We are Specialised Health

Anirudh Parthiban

Graduating from Sydney Uni with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise Physiology) , Ani has 6 years of experience working primarily in musculoskeletal rehab, cardiac rehab and disability care.

Ani has worked in a wide range of roles including as a Rehab Consultant at an occupational rehabilitation provider, in an orthopaedic rehabilitation setting, provided hydrotherapy as well as working abroad in London as part of post hospitalisation rehabilitation.

Ani has a keen interest in fatigue management and return to work.

Ashneet Lal

Ashneet has experience in rehabilitation and case management for clients under Workers Compensation, Compulsory Third Party, Comcare, Life Insurance/ Income Protection and National Disability Insurance schemes.

Ashneet has over five years clinical experience within Exercise Rehabilitation industry with developing and managing exercise programs for the prevention, treatment and ongoing management of chronic diseases and complex conditions including musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiopulmonary, mental health and cancer.

Ashneet is ESSA accredited to provide workplace and functional assessments in the NSW Workers Compensation System.

Ashneet is an Accredited NSW WorkCover Exercise Physiologist.

Biara Webster

Biara has 4 years of experience as an EP with a wide range of experience including work in geriatrics, working with DVA and Medicare patients, patients under compensable schemes as well as with patients in the indigenous communities in Darwin, NT. Biara has interest areas in musculoskeletal rehabilitation as well as pulmonary rehab and mental health.

Brad McGregor

As well as working with Specialised Health and providing rehabilitation to clients with chronic illnesses, Brad also focuses on adult education & professional learning, particularly in the disciplines of health, fitness and sports performance.

Brad focuses his work in the application of exercise as a prevention & treatment modality, particularly in the domain of musculoskeletal rehabilitation. In working with students & patients Brad adopts a scientific, evidence-based approach whilst building emotional intelligence.

Brad’s specialties are musculoskeletal rehabilitation, fatigue management, mental health and lifestyle change.

Chantelle Wardini

Chantelle has 9 years clinical experience working as an Exercise Physiologist and has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sport Science). Chantelle is also an Accredited Practising Dietitian and graduated with First Class Honours from a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition.

Chantelle likes to utilise both modalities with her patients to ensure their conditions are addressed from both a diet and exercise perspective. She understands that everyone is different and enjoys adapting her recommendations to fit the patient.

Chantelle’s specialties include musculoskeletal rehabilitation particularly lower back and shoulders, gastrointestinal conditions, cardiovascular and metabolic health, mental health, nutrition and sustainable weight loss/weight gain.

Daniel Logan

Daniel has 6 years experience as an Exercise Physiologist with an additional 3 years practising as an Exercise Scientist. Daniel specialises in musculoskeletal injuries, cardiac rehabilitation and chronic pain.

Daniel has also gained experience working with Veterans and chronic musculoskeletal conditions

Hilary Annis

Hilary is a compassionate health professional with over 16 years’ experience. Hilary has worked across a variety of areas, both in England and NSW, including in hospitals, private practice and multidisciplinary settings. This has allowed her to be adaptable to not only the requirements of the client and their condition but also to the circumstances at hand.

Hilary’s passion is to educate and empower clients to use exercise for medicine and make changes to their lifestyle that will affect their quality of life for years to come.

Hilary’s experience has encompassed chronic disease management, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, multidisciplinary chronic pain and diabetes programs, nutrition intervention as well as specialising in occupational rehabilitation, both as an Exercise Physiologist and Rehabilitation Consultant. Hilary understands the importance of a multifaceted approach to achieving goals for all concerned.

Hilary’s interest areas are exercise oncology, pain management, mental health and Pilates for chronic disease management.

Hussein Taoube

Coming from a consultant role, Hussein has 2.5 years experience working as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist spending 6 months of this time working under various insurance schemes. Hussein has predominantly worked with individuals with cancer and the elderly population, although over the past 6 months Hussein has had a great deal of exposure to a wide variety of musculoskeletal case

Hussein has also been exposed to a variety of neuromuscular and cardiovascular conditions throughout his time as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist.

James Danos

James has four years’ experience as an EP after gaining Masters of Exercise Physiology. He worked across both the Compensable and private clinical settings working seeing a broad range of health conditions. James has a special interest in the management of chronic pain and loves seeing clients exceed their own expectations.

James adopts a holistic approach with his clients seeking to understand the impact of the biological, psychological and social aspects of their condition. He seeks to discover their ‘why’ and uses this to tailor a program to their individual needs. With a love of both sports and exercise in general, James enjoys transferring his lifelong passion for these activities to help his clients adopt long term healthy changes to their lifestyle.

Jennifer Smallridge

Jennifer has 5 years’ experience as an Exercise Physiologist. Her specialities have included oncology, musculoskeletal rehabilitation and metabolic conditions; and most recently she has completed mentorship and professional development in the fields of chronic pain and chronic fatigue.

Leonie Olsen

Leonie has over 13 years experience working as an Exercise Physiologist. With experience specifically in a hand and upper limb clinic Leonie has developed significant knowledge around upper limb rehabilitation and providing return to work conditioning programs for employees with upper limb injuries.

Along with her experience servicing DVA clients with varied conditions, including mental illness and other chronic health conditions, Leonie has been able to develop a broad range of skills as an Exercise Physiologist.

Leonie’s interest areas are musculoskeletal and cardiac rehabilitation with a growing interest in working with mental health clients.

Luke Ursino

After playing soccer semi-professionally and always having a love of sport, the natural progression for Luke was to continue this passion into his studies of human movement which concluded in 2014.
Since graduating in 2014, Luke has continued to grow a sound clinical background with his key strengths as an Exercise Physiologist being his ability to identify and apply corrective strategies to achieve set outcomes towards better health and recovery.
Luke’s specialities include Musculoskeletal injury management and rehabilitation, Exercise prescription for chronic conditions (Diabetes, Osteoarthritis, Chronic Pain, etc.) and Pre/post-operative exercise prescription.

Mark Watson

During his 8 years of experience as an EP, Mark has worked in Physiotherapy clinics, Medical Practices, Hospital settings, as well as his own private practise and has covered areas including cardiac rehabilitation, pre-employment screening, occupational health and wellness and occupational rehabilitation. Given he’s a highly accomplished triathlete as well, Mark offers a wide range of training and experience that’s relevant for all clients regardless of background or history.

Mark has a particular interest in lower limb injury prevention, treatment of tendinopathy pathologies and exercise in a broader context for mental health and psychological wellbeing.

Matt Zappia

Matt has 6 years of experience as an EP and has worked closely with physiotherapists for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and conditions.
Matt has also had experience working in the Life insurance sector both in work conditioning and as a Rehabilitation Advisor.

Neville Coleman

Neville is an accredited Exercise Physiologist with a work history primarily related to the management and prevention of injuries and illnesses primarily within an occupational setting.

Neville is committed to applying evidence-based, best practice principles in his role whether this be in a clinical setting or otherwise. Neville’s professional appointments have all been client facing leading to the development of exceptional interpersonal skills for which he is confident in applying across all levels of business as well as with external stakeholders to empathise, influence and negotiate best outcomes for both clients and business requirements.

Throughout Neville’s career to date, he has been tasked with managing a wide and varied portfolio of injuries and illness’ across physical and mental health fields. Neville is confident in applying his tertiary education, continued professional development and experience to ensure safe and effective management of health conditions.

Renee Trevarthen

Renee Trevarthen is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist who graduated from Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelors degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology in 2012. Since graduation and prior to starting with Specialised Health, Renee’s clinical experience has been diverse working across many schemes including Medicare, Veterans Affairs, Workers compensation and private clients. Her passion has always been encouraging others to adopt healthy lifestyle changes that positively impact their present and future wellbeing. Renee is enthusiastic and a hard working Exercise Physiologist who takes the time to understand the real issues facing a patient and to ensure their goals are met. Her bubbly and empathetic personality of exercise prescription is well received by her clients, which makes every session fun and informative.

Renee has a passion for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular rehabilitation, weight loss, mental health, posture and core stability including back pain, women’s health and overall improving the quality of life for clients. Renee loves developing gym based strength and condition programs, home based programs, Pilates, postural education and hydrotherapy programs.

Shara Kinney

Graduating with a degree in Exercise Physiology in Perth WA, Shara ran a successful business in Perth working with a range of clients including professional athletes, elderly individuals, DVA’s and general population in musculoskeletal and cardiac rehabilitation. Additionally, she worked in a hospital cardiac rehab gym, working with high risk patients, and dealing with both their physical and mental barriers to exercise.

On moving to Sydney, with a range of experience in dealing with different pathologies, Shara has a passion to use exercise to make a positive impact on individuals with musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and mental health conditions. She has been working in the industry as an exercise physiologist for 2.5 years and covers the south west M5 and M7 corridors of NSW.

Tessa Thurston

Tessa commenced working as an Exercise Physiologist in 2008 after completing degrees in Human Movement and Education. She has had the opportunity to work in Adelaide, Darwin and Melbourne in private and multidisciplinary clinics as well as workplace health and rehabilitation. Tessa has a keen interest in population health and has extensive experience in target pathologies including cardiovascular, metabolic musculoskeletal and mental health.

Tom Hall

Tom is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Exercise Scientist who has a strong passion for preventing, managing and rehabilitating injuries. Prior to becoming an Exercise Physiologist Tom played semi-professional rugby in addition to working as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the ACT Brumbies rugby academy.

Since graduating from the University of Canberra with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Tom has spent his time working closely with Physiotherapist in the field of Muscle, Bone and Joint rehabilitation. Through this experience Tom has furthered his skills to allow for better management of acute and chronic injuries as he returns them to a more physically active and healthy lifestyle. Tom has a great interest in the prevention of sporting injuries through the prescription of individualised exercise programming.

Tom’s main interest areas include acute and chronic knee injury rehabilitation, Shoulder rehabilitation, lumbar spine rehabilitation, Strength and conditioning for general health, Exercise for weight loss, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes.

Carmyn Barnes

Carmyn went to The University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and has worked as an Exercise Physiologist for 4 years. Carmyn specialises in providing treatment for a range of chronic and orthopaedic conditions with her favourites being the hip joint, cardiac-related conditions as well as cancer rehabilitation where she has always included a wellness focus to her exercise programming.

Carmyn has a second passion for working with young children and studied a post-graduate degree in the total development children from a movement perspective.

Lauren Teitzel

Lauren has 3 years experience in health and fitness testing, delivering exercise rehabilitation, return to work programmes and lifestyle education for clients across a wide spectrum of health. She has worked with clients of all ages, with healthy populations as well as those with chronic health conditions including metabolic, respiratory, autoimmune, neurological, cardiovascular, mental health related conditions, cancer recovery patients, musculoskeletal dysfunction and chronic pain. She is a strong believer that ‘exercise is medicine’ and is passionate about helping people improve their health, physical functioning and quality of life through exercise and lifestyle changes.

Mae Heard

Mae graduated as an Exercise Physiologist in South Africa and has 7 years of experience in athletic performance and musculoskeletal rehabilitation. More recently Mae has focused extensively on neurological and mental health conditions where she has been able to utilise her strong communication and relationship building skills to achieve some amazing outcomes.
Mae’s career has seen her work in a variety of environments from private multidisciplinary practices to managing her own clinic. Her main areas of expertise are in musculoskeletal physical rehabilitation as well as Neurological conditions and Mental Health.

Tessa Nielsen

Tessa has over three years’ experience working in sports performance and strength training before moving into the rehabilitation field. Tessa is passionate about working with people and improving quality of life through movement. Her approach to exercise prescription is always to both educate and inspire.

Fatigue management was a major focal point for her postgraduate research and she also has a particular interest in mental health and the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors for disease prevention and management.

Yolanda Van Vugt

Yolanda completed her Masters degree at the University of Auckland and has been working as a registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist for the past 2 years.
Yolanda’s main area of interest is in the musculoskeletal system, the biomechanics of movement and the relationship between posture and pain. The results of her Masters dissertation was published in the Journal of Biomechanics in March 2019, which looked at postural stability during gait in a clinical population (hereditary spastic paraparesis). Yolanda also has experience with mental health and post-cancer rehabilitation and enjoys working closely with clients believing that exercise should have a place in everyone’s life, regardless of age, condition, or fitness level.

Brad Domek

Director – As an EP with 16 years experience in occupational rehabilitation Brad has worked within all major compensable schemes in Australia and New Zealand. Brad has been a Guest Lecturer at ACU, has presented to Insurers and Re-Insurers in both Australia and NZ on topics such as Exercise Physiology in Occupational Rehab, using EP to assist customers with Mental Health, Fatigue and Cancer as well as Exercise Physiology in the Life Insurance Industry. With a clinical background as well as long history working as an Occupational Rehabilitation Provider, he has developed a blend of experience in both the treatment and occupational settings which has now become the foundation of all work provided by the EPs at Specialised Health.

Crystal Stavris

Crystal has been assisting in the rehabilitation industry since 2009 and therefore over the years she has developed a significant level of proficiency in all areas of compensable rehabilitation administration. As a result of working with both worker’s compensation, work conditioning providers and life insurance based rehabilitation providers Crystal has become acutely aware of the needs of all parties within the compensable schemes.

Melissa Mills

As an experienced Personal Assistant with over 25 years in the legal industry, Melissa has now joined Specialised Health to assist in meeting the needs of clients and has a great understanding of the importance of rehabilitation and recovery.

As a result of her exposure in the legal industry in assisting the management of Workers Compensation and Compulsory Third Party files, Melissa is focused on achieving goals and outcomes for all of Specialised Health’s clients.

Cathy Barakat

Cathy has been assisting in the WorkCover rehabilitation industry since 2009 and over the years she has developed a significant level of proficiency in rehabilitation administration. In her previous role, Cathy was the National Admin Manager, managing a large team. Since joining Specialised Health in 2019, Cathy has been able to transfer her knowledge to her team, while also learning and adapting her skills in the life insurance scheme. Cathy is well aware of the needs of all parties within the compensable schemes and has been a valuable asset to our administration team.

Luisa Coluccio

Frith Maunder

Frith has been an Accredited Exercise Physiologist since 2012 and has specialised in developing and delivering corporate health programs. Frith is a successful private practice owner and has extensive experience in rehabilitation as a Rehabilitation Provider and Clinical Exercise Physiologist. Frith has a specialty interest in working with clients in mental health and psychological wellbeing. Frith also works for the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) as a Student Supervisor in the Ipswich based Exercise and Sports Science Clinic and casual lecturing for the School of Health and Wellbeing. Prior to becoming an Exercise Physiologist, Frith enjoyed a long career as an elite athlete and represented New Zealand in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Long Jump.

Justin Ockerby

Justin has six years of experience working as an AEP in Northern Tasmania in a variety of roles including a private practice physiotherapy clinic, on-site workplace health and most recently as a rehab provider. He enjoys working in musculoskeletal rehabilitation as well as chronic disease management, with cardiovascular conditions a particular area of interest.

As a keen participant in sport for many years, he is passionate about the beneficial effects of exercise for general health, fitness, and the treatment of health conditions.