Helen completed training as a physician in Obstetric Medicine and Endocrinology in 2010. She has since worked as a consultant physician from 2010-2022 at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital then Mater Health in Brisbane – two of the largest tertiary obstetric hospitals in Australia – caring for women with high-risk complex medical problems in pregnancy. As Director of Endocrinology at Mater Health, Helen also cared for many young adults (16-25 years) and adults with Type 1 and 2 diabetes as well as leading a clinical team with expertise in diabetes technology and management.
Helen moved to Sydney in 2022, joining the Obstetric Medicine team at The Royal Hospital for Women and the Endocrinology team at Prince of Wales Hospital as a Staff Specialist, as well as the Alana Healthcare team. She is a conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW Medicine.
Helen has a passion for improving the outcomes for mother and baby in complex pregnancy and has developed leadership, teaching and research roles in addition to her clinical expertise. She completed her PhD examining the role of lipids in diabetes in pregnancy in 2014 at the University of Queensland. Helen was the President of the Society for Obstetric Medicine Australia and New Zealand 2020-2022 and has also been a Board member of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society.
Helen has a particular research interest in maternal and placental metabolism in pregnancy, especially relating to diabetes and pre-eclampsia and has more than 90 publications, including being an author on National Clinical Guidelines from SOMANZ and ADIPS. Helen supervises and teaches medical students, and advanced training registrars as well as research students. She has previously been a Sub-Editor for the Internal Medicine Journal and is regularly an Examiner for the Royal Australian College of Physicians clinical examinations.
Helen would be delighted to see women with complex health needs prior to or during their pregnancies. Outside of pregnancy care, Helen focuses on excelling at diabetes management for people over the age of 16 years.
Helen has an abiding passion for improving health outcomes for those with complex pregnancy, and spends much of her time outside clinical work engaged in research trying to bring new discoveries from lab to the bedside and clinic room. When not working she loves to garden, ride her bike and spend time with family.
