Research Team
Prof Natasha Smallwood is the Professor and Director of Respiratory Medicine at the Alfred Hospital (Melbourne) and School of Translational Medicine at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia). In addition to her respiratory qualifications, she holds postgraduate qualifications in Medical Leadership, Epidemiology and Palliative Care.
Prof Smallwood has authored over 150 publications and been awarded approximately $12 million as major research grants. She has clinical and research interests in severe lung disease, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung disease.
Prof Smallwood is the President for the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, a past Board Director for the Victorian Doctors Health Program (Australia), and holds multiple leadership roles. She is a taskforce member for various national and international respiratory guidelines. She recently worked with the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Healthcare to develop the first ever national clinical care standard in respiratory medicine for people with COPD.
A/Prof James Fingleton is Clinical Director Sub-speciality Medicine and a respiratory physician at Wellington Hospital. James is also an Associate Professor at the University of Otago, Wellington. He has a sub-specialist interest in asthma and COPD and was lead for the previous NZ National Asthma audit. He is a Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia New Zealand (TSANZ) NZ branch and Co-Chief Investigator of the Australia New Zealand Respiratory Audit Program (ANZRAP).
James also teaches as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Otago, Wellington and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and Asthma and COPD guidelines committees of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand.
Anagi Wickremasinghe is a Post-doctoral Research Assistant with the Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Group at Monash University and Bayside Health (Melbourne, Australia). She is the project manager of the Australia and New Zealand Respiratory Audit Program (ANZRAP). She has a background in public health and epidemiology, with nearly nine years’ experience working with national and binational clinical registries, including the Australia and New Zealand Bariatric Surgery Registry and the Australasian Pelvic Floor Procedure Registry. Her research has focused on the use of real-world clinical data to examine long-term patient outcomes, healthcare quality and patterns of care. She has expertise in registry operations, research governance, data quality and validation, longitudinal outcomes research and data linkage. Her research interests include real-world evidence, clinical registries, health services research and the translation of routinely collected health data into improvements in clinical practice and policy.
Dr Amy Pascoe is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Group at Monash University and Alfred Health in Melbourne, Victoria. Her research interests include symptom-supportive care, health service delivery, and healthcare equity in chronic respiratory disease.
Ms Catherine Buchan is a Respiratory and Sleep Nurse Consultant at Alfred Health and clinician researcher and PhD candidate in respiratory research@Alfred, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University. She holds postgraduate qualifications in critical care and a Master of Nursing Science. Catherine has clinical and research interests in people with advanced lung disease, particularly acute and chronic respiratory failure, utilising non-invasive respiratory supports and managing challenging symptoms such as severe breathlessness, to improve outcomes. Catherine is a Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, a current board director, chair of the clinical care and resources subcommittee and President-elect of the Victorian branch.
