NSLHD Nursing & Midwifery Research Conference 2026

Welcome to country and conference open 0830

Keynote address

Professor Emerita Mary Chiarella

Professor Mary Chiarella is Professor of Nursing at Sydney Nursing School and an internationally renowned nurse leader with a distinguished career in nursing services. Professor Chiarella is the interim Chair of the Northern Sydney Local Health District Board.

Morning Session Featuring

Professor Marion Eckert

Professor Marion Eckert, is the Professor of Health Innovation and Enterprise Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre, Adelaide University. She is also the Inaugural Professor of Cancer Nursing in South Australia.

Professor Thomas Buckley

Professor Tom Buckley is Professor of Advanced Practice Nursing and Deputy Head of School, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health. Professor Buckley is the 2026 recipient of the Mary Chiarella Medal for Nursing and Midwifery Research Excellence.

Associate Professor Deborah Fox

Deborah Fox is Associate Professor in Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives and Global Affiliate Associate Professor at Vin University, Vietnam. In 2025 Deborah spent three months as a Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford, hosted by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. As Founder and Chair of the Virtual Maternity Care Consortium of Australia and New Zealand, her focus is building the evidence for the design, implementation and evaluation of virtual maternity care, to enhance access to care for women with pregnancy and postpartum complications. She is the research lead for the establishment in 2025 of the first Virtual Maternity Ward in NSW, at the Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick.

Distinguished Professor Sandy Middleton

Sandy Middleton is the Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Nursing Research Institute at St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Australian Catholic University. She is a Mackillop Distinguished Professor at Australian Catholic University, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and an NHMRC Leadership Fellow. Professor Middleton is the Director, Nursing & Midwifery Implementation Science Academy, Maridulu Budyari Gumal (Sydney Partnership in Health, Education, Research & Enterprise – SPHERE) Advanced Health Research and Translation Centre.

Lunch and Networking 1200

Lunch and networking sponsored by the University of Tehnology Sydney

Concurrent Sessions 1300 - 1430

Clinician Researcher Presentations - Award for best presentation sponsored by The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney.

Including presentations from: the Nurse Practitioner Team - Intensive Care Unit, Maternity Services, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, and Emergency/ Critical Care Nursing.

Advanced Concept Development Workshop - Australasian Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Trials Network (ANMCTN)

Developing robust clinical trial concepts and the formulation of well-founded, competitive proposals aimed at maximising funding success, inlcuding: Clinical Background & Identifying the Research Gap, Collaborative Concept Development, and Feasibility.

Afternoon tea 1430

Afternoon session 1500

Professor Roderick Clifton Bligh

Professor Roderick Clifton-Bligh is Head of the Department of Endocrinology at Royal North Shore Hospital, and conjoint professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney. Professor Clifton-Bligh is the Medical Director, NorthStar Clinical Trials (non-oncology), the Head, Cancer Genetics Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research and the Co-Director, Cancer Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory, Kolling Institute of Medical Research.

Associate Professor Naomi Hammond 

Associate Professor Naomi Hammond is an internationally recognised critical care and sepsis nurse research leader. She heads the Critical Care and Sepsis Australia Programs at The George Institute for Global Health and serves as Executive Director of Research for Northern Sydney Local Health District in Sydney, Australia.

Professor Angela Dawson 

Angela Dawson is a Professor of Public Health, and nationally and internationally recognised expert in maternal and reproductive health and the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Health, UTS.

Award for best clinician researcher and conference close

Adjunct Professor Claire Harris, Executive Director Nursing and Midwfiery Northern Sydney Local Health District