Lena James is an Allergy & Eczema Nurse Practitioner working in a large private specialist immunology practice in Brisbane. She has worked in Allergy & Eczema for almost 10 years as a clinical nurse and has previously worked across emergency and intensive care environments. She is passionate about the early intervention management of eczema and allergy, and effective management and care collaboration strategies to optimise patient care and empowerment.

Gavin joined the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at King’s College London as a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2023. He co-leads the ReSpect Lab (Researching Autism across the Spectrum and Lifespan) with Professor Francesca Happé.

Gavin has several strands of active research. He is primarily interested in the 1) health, cognition, life experiences, and support needs of autistic (and other neurodivergent) people in midlife and older age. He is also interested in the 2) impact of social isolation and loneliness in older age. Additionally, his research also explores the 3) provision and accessibility of adult autism assessments in historically overlooked populations.

To explore these areas, Gavin works with a range of longitudinal cohorts, including the AgeWellAutism study (a cohort he first formed in 2019 and followed-up in 2023 that tracks age-related change in autistic/non-autistic adults in midlife and older age) and the PROTECT study (a healthy ageing cohort formed in 2015 with annual follow-ups that tracks adults across midlife and older age). He also works with smaller bespoke cross-sectional cohorts collected throughout his PhD and postdoctoral positions. These cohorts enable him to explore cross-sectional differences and longitudinal changes in ageing using categorical (i.e., those diagnosed with autism or who self-identify as autistic) and dimensional (i.e., those with autistic traits) approaches. Gavin also collaborates with clinical colleagues, who work with healthcare record and clinic data.

Beyond his current role at King’s, Gavin is also the coordination lead and a founding working group member for NHS England’s Autism Practitioner Network, a quarterly forum for clinicians and allied health professionals working in NHS/private autism-related services in England.

Prior to joining the SGDP Centre as a staff member in 2023, Gavin was an ESRC-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London (2022-2023), a Clinical Study Manager for an autism diagnostic tool development study at East London NHS Foundation Trust (2021-2022), and an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths (2018-2021).

Gavin completed his PhD in Developmental Psychiatry at the SGDP (2018-2021), with a thesis titled ‘Ageing and Autism Spectrum Disorders’, supervised by Prof Francesca Happé and Dr Rebecca Charlton (Goldsmiths). Prior to beginning his PhD studentship, Gavin studied MSc in Genes, Environment and Development in Psychology and Psychiatry at King’s College London (2017-2018) and BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Goldsmiths (2014-2017).

When he’s not working, Gavin enjoys listening to audiobooks, exploring art galleries and museums, and enjoying food from different cultures.

Dr Melissa Beitner is dual-certified in General and Bariatric Surgery, as well as Obesity Medicine. She is passionate about providing her patients with expert, comprehensive care in both general and bariatric surgical services. Together with her team, Dr Beitner delivers the highest standards of medical care, combined with compassion for every patient. She has also completed fellowships in Australia at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and St George Hospital in Sydney.

Dr Annika Smith is a consultant dermatologist with clinical and academic roles across public and private centres in Sydney, including St Vincent’s Hospital, The Skin Hospital, and the Melanoma Institute. She completed specialist training at St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London, followed by further clinical experience at NYU, New York.A Fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatologists, Dr Smith’s interests include psoriasis and other chronic inflammatory skin diseases, advanced therapeutics, and multidisciplinary care, with a particular focus on chronic inflammatory skin diseases and their systemic sequelae, as well as skin cancer medicine and prevention.Her research encompasses optimising care pathways and outcomes in chronic inflammatory skin disease, with a particular emphasis on psoriasis, alongside research into skin cancer prevention and broader aspects of skin health.

Dr Mahoney graduated from Bond University in 2013. She completed her general paediatric training in Queensland before moving to Melbourne to pursue specialty training in Paediatric Allergy & Immunology at Epworth Hospital Richmond and The Royal Children’s Hospital. She now calls Melbourne home, and works as a consultant allergist at the Royal Children’s Hospital immunisation service, at Sunshine Hospital paediatric allergy clinic, and in private practice at MACCS Medical Group (MACCS is pronounced ‘Max’, long version Melbourne Allergy Centre & Children’s Specialists). Gabby’s areas of interest include food, medication and vaccine allergy, chronic urticaria, eczema, allergic rhinitis and asthma.