Women's health is more than a health issue - it's a workforce and innovation opportunity.
Creating the workforce of tomorrow starts with building a skilled, sustainable and equitable workforce. One of the greatest opportunities to strengthen participation, productivity and retention lies in an area that has long been overlooked - women’s health.
Women’s health across the life course can influence how women participate, progress and remain in work. From reproductive health and pregnancy to menopause, chronic disease and healthy ageing, workplaces and systems haven’t always kept pace with women’s needs - but new solutions are emerging.
Embedding women’s health into research, policy, workplace design and innovation can help create workplaces that work better for everyone. Greater focus and investment can strengthen evidence, accelerate solutions and ultimately build a more inclusive, productive and resilient workforce.
Join UNSW Medicine & Health, in collaboration with Women’s Health @ UNSW, for a thought-provoking conversation on the role of women’s health in shaping the workforce of tomorrow. Women’s Health @ UNSW is a new strategic initiative connecting research, education, policy, innovation and clinical translation to improve women’s health across the life course.
The event will be moderated by Dr Melina Georgousakis, Founder of Franklin Women, and will feature Professor Parmjot Bains, Chief Medical Officer at the RNA Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health; Dr Michael Holland MP, Member for Bega; and Dr Sneha Wadhwani, Co-Founder and National Clinical Director, Evoca Women’s Health.
This event will explore what’s changing and where new opportunities exist to innovate for women and shape the workforce of tomorrow.
Enjoy breakfast on arrival, interactive activities, professional development opportunities and meaningful networking with people passionate about creating lasting change.
Dr Melina Georgousakis, Founder of Franklin Women and is a health leader and social entrepreneur whose career spans medical research, public health policy, philanthropy, and gender equity. She brings particular expertise in women’s health, workforce development and systemic change.
She is the Founder and former Director of Franklin Women, a nationally recognised social enterprise that advanced women’s participation and leadership across health and medical research. Under her leadership, Franklin Women supported thousands of women and allies and built a network of 27 partner organisations committed to creating a more equitable sector.
Melina is an experienced speaker and facilitator, known for bringing together diverse perspectives and leading thoughtful conversations on health, innovation, and equity. She holds a PhD in medical research and a Master of Public Health, and is a recipient of the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers.
Professor Parmjot Bains, Chief Medical Officer at the RNA Institute, UNSW, brings more than two decades of experience spanning clinical medicine, public health, drug development and healthcare translation.
A medical graduate of the University of Auckland and Commonwealth Scholar to the University of Cambridge, where she completed an MPhil in International Relations, Prof Bains began her career at the intersection of global health and policy. She worked at the World Health Organization on the revision of the International Health Regulations before returning to clinical medicine at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick.
Transitioning into strategy and consulting, Prof Bains spent four years at McKinsey & Company before moving into biopharmaceutical leadership. She served as COO and CEO of Neuren Pharmaceuticals, leading early pre-clinical neuroscience programs through to Phase III clinical trials. She subsequently served as CEO of Perseis Therapeutics, focused on monoclonal antibody targets for the treatment of breast cancer, and as an Advisor and Honorary Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health.
Prof Bains spent eight years at Pfizer in global health equity and commercial roles across international markets. This included establishing an oncology medicines access program in Sub-Saharan Africa in partnership with the American Cancer Society and Clinton Health Access Initiative, and serving as Pfizer Country Manager across the six Gulf Cooperation Council markets. Most recently, she was CEO and Managing Director of an ASX-listed medical technology company.
Prof Bains brings to UNSW an end-to-end perspective on translational medicine from bench discovery through regulatory approval, market access and real-world clinical adoption with a passion for ensuring science reaches the patients who need it.
Dr Michael Holland has dedicated his working life to listening to and helping people. An obstetrician and gynaecologist in the Bega and Eurobodalla Shires for close to two decades, and a senior specialist at Moruya and Batemans Bay Hospitals, Michael understands the importance of a healthcare system that supports regional communities. Through his role with the Southern Local Health District, he worked closely with NSW Health to develop policy and guidelines relating to obstetric and gynaecological care, while also teaching the next generation of medical professionals as a lecturer at the Australian National University Medical School.
For the last two decades Michael has been working with and for our community, dedicating his personal and professional life to improving women’s health and health services across the Bega electorate.Michael is a loving father to five daughters and has worked hard to establish his own specialist clinic in his town of Moruya where he lives with his wife Lyn. Michael also recognises the critical need for affordable and available housing for the community as well as the need to protect our natural environment for generations to come.
Dr Sneha Wadhwani is a General Practitioner and women’s health advocate whose career spans over two decades across the UK and Australia. Graduating from the University of Leicester in 2002 and completing her GP training in London in 2006, Sneha’s early passion for improving healthcare access and service delivery shaped her career trajectory from the outset.
As a GP partner from the age of 27 years, in a large 8 partner UK practice and clinical contract lead for an 80-practice commissioning group, she worked closely with tertiary hospitals to drive better clinical outcomes and negotiate service contracts - work that was strengthened by leadership training through the prestigious King’s Fund in 2009.
After relocating to Sydney in 2015 with her family, Sneha continued to expand her influence beyond clinical care. As NSW/ACT Clinical Director the ForHealth network of multidisciplinary medical centres, she has overseen clinical governance, service delivery, and GP wellbeing, including leading the COVID-19 response across 28 centres in NSW and the ACT. As Conjoint Lecturer for UNSW School of Medicine, and GP registrar trainer her commitment to ensuring the art and diversity of General Practice is taught and showcased to doctors in training as a means of empowering a legacy in the profession for the future.
Her lifelong interest in women’s health culminated in the co-founding of Evoca Women’s Health, a network of GP-led clinics offering holistic, evidence-based, and accessible care. Since opening its first clinic in 2022, Evoca has grown to 55 sites nationally, supported by over 140 women’s health clinicians. Under her leadership, Evoca has trained more than 200 doctors and nurses in contraceptive procedures, engaged over 3,000 practitioners in educational webinars, and fostered a vibrant clinician community through mentorship and peer learning.
With a passion for improving women’s health literacy, she has successfully co-created and delivered two podcast series – “Everything from A to V” aimed at addressing misinformation and disinformation in the women’s health space.
Sneha’s leadership is defined by empathy, authenticity, and collaboration. She remains deeply committed to empowering clinicians, advancing women’s health education, and designing sustainable, patient-centred models of care that improve health outcomes for women across Australia.
Professor Cheryl Jones is a world-renowned paediatric infectious diseases physician clinician-scientist and health and medical educator. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences, she has secured over $35 million in peer-reviewed funding and published more than 170 peer reviewed publications. Her research, particularly on childhood encephalitis, vaccination and mother to child transmission of infections, has significantly influenced global health policy. Professor Jones has held senior executive positions at leading University and Health and Medical research institutions, professional societies and statutory authorities and actively contributes to government policy and clinical practice guidelines. She is a Director of the Australian Medical Council, an Executive Member of the AAHMS Council and a Director of the Ramsay Health Care Research Foundation. Her work in supervising postgraduate students has earned her recognition for mentoring excellence.
Professor Jane Currie is the inaugural Discipline Lead for Nursing at UNSW, leading systemic healthcare reforms for Australia's most vulnerable populations. As a veteran, nurse practitioner, and mixed-methods researcher, her co-designed models of care translate lived experience directly into practice and policy. Her doctoral research underpinned the historic 2023 Federal Budget reform that abolished restrictive 2010 nurse practitioner Collaborative Arrangement legislation and secured a 30% increase to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebate—the first major policy overhaul in over a decade. Currently, she serves as Chief Investigator (CIA) on the MRFF Healthy & HomED program ($3.69) optimising emergency department responses to people experiencing homelessness, alongside a Rosemary Bryant Foundation grant to empower nurse-led scope of practice in specialist homeless clinical services. Jane's extensive education and clinical leadership is decorated with an Australia Day Medallion, an Army Service Medal, and an Australian Award for University Teaching Citation.
