President: Pam Chen (TAS)

Pam is a Podiatrist working at the Tasmanian Health Service, and has experience working in both acute and rural and remote community podiatry settings. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania (thesis topic: the associations of health literacy with foot ulceration in people with diabetes). 

Pam has been on the APP-HRF committee since 2014 and President since 2016. Her interests include research, audits and credentialing

Vice President: Georgina Frank (NSW)

Georgina is a podiatrist specialising in diabetes-related foot disease (DFD). Currently, she is employed as a project officer for the national Foot Forward Project which aims to develop an Integrated Diabetes Footcare Pathway to support early referral for people with diabetes-related foot diseases. During this time, she is on secondment from her position as Deputy Director of Podiatry for the Sydney Local Health District where she usually works with a wonderful team of podiatrists providing preventative foot care and acute management for DFD within and part of integrated teams.

Georgina currently practices in outreach with the Outback Vascular Health Service, Endocrinology team from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Diabetes Centre, working with the fantastic Maari Ma Aboriginal Health Service in Broken Hill and Wilcannia. Georgina has completed her Master of Public Health which was a labour of love while working full-time and has made her more determined to improve health equity within the Australian health system.

Georgina has been on the APP-HRF committee since 2019 and Vice President since 2020.

Treasurer: Stephen Tucker (VIC)

Stephen has been a podiatrist for a long time, having spent many years working with the High Risk Foot at St. Vincent's Hospital, and Eastern Health in Melbourne. He has also been on the A.Pod.A. (Vic), A.Pod.C. and Podiatry Board of Victoria executives.
More recently Stephen has moved to administrative roles managing Specialist Clinic (outpatient Departments) and currently works as an Electronic Medical Records analyst at the Royal Children's Hospital. He was an inaugural committee member of the APP-HRFG, and continues to be an active committee member acting as treasurer. Stephen has special interests in health policy and funding.

Secretary: Tracy Tibballs (VIC)

Tracy graduated from Latrobe University with honours in 2004 and has worked across both the acute and community sectors. She has over 10 years experience managing the High risk foot, working at Northern Health and as Podiatry Manager at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.  Tracy has completed a Masters of Health Science and was a board member on the Australian Podiatry Association (Vic).  Currently she is working at EACH, a community health service in Ringwood, Victoria and has only recently joined the APP-HRFG committee. Her special interests include wound care and working on the partnership between hospitals and the community sectors.

Charlotte Cooke (VIC)

Charlotte has been an APP-HRFG committee member since 2015.   She moved from the UK in 2013 and joined the High Risk Foot service at Western Health Melbourne. She provides a valuable insight into offloading strategies for the high risk foot with her knowledge of musculoskeletal presentations.  She has completed her masters studies in Clinical Podiatric Biomechanics and is currently practicing as an Advance Practice Orthopaedic Podiatrist.  Improving access to the right care for those patients presenting with musculoskeletal pathologies.  She is commencing a research project, exploring the offloading properties of the focused rigidity casting technique, in the prevention and management of pressure injuries to the heel.

Virginia Black (WA) 

Virginia is a senior podiatrist with extensive experience both in private practice and the community health sector. Virginia is currently working for a not-for-profit organisation in the remote Kimberley region Western Australia, where she runs a high risk foot service. Her passion is Indigenous health focusing on providing culturally safe, quality patient centered care to address the high amputation risk.

Julie Nguyen (QLD)

Julie is a lecturer in Podiatry at CQUniversity. She received her Bachelor of Podiatry degree from La Trobe University and the Master of Public Health degree from the University of Melbourne. She has extensive clinical experience in the area of high risk foot and has worked in the acute care setting for numerous years. Julie has practiced in outreach, public and private sector and has also worked in various roles such as Lead Project Officer in Public Affairs and Communication, Health Promotion and Healthcare projects including the Department of Health and Human Services funded projects.

Julie is currently involved in research in the area of 3D orthotic therapy, podiatric simulation education, health policy, ageing in home, and telemedicine and technology. Julie is a member of the CQUniversity Human Research Ethics Committee, responsible for assessing and providing clearance to any research undertaken by university staff or Research Masters or Doctorate candidates.

Rebecca Matthews (NT)

Rebecca is an Alice Springs based Podiatrist, having worked extensively throughout Central Australia in both the public and private sectors, delivering high risk foot care services in both urban and remote community settings.

Prior to relocating to the NT Rebecca spent time at Melbourne Health and Merri Community Health working on the Diabetic Foot Unit and HARP.

Rebecca has also worked as a volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa assisting the staff at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital establish a high risk foot and wound care service.