Events

About our guest speaker program

The NDC Institute is excited to launch our guest speaker program for 2024 and 2025. We think of this as a live online conference, offered in bite-sized pieces at a convenient time of day for professionals with busy lives, right throughout the year.

We will bring you monthly presentations by, and discussions with, highly qualified experts on a range of topics relevant to the care of parents with infants. The presentations will be of interest to

• Health professionals and providers who are current members of The NDC Institute, for whom attendance is free of charge, and

• Health professionals and providers from the public who are welcome to join us live online for a small fee.

All members of The NDC Institute can find how to join these live online talks at the bottom of this page. If you are a member of the public, you can find how to register for an online talk at the bottom of this page.

2025 Guest Speaker Program

Date	Time	Presenter	Title
Tues 25 Feb 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Adam Ofri	Breast Imaging in the pregnant and lactating patient
Tues 11 Mar 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Kate Rassie	Obesity and breastfeeding
Tues 8 Apr 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Adam Ofri	Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis + benign breast diseases
Tues 29 Apr 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Professor Jeanine Young AM	Reframing from risk to protection to engage families with safe sleep messaging: words matter
Tues 13 May 25	8.00-9.00pm (AEST)	Dr Kate Rassie	Lactational amenorrhea, lactational osteoporosis and bone health, atrophic vaginitis
Tuesday 17 June 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Professor Helen Ball	How babies sleep: the view from anthropology
Tuesday 15 July 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Felicity Davis	The biology of milk ejection: Laboratory based studies to visualise and understand the molecular mechanisms of oxytocin-mediated milk let down
Tuesday 12 Aug 25	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Sharon Perella	Preterm breastfeeding
Tuesday 16 Sept 25	8.00-9.00pm (AEST)	Dr Leigh Campbell	Persons with HIV and infant feeding approach in the perinatal period
Tuesday 14 Oct 25	8.00-9.00pm (AEST)	Dr Leigh Campbell	A case of infant fit and hold to protect an infant's airway
Date TBC	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Rob Purssey	Exploring the role of SSRIs in perinatal mental health
Date TBC	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Johanna Lynch	The nature of holistic generalism in medical practice
Date TBC	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Johanna Lynch	The senses and emotional and mental wellbeing

2024 Guest Speaker Program

Date	Time	Presenter	Title
Tues 8 Oct 24	7.00-8.30pm (AEST)	Dr Kate Rassie	Diabetes, PCOS,  breastfeeding
Tues 29 Oct 24	7.00-8.00pm (AEST)	Dr Adam Ofri	Lactation-related breast complications (abscesses, galactoceles, and fistulas)
Tues 26 Nov 24	7.00pm (AEST)	Prof Donna Geddes	A research update on the composition of human milk

Dr Kate Rassie

Tuesday 13 May 2025, 8.00-9.00pm

Lactational amenorrhea, lactational osteoporosis and bone health, atrophic vaginitis

Dr Kate Rassie is a consultant endocrinologist at Monash Health and at Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, Melbourne. She is also a final-year PhD candidate at Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the relationships between maternal metabolic health and breastfeeding, with a focus on insulin-resistant conditions such as PCOS and diabetes. Clinically, she works in diabetes, obesity and metabolism; and is across all aspects of female hormonal health including menopause, PCOS and menstrual disorders.

Details on Dr Rassie's research group at Monash University, Melbourne can be found here.

Professor Helen Ball

Tuesday 17 June 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST) How Babies Sleep: the view from anthropology

Professor Helen Ball is Director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre, Durham University. She studies infant sleep and the parent-infant sleep relationship from a biosocial perspective. She has conducted research in hospitals and the community, and contributes to national and international policy and practice guidelines on infant care. Helen also pioneers the translation of academic research on infant sleep into evidence for use by parents and healthcare staff via BASIS - the Baby Sleep Information Source website (www.basisonline.org.uk). In 2013 Helen received an award for Outstanding Impact in Society from the Economic and Social Research Council, and in 2018 Durham University was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for her research and outreach on parent-infant sleep. A large preliminary study led by Professor Ball demonstrating the benefits of Sleep, Baby & You in the UK is published here. Helen’s book How Babies Sleep A Factual Guide to the first 365 Days and Nights will be published in May 2025.

Professor Ball's new book, How babies sleep, is available here.

Dr Felicity Davis

Tuesday 15 July 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST)

The biology of milk ejection: Laboratory based studies to visualise and understand the molecular mechanisms of oxytocin-mediated milk let down

Dr Felicity Davis holds a joint appointment between the University of New South Wales and Aarhus University in Denmark. She has brought together her unique expertise in calcium signalling, mammary biology, adult stem cells and volumetric imaging, with the overarching goal of improving our understanding of mothers’, women’s and babies’ health.

Felicity trained as a pharmacist before embarking on a PhD in the field of breast cancer at the University of Queensland. She subsequently trained at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS) in North Carolina as an NIH Visiting Fellow and in the Department of Pathology and Cambridge Stem Cell Institute at University of Cambridge as an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow. In 2018, Felicity was awarded an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship and Project Grant to start her independent research group in Australia. She currently runs two labs at the School of Biomedical Sciences in Sydney and the Department of Biomedicine in Aarhus, with generous support from the NHMRC and Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Dr Sharon Perrella

Tuesday 12 August 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST) Preterm Breastfeeding

Dr Sharon Perrella, PhD(Dist) RN RM IBCLC, is a Research Fellow at the Geddes Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group, UWA. Sharon has a clinical background and experience in paediatrics, midwifery and neonatal intensive care with a special interest in preterm breastfeeding and milk production. Since PhD graduation Sharon has used ultrasound and intraoral vacuum measurement to examine sucking dynamics and suck-swallow-breathe coordination, while her current work focuses on the identification and management of women at risk of reduced breastfeeding duration. Her clinical knowledge, experience and desire to improve outcomes for mothers and infants has driven her passion to make a difference by leading human lactation research, resulting in new knowledge and meaningful changes in evidence-based care.

Dr Leigh Campbell

Tuesday 16 September 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST), Persons with HIV and infant feeding approach in the perinatal period

and

Tuesday 18 Nov 25, 8.00-9.00pm (AEST), A case of infant fit and hold to protect an infant's airway

Dr Campbell is a board certified paediatrician, neonatologist and lactation medicine physician based in Mississippi, USA. She developed a passion for lactation medicine in 2011 following the birth of her twins with the beginning of her own breastfeeding journey.

Through Leigh's work in the Division of Newborn at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), the Department of Child and Adolescent Health at Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi Perinatal Quality Collaborative and her own lactation private practice, Dr. Campbell understands the great importance of supporting the health of Mississippi families as they transition through infancy and beyond.

In 2020, Dr. Campbell founded the "Bloom and Grow Lactation Medicine" clinic in which she still practices. Additionally, Dr. Campbell serves as the Director of the Lactation Clinic at UMMC. In July of 2023 with the support of the Chief of Newborn Medicine, Leigh and her colleagues opened the first hospital-based UMMC Lactation Clinic to meet the community need of outpatient evidence-based lactation support. It is the only physician-led lactation clinic in the state.

Dr Adam Ofri

Tuesday 8 April 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST) Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis + benign breast diseases

Dr Adam Ofri is a Breast Surgeon with Northern Breast Care in North Sydney, Goals in Bondi Junction and is a Visting Medical Officer at Bega South-East Regional Hospital. He has interests in preventative breast care (including tailored breast screening and risk assessment), benign and malignant breast disease. He also has a passion for academia being a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and a Clinical Research Fellow at the Royal Prince Alfred Institute of Academic Surgery. He is the recipient of the 2023 and 2024 Clinical Research Fellowships for Breast Cancer Trials and was awarded the 2023 John Collins Medal. His research is focussed on evaluating targeted axillary dissection in Australia and New Zealand, as well as designing a national RCT to evaluate DCISionRT.

You can visit Dr Ofri's website here.

Professor Jeanine Young AM

Tuesday 29 April 2025, 7.00-8.00pm (AEST)

Reframing from risk to protection to engage families with safe sleep messaging: words matter

Professor Jeanine Young is a registered nurse, midwife, and neonatal nurse. Jeanine has a special interest in the development of community based, wrap around care interventions to support families with social vulnerabilities who experience the greatest burden of infant mortality. Jeanine works in partnership with communities, government, industry, and safety and regulatory bodies, in translating evidence into practical parenting advice. Jeanine is the Australian lead for the Pēpi-Pod® Program in collaboration with Change for our Children New Zealand. In 2022 this program was associated with infant mortality reductions in Queensland. She is also co-clinical lead for the 2022 Qld Health Safer Infant Sleep Clinical Guideline which embedded a risk minimisation approach into service delivery. Jeanine was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2020 for her significant contributions to medical research in infant mortality prevention, tertiary education and nursing.

How to register and join online

All NDC Institute Masterclass, Accreditation Pathway and Maintenance, and NDC Providers + Educators registrants are welcome to join the live online Guest Presenter presentations at no additional cost. The zoom link for the presentation can be found in the education hub as follows:

• Module 1 - Masterclass registrants

• Module 2 - NDC Maintenance members

• Module 3 - NDC Accreditation members

• Getting Started, MOdule 1: NDC for Provider+Educator registrants

• Step #4 - Sleep Baby and You registrants

Registered health professionals who are not members of the NDC Accreditation and Pathway programs can join by registering via the Eventbrite links below:

Dr Kate Rassie, Tuesday 13 May 2025 Lactational amenorrhea, lactational osteoporosis and bone health, atrophic vaginitis - Registration

Professor Helen Ball, Tuesday 17 June 2025 How Babies Sleep: the view from anthropology Registration

Dr Felicity Davis, Tuesday 15 July 2025 The biology of milk ejection: Laboratory based studies to visualise and understand the molecular mechanisms of oxytocin-mediated milk let down Registration

Dr Sharon Perrella, Tuesday 12 August 2025 Preterm breastfeeding - [Registration]

Dr Leigh Campbell, Tuesday 16 September 2025 Persons with HIV and infant feeding approach in the perinatal period - Registration

Dr Leigh Campbell, Tuesday 14 October 2025 A case of infant fit and hold to protect an infant's airway - Registration

Presentations will not be available by recording (other than in specific sections of the NDC Lactation Felllowship).

Further details on our guest speaker program are coming soon - please watch this space!