Advisory Group

Professor Luke Wolfenden
University of Newcastle, Australia

Luke Wolfenden is a Professor and NHMRC Leadership Fellow and leading public health researcher whose work focuses on chronic disease prevention through evidence-based health promotion strategies. He has pioneered approaches to improve the implementation of health programs across diverse community settings, including schools, hospitals, and childcare services. His research aims to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and public health practice, ensuring that effective interventions are adopted more rapidly and widely. In his role as an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, Professor Wolfenden contributes his expertise in implementation science and health systems strengthening to support the development and integration of scalable, impactful interventions.

Professor Rachael Taylor
University of Otago, New Zealand

Rachael Taylor is a Professor and leading expert in childhood obesity prevention, serving as the Karitane Fellow in Early Childhood Obesity and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago. As Director of the Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre, she oversees innovative research exploring how sleep, diet, and physical activity influence weight management in children. Her work includes large-scale randomized controlled trials such as POI (Prevention of Overweight in Infancy) and BLISS (Baby-Led Introduction to Solids), which investigate early-life interventions to promote healthy growth and prevent obesity. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, Professor Taylor brings her extensive experience in designing and evaluating family- and community-based strategies to transform global approaches to early childhood obesity prevention.

Professor Lee Sanders
Stanford University, USA

Lee M Sanders, MD, MPH, is Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy at Stanford University, where he serves as Chief for the Division of General Pediatrics. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Human Biology Program and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford d.School). Dr. Sanders leverages multi-disciplinary collaborations and methods, including human-centered design, clinical-trial frameworks, and AI-driven population science, to advance novel approaches to improving life-course health. Studies include those to prevent obesity during early childhood, to mitigate the impact of immigration policy on child health, to inform education policy on the long-term consequences of preterm birth, and to improve coordinated care for people with chronic conditions. Together with colleagues, his Health Literacy Lab is now becoming a “Design Studio for AI Population Health” -- applying novel analytic tools to support front-line public health providers in underserved communities. As a primary-care physician, Dr. Sanders provides direct care for medically and socially complex children at both an academic medical centre and a federally qualified health centre.

Assistant Professor Charles Wood
Duke University, School of Medicine, USA

Dr Charles Wood is an Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at Duke University, where he specializes in general paediatrics and adolescent health, with a clinical focus in the newborn nursery and outpatient teaching clinic. His research centres on early childhood obesity prevention, utilising behaviour change strategies, clinical risk prediction tools, and electronic health record-based decision support to develop pragmatic interventions in primary care settings. Dr Wood investigates the interplay between feeding practices, appetitive traits, and childhood adiposity to inform scalable solutions. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, he contributes his expertise in designing and implementing evidence-based interventions that address obesity risk from infancy, helping to shape global strategies for healthier early childhood development.

Dr Peter Godolphin
University College London, MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology, UK

Peter Godolphin is a Senior Research Fellow and medical statistician at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London, where he specializes in meta-analysis and clinical trials methodology. With a background in medical statistics and a PhD in Clinical Trials Research, his work focuses on optimizing statistical approaches to evaluate treatment effectiveness and improve health outcomes. He has contributed to major research initiatives, including the STOPCAP M1 programme for prostate cancer and has been recognized with a Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation for his work on personalized treatment strategies. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, he applies his expertise in evidence synthesis and statistical modelling to support the development of robust, data-driven approaches for early childhood obesity prevention.

Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar
University College Cork, Ireland

Karen Matvienko-Sikar is a health psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health at University College Cork, where she leads research focused on maternal and child health, particularly development, implementation and evaluation of perinatal and early-life interventions. Her work emphasizes the integration of psychological theory and evidence-based strategies to improve outcomes during pregnancy and early childhood. She also conducts research in relation to trial design and outcome evaluation, and is an advocate for open research principles and practices. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she contributes her expertise in intervention development, behavioural science, outcomes research, and maternal-child health to support the creation of effective, scalable strategies for preventing early childhood obesity.

Dr Kristy Robledo
University of Sydney, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Australia

Kristy Robledo is a Senior Research Fellow in biostatistics and holds an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellowship at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. With over 17 years of experience in clinical trials research, she provides statistical leadership across diverse health domains including oncology, neonatology, and cardiovascular studies. Her expertise lies in the design, analysis, and reporting of clinical trials, with a particular focus on biomarker data, risk prediction modelling, and improving reproducibility in research. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she contributes her deep knowledge of trial methodology and biostatistics to support rigorous evidence synthesis and the development of effective early childhood obesity prevention strategies.

Dr Vicki Brown
Deakin University, Deakin Health Economics, Institute for Health Transformation, Australia

Vicki Brown is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin Health Economics and a member of the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at Deakin University. Her research focuses on the economics of chronic disease prevention, applying advanced economic evaluation methods to assess the cost-effectiveness and scalability of public health interventions. She has led health economics components on numerous nationally funded projects and is the Stream 2 lead for the Centre of Research Excellence in Translating the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (CRE EPOCH-Translate). As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she brings critical expertise in economic modelling and priority-setting to support the development of efficient, evidence-based strategies for early childhood obesity prevention.

Dr Sarah Taki
Sydney Local Health District, Australia
University of Sydney (Affiliate)

Sarah Taki is a Senior Research Officer at the Health Promotion Service, South Western Sydney Local Health District, and an Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University. Her research focuses on maternal and child health, with a particular emphasis on early childhood obesity prevention and health equity. She has led and contributed to numerous projects that explore culturally appropriate, community-based interventions to support healthy behaviours in families from diverse backgrounds. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she brings valuable expertise in co-design methodologies, implementation science, and culturally responsive health promotion strategies to help shape inclusive and effective approaches to preventing obesity in early life.

Associate Professor H. Shonna Yin
NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA

Dr Shonna Yin is Associate Professor of Paediatrics and Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where she leads research focused on health literacy and its impact on child health outcomes. Her work centres on developing and evaluating low-literacy strategies to improve parental understanding of paediatric medication instructions, with a broader aim of enhancing safety and equity in healthcare delivery for children. She has served as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded studies and is a key contributor to national initiatives such as the CDC’s PROTECT Taskforce and the FDA’s Risk Communication Advisory Committee. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she brings her expertise in health literacy-informed interventions and systems-level approaches to support the development of accessible, effective strategies for early childhood obesity prevention.

Professor Alison Hayes
University of Sydney, Australia

Alison Hayes is a health economist at the University of Sydney and Stream 2 Lead of the Translating the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (EPOCH Translate) Centre for Research Excellence (CRE). Her research focuses on the economic evaluation of public health interventions, particularly those targeting obesity and chronic disease prevention in early life. She has led numerous studies assessing the cost-effectiveness and long-term impact of early childhood health programs, providing critical insights to guide policy and investment decisions. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she contributes her expertise in health economics to support the development of scalable, economically sustainable strategies for preventing obesity from infancy.

Professor Denise O’Connor
Monash University, Australia

Denise O’Connor is Professor, NHMRC Leadership Fellow, and Deputy Director of the Wiser Health Care Unit in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. Her research program is in implementation science and investigates the causes of, and the design and evaluation of solutions to address, research translation failures including over/underuse of healthcare tests and treatments, and ineffective models of healthcare. She leads implementation research in 3 NHMRC-funded Centres of Research Excellence: Wiser Healthcare Collaboration, Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network, and Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in the Digital Era across One Health. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, she brings her expertise in evidence synthesis, implementation science, and health systems improvement to support the development of effective, scalable strategies for early childhood obesity prevention.

Professor Lisa Askie
University of Sydney (Honorary)

Lisa Askie is Scientist and Methods Lead within the Quality Norms and Standards Department, Science Division of the World Health Organisation. She has prior experience leading a large research team, managing the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), undertaking Health Technology Assessments for the Australian Federal Government, hosting two Cochrane Collaboration entities (Breast Cancer Review Group, Prospective Meta-analysis Methods Group) and overseeing an extensive medical test evaluation research program. Lisa was a lead investigator in the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (EPOCH) IPD PMA. She has a long standing interest in the conduct and methodology of clinical trials, systematic reviews and other forms of evidence synthesis, especially with regard to increasing research transparency and reducing research waste and in her capacity as a University of Sydney Honorary Professor, is able to bring this to the TOPCHILD Collaboration as an advisor.

David Espinoza
University of Sydney, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Australia

David Espinoza is a biostatistician and has been at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney since 2011. David was the lead statistician on the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (EPOCH) IPD-PMA but has also worked extensively on clinical oncology trials, collaborated with the BODEN institute looking at obesity, and consults with the Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research. He is a clinical trials randomisation specialist and oversees this service provided by the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre.

Associate Professor Paul Chadwick
University College London (Honorary), UK
Behavioural Science and Public Health Network

Paul Chadwick is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Honorary Associate Professor at the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, where he leads interdisciplinary research and practice in behaviour change with a focus on chronic disease self-management, public health, and social justice. He is now the Director of the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network. With nearly two decades of clinical experience in weight management and long-term conditions, he has developed and evaluated large-scale, group-based behaviour change interventions across national and international contexts. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, he contributes his expertise in integrating systems thinking with behavioural science to support the design and implementation of complex interventions aimed at transforming early childhood obesity prevention.

Professor Chris Rissel
University of Sydney (Adjunct), Australia

Chris Rissel is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney. Previously he has held the role of Director of the NSW Office of Preventive Health and Professor of Public Health with the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. His work at the NSW Office of Preventive Health included the Healthy Children Initiative, which comprises a suite of programs aimed to reduce childhood overweight and obesity through addressing healthy eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in early child care services, schools, community and recreational settings. He developed the NSW Charter for Children’s Active Travel, and a set of NSW government resources to support the Charter.

Wendy Smith
Sydney Local Health District, Australia

Wendy Smith is a Clinical Nurse Educator in Child and Family Health Nursing with Sydney Local Health District, bringing over 20 years of experience as a lactation consultant and a strong background in maternal and child health. She plays a key role in training and supporting child and family health nurses, particularly in embedding the Healthy Beginnings Program into everyday practice. Her work has included leading roles in breastfeeding support, telehealth services, and health promotion initiatives. Notably, she contributed to the Healthy Beginnings program, where she developed and delivered a telephone-based intervention supporting mothers from late pregnancy through early childhood. As an advisor to the TOPCHILD Collaboration, Wendy brings valuable expertise in telehealth, early intervention, and family-centred care to support scalable strategies for early childhood obesity prevention.