Who We Are

Board Members

The board members of ausEE Inc.'s Management Committee are: 

Sarah Gray OAM

Founder, CEO and Board Member

Sarah has two daughters, one of which (Bella), lives with eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) and was the catalyst for her forming the non-profit organisation in November 2009. Working in a volunteer capacity for 12 years, until 2022, Sarah was the President until being appointed as part time CEO from 2022. Her goal is to make sure that anyone who lives with an eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease can turn to ausEE for support and to help raise awareness for eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases in Australia. For every new member that joins ausEE, Sarah's passion and commitment to the organisation strengthens. She strives to improve the quality of life for all people living with eosinophilic diseases. 

In January 2023, Sarah was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for her service to community health. Sarah is a member of the Institute of Community Directors Australia.

Dr Mercedez Hinchcliff

President

Mercedez joined the ausEE Inc. team in November 2009, her background is in Marketing and Finance within the Banking Industry. In 2019 she received her Doctorate from the University of Wollongong and currently lectures at the Sydney Business School (part of UoW) in Marketing. Her son Henry has EoE which is what led her to her involvement with ausEE and drives her dedication to the organisation. She is committed to providing support and information to the public and the medical community. 

In 2023 Mercedez conducted research to investigate home enteral nutrition and elemental formula use in Australia/New Zealand and health-related quality of life. View the Summary of Survey Results, released during Feeding Tube Awareness Week 2024 here.

Medical Advisory Board

All medical information we provide has been contributed by or reviewed by our volunteer Medical Advisory Board. We thank them for their valuable contributions and continued support.

Professor Nicholas J. Talley 

(AC, MD (NSW), PhD (Syd.), FRACP, FAFPHM, FAHMS, Gastroenterologist)

Professor Nick Talley is a distinguished physician scientist and gastroenterologist, with a special interest in functional and inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases including eosinophilic gut diseases. Nick is currently Distinguished Laureate Professor of Medicine at The University of Newcastle and a Senior Staff Specialist at the John Hunter Hospital. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Journal of Australia and a member of the NHMRC Council. He is a Past President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a past Chair of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges, former committee member and Treasurer of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and a former member of the NHMRC Research Committee and MBS taskforce. Nick has an outstanding highly cited academic track-record with over 1000 publications. He holds an NHMRC Investigator Grant, is Chief Investigator (CIA) on a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Digestive Health and is a chief investigator on several other successfully completed NHMRC and NIH grants, and has attracted funding worth more than AUD$15 million dollars in the last 5 years. Nick has won several prestigious research awards including the Distinguished Research Prize from the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA), Newcastle Innovation Excellence in Innovation Award, the NSW Excellence in Biological Sciences (Cell and Molecular, Medical and Veterinary and Genetics), 2018 NSW Scientist of the Year, Peter Wills Medal from Research Australia in 2018, Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumnus 2020, AMA gold medal 2021, and the UNSW Alumni Award 2021. He is invited to deliver lectures and present his research around the world, and is considered an international authority in the field.

Professor Pete Smith

(MBBS, BMedSci, FRACP PhD, Allergist and Immunologist)

Professor Smith is a leading allergist and immunologist in Australia. Pete commenced his medical studies at the University of Tasmania and went on to specialise in paediatrics in Adelaide, before completing his PhD in molecular immunology with Flinders University. He has worked as an allergy specialist at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, and was a senior lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. In 2002, Pete set up Queensland Allergy Services in Southport, on the Gold Coast. Here he provides patients the highest level of quality medical care in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies. Pete is a Professor in Clinical Medicine at Griffith University and Bond University. He currently conducts research studies into the molecular aspects of pain in allergic conditions. Pete is also doing studies in eosinophilic oesophagitis, genetic profiling in rhinitis and is part of an international study that is attempting to treat peanut allergy.

Associate Professor Hamish Philpott

(MBBS, MBBS, MRCP, FRACP, AGAF, PhD, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist)

A/Prof Philpott is a gastroenterologist with the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN – Modbury and Lyell McEwin Hospitals) and is also in private practice in Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills region. He is also a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Adelaide. He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2001 from the University of Adelaide, before completing his PhD at Monash University in 2016. His PhD considered the role of food and aeroallergens in eosinophilic oesophagitis. He has been awarded various research and clinical fellowships and has travelled to the USA and the United Kingdom to pursue these, including to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to further his research on eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). He received a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) scholarship to support his research on EoE and was awarded 2016/17 Bushell Fellow by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). A/Prof Philpott serves as a reviewer for multiple journals, such as Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Clinical and Experimental Allergy and has authored many publications. Dr Philpott has a special interest in diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease, particularly in the appropriate use of diagnostic investigations including gastroscopy and colonoscopy. Dr Philpott is involved in research involving a number of gastrointestinal conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, coeliac disease, the use of ultrathin transnasal gastroscopy and eosinophilic esophagitis.

Associate Professor Ajay Sharma

(MBBS, MD, FRACP, Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist)

A/Prof Sharma is a Senior Consultant in Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology practising in various locations in Perth including Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth Paediatrics, St John of God (SJOG) group of Hospitals and Joondalup Hospital. After finishing paediatric specialist training in Melbourne, Ajay trained in Paediatric gastroenterology and hepatology from Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) Perth, and the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada. Ajay currently holds a position as Chair of the Gastroenterology Society of Australia (GESA) - Paediatric Network since October 2020 and is also a full member of the North American Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and holds an appointment as an Adjunct at Curtin Medical School, Perth. Ajay has published scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and has an active interest in Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Eosinophilic Oesophagitis (EoE), Coeliac Disease, and Functional GI Disorders in the paediatric age group and has also written editorials in peer-reviewed journals. Ajay has always been actively involved in educational activities and throughout his career has given several talks/lectures for GPs, paediatricians, Allied health and patient advocacy groups. Ajay is currently a Principal Investigator for a Phase 3, multi-center, multi-national, randomized, double-blind, Placebo-controlled induction and maintenance study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CC-93538 in adult and adolescent participants with eosinophilic esophagitis.

Dr Looi Ee

 (MBBS, FRACP, PhD, Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist)

Dr Ee has trained in paediatric gastroenterology in Perth and Cincinnati, USA, and completed her PhD in Queensland. She has an interest in childhood nutrition, paediatric endoscopy and liver transplantation. She is the Medical lead of the Parenteral Nutrition Service at Queensland Children’s Hospital and established the first multidisciplinary Gastrostomy Clinic in Queensland in 2005. In addition to general Paediatric Gastroenterology, Dr Ee also sees patients in specialised services including Home Parenteral Nutrition/Intestinal failure, Liver Disease/Transplant, Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease and Aerodigestive clinics. She is a committee member of the Conjoint Committee for Recognition of Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and is accredited to perform endoscopy and colonoscopy in both paediatric and adult patients. She has previously been on the committees of Gastrointestinal Expert Group for Therapeutic Guidelines (2016, 2011), and Digestive Health Foundation; and is a past president of the Australian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition.

Dr Sam Mehr

(MBBS, BMedSci, FRCPA, FRACP, Paediatric Allergist, Immunologist and Immunopathologist)

Dr Mehr completed his medical degree at the University of Melbourne and trained both at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne and Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney. He has been a Consultant Allergist/Immunologist for 12 years in both public and private practice. His current appointments include Consultant Staff Specialist in Allergy and Immunology at the Royal Children's Hospital, Honorary Medical Officer at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Immunopathologist at Dorevitch Pathology, and Sub-editor of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. He has an ongoing strong interest in non-IgE food allergy, including FPIES, multiple food protein intolerances and eosinophilic oesophagitis.

Dr Jeremy Rosenbaum

(MBBS (Hons) FRACP, Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist)

Dr Rosenbaum graduated from Monash University Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery with Honours (MBBS, Hons) and then trained at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Additional postgraduate training includes a Clinical Academic Fellowship in Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. He is now a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and a specialist Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist with publications in the field and ongoing active research. In recent years, Jeremy was the principle investigator at the Royal Children’s Hospital for the international randomized controlled trial (RCT) looking into Dupilumab for eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). He is also clinical lead of endoscopy services at The Royal Children’s Hospital, an honorary lecturer at University of Melbourne and an honorary research fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Jeremy is an RACP college supervisor first both basic and advanced trainees. He also sits on the RACP Advanced Training Committee for gastroenterology as the paediatric representative.

Dr Vicki McWilliam

(PhD, Adv APD, Clinical Allergy Dietitian and Researcher)

Dr McWilliam is the dietitian for the Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where her role involves patient care, teaching, training, resource development and research. Vicki is involved in food allergy training of dietitians, nurses and doctors and is a frequently invited to participate in conferences, training sessions, and resource development in the area of food allergy. She also has a private practice specialising in food allergy at the Melbourne Allergy Centre and Children's Specialists, based in Parkville. She is the past chair of the dietitian subcommittee of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA). Vicki is involved in food allergy research and has several publications related to food allergy she completed her PhD with the Centre for Food and Allergy Research based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne.

Wendy Birks 

(Paediatric Dietitian - Feeding Clinic and Allergy)

Wendy has over 30 years of experience as a clinical dietitian. She has worked in a variety of hospitals and community settings for both adults and children. Wendy has been practising at the Children’s Hospital Westmead for the last 10 years as well as establishing her private practise. She provides dietetic care for infants and children with food allergies, feeding difficulties and faltering growth. She has a particular interest in working with families of children with complex nutritional issues relating to their medical condition. Her aim is to maximise their nutrition and growth without compromising the pleasure associated with eating. Along with this she has an extensive knowledge of cooking and meal planning to help families adjust to changing their diets.

Professor Evan S. Dellon 

International Medical Advisory Board Member (MD, MPH, Gastroenterologist) 

Professor Dellon is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. Dr Dellon received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He performed a clinical and a research fellowship in Adult Gastroenterology at UNC, during which he also received a Masters of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the UNC School of Public Health. Dr Dellon joined the UNC faculty and the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing (CEDAS) in 2008, where his main clinical focus is on disorders of swallowing, and in particular eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). He became Director of CEDAS in 2014, and has served as an Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology from 2017-2022, and remains on the editorial board of that journal. Dr Dellon’s research interest is in the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and the eosinophilic GI diseases (EGIDs). The goal of his research is to improve the lives of patients with EoE and EGIDs by learning how to better diagnose, treat, and monitor the condition. Dr Dellon is also the founder, with colleagues, of EGID Partners, a global patient registry and patient-powered research network.

Charity Ambassador

Eddie Woo

2018 Australia's Local Hero, mathematics teacher for the NSW Department of Education and TV Host of Teenage Boss, Eddie Woo has become an Australian household name and we are delighted to have him as our Charity Ambassador.
Eddie Woo has been inspiring students across the globe through his YouTube channel, Wootube for nearly 10 years. In 2018, Eddie joined ausEE Inc., as our Charity Ambassador to help raise awareness for eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID), a cause close to his heart.
Eddie is a proud father with three children who all live with some form of allergic disease. This includes asthma, eczema and multiple immediate food allergies. One of them has an EGID, namely, eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). EoE is a rare allergic disease caused by eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, being found in above-normal amounts in the oesophagus which can cause inflammation and tissue damage. This has caused Eddie’s child to live with symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, vomiting, stomach pain and ‘failure to thrive’. 

“The difficulties are every day. Eating itself has become a really difficult experience, because eating was associated with an incredible amount of discomfort and pain just to squeeze food and drink down. In addition, there is a social aspect to food that is very difficult for others to understand. Since relationships are often formed through mealtimes, our children have had to struggle with having a complex and cautious relationship to even the simplest social gatherings.”

Eddie Woo, 2018

Eddie has been teaching for 16 years and in 2012 when a student of his had Pancreatic cancer, he felt the urge to help as much as possible and started to record all of his lessons and post them on YouTube. It was astounding to see the amount of views, and his Wootube channel now has more than 1.7 million subscribers and nearly 157 million views. These videos are helping people around the world not only understand maths but find joy in maths. For our ausEE members who have high schoolers, this extra assistance with maths has been invaluable for their students as many have experienced the impact living with a chronic illness can have on school work. On Mathspace you can find Eddie Woo’s maths videos mapped to the Australian and state-specific curricula.

Eddie Woo reads Meet Arabella

In this video you can watch Eddie Woo reading our book Meet Arabella. Made in support of National EOS Awareness Week 2021, it’s a special video to watch with your kids, friends and family to help explain eosinophilic oesophagitis to them. Your child might even like to share the video with their teacher and classmates.

Organisation Memberships

ausEE Inc. is a member of the following:

American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (APFED)
Australian Patient Advocacy AllianceConnect GroupsConsumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF)
Continuity of Care Collaboration
Genetic Alliance Australia

Genetic Services Network Victoria (GSNV)Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP)
National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) 
National Patient Organisation Network (NPON)
Patient Voice Initiative Rare Voices Australia (RVA)Small Non-Profits Alliance

Who We Are

Board Members

Sarah Gray OAM

Dr Mercedez Hinchcliff

Mariya Taylor

Kristin Paterson

Dr Kylie Gwynne

Medical Advisory Board

Professor Nicholas J. Talley

Professor Pete Smith

Associate Professor Hamish Philpott

Associate Professor Ajay Sharma

Dr Looi Ee

Dr Sam Mehr

Dr Jeremy Rosenbaum

Dr Vicki McWilliam

Wendy Birks

Professor Evan S. Dellon

Charity Ambassador

Eddie Woo

Organisation Memberships

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