Catherine Bonifant has been a clinical paediatric dietitian for over 20 years and is currently undertaking consultancy work within private enterprise. Catherine was a Clinical Leader of Dietetic Services at the Queensland Children’s Hospital for 8 years and was a Clinical Specialist Dietitian at the Royal Children’s Hospital for nearly 10 years prior to this. Catherine has been a recognised leader in the clinical dietetic management of inborn errors of metabolism, and the nutritional management of respiratory disorders, including cystic fibrosis, and has presented at national and international scientific meetings on these areas. Additionally, Catherine has authored book chapters, journal articles and conference abstracts on these topics. Catherine has previously worked at Nutrition Australia within the Childcare Advisory Service, with Save the Children Fund, in private practice, in research, and with elite athletes and teams. Catherine is an accomplished public speaker and has a special interest in infant and pre-school nutrition, and in nutrition education and advocacy. She enjoys teaching, lecturing and educating in these areas, and works with Dietitians Australia in delivering national paediatric nutrition education. Catherine is an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

Dr. John Cairney is Professor and Head of the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland and was a subject matter expert reviewing content for Podsquad. He is past-President of the North American Society for Paediatric Exercise Medicine. An internationally recognised leader in the field of child health, sport and physical activity, Dr. Cairney is the author/editor of four books and more than 300 peer-reviewed research articles. He has held numerous funded grants, totalling more than $18.5 million in research grants and contracts as a Principal Investigator. A sought-after scientific consultant to government, Dr. Cairney was co-lead on the evaluation of the child and youth mental health strategy in Ontario, a member of the scientific advisory board for Healthy Kids Community Challenge, expert advisor on the brain health supplement to the ParticipACTION Report Card (2018), and lead investigator on the special need’s strategy in Ontario.

Joanna Munro has been a dietitian for over 20 years, with the majority of those specialising in paediatrics. She is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with international experience (Australia, UK and USA) in community dietetics, school nutrition education, hospital care, clinical prevention and industry-based sales/marketing.

Joanna worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane for 7 years specialising in the nutritional management of children with acquired brain injury and cerebral palsy. She was the Clinical Educator, Children’s Health Queensland, providing training and upskilling to paediatric dietitians across Queensland as well as Queensland students studying paediatrics.

As Program Manager, Joanna led, planned and coordinated the creation of a paediatric dietetic private practice, provided ongoing support for clinical care and consultancy in the areas of bespoke education and training packages on a variety of nutrition related topics to meet the needs of specific audiences.

Joanna is currently the Director Health System Partnerships at Health and Wellbeing Queensland, bridging the gap between health promotion and clinical healthcare by integrating prevention across the health system.

Associate Professor Heussler is a Paediatrician with a focus on Developmental Disorders and Sleep Medicine. She is primarily a clinician but has strong commitments to advocacy and research in the clinical populations she works with as well as broader child health advocacy and equitable access. She has worked in Qld, Victoria and the UK as a Clinical Academic and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland. She completed her Doctorate in Sleep Medicine in the UK and training formally in 2008. She works in the Respiratory and Sleep department at Children’s Health Queensland and has completed a number of significant research programs in this area with a specific focus on children with developmental difficulties. More recently she has led the establishment of the Clinical trials Centre for Rare Neurodevelopmental disorders now leading the way in Australia for delivery in this population.

Simon Smith is a Professor of Sleep and Health at The University of Queensland. He is a psychologist who works to understand the role of sleep and circadian rhythms (our ‘body clocks’) in health, wellbeing, and learning. Simon takes a ‘life course’ approach, working with people of all ages, but has a strong focus on sleep for children and young people. Simon’s work includes the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and other strategies to improve sleep for individuals, families, in workplaces, in education settings, and in the broader community.

Dr Sally Staton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. As an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, her work focuses on the role of early childhood practices in supporting positive health, wellbeing and learning in the first five years of life. Sally’s prior work includes the most comprehensive study of sleep practices in Early Childhood Education and Care settings, internationally. Sally has a strong commitment to research translation and has developed professional development programs and resources for early childhood educators, families, industry and governments.

Dr Sjaan Gomersall is a Senior Research Fellow at the Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences and a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. Sjaan was involved in reviewing Move related content for the Podsquad program app. Her research expertise is focused on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and behaviour change in a range of populations, including children and young people. She is a member of the Research Working Group for the Australian Physical Activity Report Cards for Children and Young people, is a physical activity consultant for the World Health Organisation and is President-Elect (2022-2024) of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health.

Dr Michalis Stylianou is a senior lecturer in Health, Sport and Physical Education with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland and was involved in the review of the Move content for Podsquad. His research interests centre around understanding and enhancing children and young people’s physical activity and creating active and healthy schools. Michalis is a member of the Active Healthy Kids Australia research working group, a collaboration of children’s physical activity and health researchers who advocate for actions to increase the physical activity levels among Australian children using the Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Young People as the core monitoring metric.

Fiona Nave is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian with over 20 years’ experience working with children in hospitals and in the community in Australia and the United Kingdom. Working as a Senior Public Health Nutritionist at Health and Wellbeing Queensland, Fiona has a passion for helping children and their families to choose sustainable healthy solutions that will positively impact long-term weight and health.

As a busy working parent with two primary school-aged children, Fiona knows how difficult it can be to help children choose healthy options when it comes to food and physical activity. Role-modelling healthy eating or activity and having a positive body image is so important within a family and, as a result, Fiona feels passionate about creating a positive environment for children to grow in. She would love children and their parents to approach healthy eating as a positive and enjoyable aspect to life by choosing to add health to their life each day, no matter what size they are.

Georgie is a Butchulla woman, Gubbi Gubbi descendant and South Sea Islander (Tanna). Georgie developed fun and upbeat dance and movement sequences for the Podsquad app. Originally from Hervey Bay, Georgie has been a professional dancer for over a decade, and is a choreographer, has her own dance school, Drifters, Big Notas & Co. and facilitates workshops within schools and communities.

(Yidinji, Kuku Yalanji, Waanyi, Koko Berrin)

Michael Ah Kee is a young illustrator, designer and emerging writer at Iscariot Media (IM). He graduated from TAFE Queensland in 2019 and has since worked on a range of projects with IM including original designs, educational materials and short animations. Michael’s ability to creatively write was revealed in a recent project with the Brisbane City Council where his poetry was a standout feature of the Layers of The Garden project. He has since begun working on a children’s book based on his illustrations. Michael was the principal author of the Sleepy Time stories featured in Podsquad and with the support of the broader IM team was able to bring these gentle meditative narratives to life.