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Committee

Stefania Velardo

Branch President

Stefania is a lecturer and early career researcher at Flinders University. Her research projects broadly centre on social, cultural and economic influences on people’s relationships with food, with a special interest in children’s food-related understanding and experiences. Stefania was born in Adelaide, with strong links to her father’s hometown in southern Italy and she loves travelling. Her career motto is: “One person can make a difference and everyone should try” - John F Kennedy.

Jo Raynor

Vice President

Jo, who is currently the Manager of Education Research and Advocacy at Arthritis SA, has over 30 years of experience working in the health promotion and community health sector.  Jo originally trained as a teacher but a strong interest in community health and supporting people to ‘live their best life’ soon had her out of the classroom.  Jo has been involved in many areas of health promotion cross the areas of drug and alcohol, cancer prevention, cancer screening and musculoskeletal health. 

Liana Bellifemini

General Member

 

Liana graduated in a Masters of Public Health mid-2017, having already graduated in a Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Health Promotion and Education in 2013; both completed at Flinders University. She has worked in various positions for SA Health and the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion and, as a Casual Academic Tutor in undergraduate health promotion topics at Flinders University. Currently, Liana works as a Senior Community Development Officer for the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. Her motto is: “In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

Gabrielle Fisher

Social Media Secretary

Gabrielle graduated a Bachelor of Health Science in 2017, where she minored in Public Relations and Human Resource Management and developed a particular interest in Health Promotion. She was awarded the AHPA SA Student Health Promotion Prize in 2015 and has been a part of the commitee ever since through a number of roles. She is currently working at headspace Adelaide on their Community Engagement Team and undertaking her Masters in Health Services Management at Uni SA. Her career goal is to help individuals live a healthier and safer life and to really make a positive impact within her community.

Jane Harford

Minutes Secretary

Jane is a lecturer in Health Sciences in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She completed her PhD in public health policy at the University of Adelaide. Before arriving at Flinders in 2017, she spent 14 years researching and writing on dental public health. As a result of her work in oral health, Jane retains an interest in working to understand sugar consumption as a public health and health promotion problem, and to explore ideas for how to minimise the effects of sugar on health.

Janelle Smith

General Member

After graduating from the University of South Australia's Bachelor of Laboratory Medicine degree, Janelle worked for a total of ten years at SA Pathology as a Medical Scientist. Despite a rather successful career in pathology, spending some time volunteering on both the SA/NT committees for the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists and Australiasian Association of Clinical Biochemists, in 2017 she decided to follow other health passions. Whilst working in Pathology and being involved in the opening of the new biochemistry laboratory at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, she started studying both the Graduate Diploma in Health Promotion and a Masters in Public Health. She has now completed the Graduate Diploma and in January 2020 she became an IUHPE Registered Health Promotion Practitioner. She looks forward to starting a new career in Health Promotion and being a part of the APHA SA committee. Her passions include child and maternal health, international health promotion initiatives, and boosting community health through club sport.

Emily Franklin

General Member

Emily is currently a student at Flinders University Studying a bachelor of health science majoring in health promotion. She was awarded the AHPA SA student health promotion prize in 2019 and has recently joined the committee. She has always had a passion for helping people and looks forward to making a difference.

Denise O'Connell

Correspondence Secretary

Denise is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with a special interest in health promotion, community health and environmental sustainability. She works at the Arthritis Association of South Australia as a Health Educator and Dietitian. Denise loves to connect with people and getting out in nature, combining these where ever she can. Denise aspires towards a career combining people, health and environment.

SA Branch