kathryn worked as a GP for 12 years.  She then worked in paediatric emergency as  a senior  CMO. She was the Executive Principal of the Sydney  Child Health Program  (formerly the  Diploma in Child Health) from 1997 to 2018. Kathryn founded Taking  Paediatrics Abroad in 2019 and continues as Managing Director today. She is recognised as a Global Goodwill  Ambassador.

Local Invited Speakers

Dr Simone Martin 
Simone is a General Paediatrician and Newborn Intensive Care Specialist based in Darwin, on Larrakia Country in the Northern Territory, Australia. Her childhood in remote Eastern Nepal has influenced a  passion for health service provision in resource-constrained or geographically complex environments.  Simone's clinical interests include inpatient neonatal intensive care, neurodevelopmental surveillance and general paediatric outpatient care. Her research focuses on collaboration with families and use of appropriate technology to improve health care service provision. Outside the work setting, Simone keeps herself busy with 3 very active sons, involvement in her local church, conservation of local biodiversity hotspots, and birdwatching at any opportunity!

Natalie Merida - Parent
Natalie is a Mum to twin boys born at 29 weeks gestation. 
Parent Representative, ANZNN Executive Committee
Chair, PSANZ Lived Experience Advisory Network (LEAN)
Parent Representative, PREMITUR study
Former Parent Representative, Miracle Babies Foundation

COINN Board Invited Speakers

Professor Carole Kenner - COINN Founder & Chief Executive Officer (USA)
Carole has over 35 years’ neonatal/perinatal/pediatric experience. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and Indiana University (USA) with the degrees in neonatal/perinatal nursing and nursing education. She has taught for 30 years, developed educational programs in the US and abroad. She is the author/editor over 30 textbooks and a four-time winner of publishing awards including the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year. She received the Audrey Hepburn Award from Sigma Theta Tau for her international contributions to child welfare and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) Lifetime Achievement Award. Carole is the Dean of the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science at The College of New Jersey (USA) at present. She was the founding President of COINN (Council of International Neonatal Nurses, Inc).

Professor Karen Walker - COINN President (Australia)
Clinical Professor Karen Walker is a Neonatal Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and a Clinical Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. As a clinical neonatal nurse, with extensive experience in clinical research and policy, she was awarded her PhD through the University of Sydney in 2011, investigating neonatal outcomes following early major infant surgery.  Committed to advocating for nurses and the speciality of neonatal nursing, Karen has been the President of the Council of International Neonatal Nurses, the global organisation representing neonatal nurses on the international arena for the last five years. She is also a past president of the Australian College of Neonatal Nurses, where she remains part of the leadership team of the NSW Branch and two special interest groups, and she is co-founder of the Alliance of Global Neonatal Nurses in the United States. She serves on multiple global committees representing neonatal nurses. Karen is passionate about improving health outcomes across the lifespan, decreasing newborn and maternal mortality and morbidity and ensuring equitable access to universal health care and education, as well as supporting and advocating for neonatal nurses and the specialisation of neonatal nursing. Karen is committed to supporting the nursing workforce and recently became an advisor in setting up the first undergraduate nursing degree program in remote Western Province in Papua New Guinea.

Professor Julia Petty - COINN Vice President (United  Kingdom) 
 Julia Petty is an Associate Professor (learning & teaching) and a Senior Lecturer in Children's Nursing at the University of Hertfordshire, UK where she has worked since April 2013. Julia's rolecomprises academic leadership, teaching and assessment for a variety of child health modules focusing, for example, on care of the neonate and family, child development and nursing research. She has an extensive educational background in the neonatal and children nursing specialties. Julia has a keen interest in the development of digital neonatal learning resources including digital stories to represent the parent and staff voice. She has completed a Doctorate in Education exploring how a digital storytelling approach can be used to understand the parent journey in neonatal care and the enhancement of empathic learning. Julia has published widely in her areas of interest, is a newborn life support instructor for the UK Resuscitation Council and holds an Executive role on the UK Neonatal Nurses Association Board.

Debbie O'Donoghue - COINN Treasurer (New Zealand)
Debbie is the Nurse Manager of the NICU at Christchurch Women’s Hospital New Zealand. She has been working within New Zealand in a senior neonatal nursing role for the past 24 years. Debbie’s background is within neonatal and Paediatric nursing and midwifery both in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She has a Master’s in Nursing (Health Sciences) with her research focusing on father’s experiences of the neonatal journey  . Debbie is a current member of the Neonatal Nurses College of Aotearoa (NNCA) and Chairperson of the New Zealand Nursing leadership section of NZNO .

ACNN Member Invited Speakers

 Amy Curran - ACNN President (Queensland) 
 Amy is an English trained nurse who worked in Leicester  and London before moving to  Australia in 2004. Amy  worked as a transport nurse for NETS, Victoria before  moving to  Townsville in 2007 and undertaking her Nurse  Practitioner training, becoming endorsed  in 2010.  Amy  has been an active member within ACNN and is involved  in the NNP and  LRC special interest groups. She is the  chair of the NNP Methods group within COINN,  looking to explore the diversity of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) role globally.

 Adjunct Associate Professor Margaret Broome - ACNN  Acting Professional Officer (Australian Capital Territory)
 Adjunct Associate Professor Broom was awarded a Doctor  of Philosophy undertaken at  Australian Catholic University  in April 2017. She has over 30 years of experience in all  aspects of neonatology with 20 years clinical  experience. Over the past 10 years in the  role of the  Neonatal Research Coordinator at the Centenary Hospital  Women, Youth and  Children in Canberra, she has translated her clinical experience into researching many  topics to improve outcomes for neonates, families, and staff. She has led many research  and quality improvement projects considering topics such as impact of NICU redesign, reducing pressure injuries, pain management, parents attending clinical rounds, Family Integrated Care, as well as the impact of visiting restrictions on families due to COVID19. She is an active member of the Research SIG Committee. 

neonatal pain, neonatal organ and tissue donation, as well as environmental impacts of healthcare. Justine has been an active member of ACNN as Chair of the ACNN NSW Branch and as an ordinary committee member of the Education Special Interest Group. Justine is the Chair for the ACNN Standards Review working party.