Directors
Justin Hogg
Justin is an accountant and Company Secretary. He runs his own business, Right Source, which specialises in not-for-profits. Justin is currently the Company Secretary for 5 not-for-profits.
Justin’s passion and the driving force in his career are people. Through multiple leadership positions and business experience, Justin has gained a unique ability to communicate and relate with people of all walks of life.
Justin Hogg is a Member of CPA Australia and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.
R. Rachel Makepeace
Rachel has lived with very severe ME for more than 20 years. Despite her determined efforts, she found that obtaining an accurate diagnosis, appropriate healthcare and adequate support for everyday life took her an extremely long time. Her lived experience inspired her to initiate change and work towards the provision of clinical care for people living with ME.
Prior to studying business at Griffith University, she had fulfilled office management responsibilities and assisted projects. When she got very ill with severe ME, she was an associate member of CPA Australia and held a Client Manager position at a small accounting firm.
Sandra Mayor
In November 2012 a virulent virus decimated Sandra’s life. Her GP diagnosed her with post viral fatigue.
In the second year, she attended a Fatigue Centre. She fit their criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome and proceeded with the GET/CBT based program. It took her five years to receive a proper diagnosis from one of Australia’s very few Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) conversant doctors.
With her lived experience, education came mostly through online communities where she began to understand all forms of exertion are damaging and why GET/CBT was harmful.
She is 90% homebound to manage moderate ME. She states no one should be misdiagnosed or gaslit. She is passionate advocating for education, clear diagnostic criteria and appropriate medical pathways for people with ME (pwME).
Danielle Flanagan
Danielle’s bio will be shared soon.
Team Members (Volunteers)
Dr Stanley Du Preez – Community Coordinator
Stanley is a junior doctor with the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service and PhD candidate with the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Griffith University. He is an aspiring physician that aims to support ME and Post COVID-19 Condition/Long Covid patients through clinical medicine, research, and advocacy. Additionally, he hopes to improve the understanding and involvement of other clinicians to achieve greater health and social outcomes for people with ME and Post COVID-19 Condition/Long Covid.
Alex Beevers – Occupational Therapist (Hons)
Alex is a recent occupational therapist graduate practising in Brisbane, Queensland. Alex conducted an honours study in collaboration with the Australian Catholic University to understand the implications of severe myalgic encephalomyelitis on quality of life and activity participation. Alex is passionate about increasing awareness and understanding of myalgic encephalomyelitis within the healthcare community, aiming to drive improvements in healthcare services and outcomes for individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Nicole Roudenko – Occupational Therapist (Hons)
Nicole has a background in Immunology. She worked in diagnostic pathology and research as a senior scientist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, the Gold Coast University Hospital and Mater Public Hospital. Nicole specialised in the immunophenotyping of hematopoietic malignancies, HIV and immunodeficiencies. After 20 years in the science field Nicole had a desire to connect more with the people she was impacting. She retrained in occupational therapy and graduated with first class honours in 2023 and currently works for OccAssess Pty Ltd.
Her honours research into the lived experience of severe ME prompted her desire to improve healthcare services in Australia for people living with ME/CFS. Nicole has a passion to destigmatise ME/CFS through education and training of the condition for individuals, their families, other healthcare professionals and the broader community. Nicole believes every person with ME/CFS has the right to a timely diagnosis and the support to enable a life with meaning and purpose.
Nicole’s family, husband, three children and fluffy white cat – PhilCat, bring her the most joy in life. Otherwise, any outdoor activities, cooking and discovering new people/places is how Nicole likes to spend her spare time.
Advisors
Knowledge Translation and Research Advisor to the Board
Dr Maria Alejandra Pinero de Plaza, PhD
Alejandra is a scientist committed to facilitating healthy living and better public health services through knowledge translation and health research. She is a Research Fellow at Flinders University and the National Health and Medical Research Council, Centre of Research Excellence in Frailty and Healthy Ageing. Her studies are focusing on the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions regarding behaviour change, high-tech solutions, and partnering with end-users to ensure better access, care, equity, safety, and quality services to improve health and wellbeing outcomes.
MRI and Neuroimaging Research Advisor to the Board
Dr Kiran Thapaliya, PhD
Kiran is a Research Fellow working at National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus. His research interest lies in developing new neuroimaging methods for the direct in vivo mapping of tissue microstructure like myelin/iron in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). His research focuses on understanding the relationship between tissue microstructure and clinical as well as autonomic measures that potentially lead to identifying biomarkers for ME/CFS.
Research Advisor to the Board
Natalie is a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Griffith University. Natalie holds a multidisciplinary PhD in Immunology and Epidemiology in the field of ME/CFS. Natalie’s research at the NCNED has been instrumental in the identification of the pathology of ME/CFS and identification of treatment strategies. Her current research aims to develop a diagnostic test and implement best care practices to improve health outcomes for people living with ME/CFS.
Occupational Therapy Advisor to the Board
Julie is an Occupational Therapist with over 30 years of experience in clinical, academic and managerial roles.
She graduated from the University of Queensland, and currently teaches as a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.
She was the first fulltime Occupational Therapist in the Leeds Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) service (UK) where she offered Occupational Therapy to people with ME/CFS. Her time in this role was the beginning of her a longstanding interest in this area and she later completed her MSc research on the topic of ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome and occupational disruption in primary care: is there a role for occupational therapy?’
Her professional and clinical experiences made her a passionate advocate for ME/CFS to access specialised Occupational Therapy services in Australia.
She is also involved in collaborative research with Deakin University and Western Health (VIC) looking at ways to better support people with Long Covid.
Honorary Clinical and Research Advisor to the Board
Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Sonya is an Immunologist and Director at The National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Griffith University.
She is also Myalgic encephalomyelitis: International Consensus Criteria (ME-ICC) Co-author and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis International Consensus Primer for Medical Practitioners (ICP) Panel.
NCNED is a world-class research facility focusing on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
Their research is world-leading in the area of identification of the pathology, development of a screen/diagnostic test and drug treatments for ME patients. Their aim is to translate their research to improve ME patient outcomes in the area of preventative medicine, social and clinical care, and public health.