Governance

The governance structure of CORE

The Centre for Obesity Research and Education operates within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Monash University research centres are governed by a Scientific Advisory Board and lead by an Executive team.

The Scientific Advisory Board is made up of both internal and external academic and professional staff as well as the Executive Team. The Executive team consists essentially of Monash University staff with an interest in obesity research and education.

The Executive Team integrates the essential scientific disciplines necessary for obesity research and education. It is chaired by the  the Director of CORE, Associate Professor Wendy Brown.

	Associate Professor Wendy Brown is the Director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education. Her areas of expertise include laparascopic adjustable gastric banding, the effects of weight loss on health, and upper gastrointestinal surgery with a primary focus on the oesophagogastric junction and obesity. A/Prof Wendy Brown can be contacted on wendy.brown@monash.edu.
	Professor Paul O'Brien is the Emeritus Director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education. His areas of expertise include: The morbidity of obesity and the health benefits of weight loss; laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedures; treatments for obesity and their relative effectiveness; effects of obesity and weight loss on survival. Professor O'Brien can be contacted via paul.obrien@monash.edu, on +61 3 9903 0723 or +61 3 9805 1555.
	Professor Brian Oldfield is a Professor of Physiology at Monash University. For the last 10 years his interests have shifted to focus more on the ingestion of food and the development of obesity rather than the ingestion of fluids. The transition between these related fields is now complete and he is now an established member of the international obesity research community with regular invitations to speak about the work of his group at international meetings. Professor Oldfield has strong interests in the coordination of efforts to combat obesity through the formation of collectives to bring a diversity of strategies to the problem. He can be contacted via email at Brian.Oldfield@monash.edu
	Dr Anna Peeters is ??? at the Baker IDI. Her areas of expertise are chronic disease, aging and medical demography, with particular focus on the population implications of overweight and cardiovascular disease. She can be contacted on anna.peeters@bakeridi.edu.au.
	Dr Leah Brennan is a clinical, health, educational and developmental psychologist. Leah's research interests involve the application of psychological approaches to understand, prevent and treat obesity and disordered eating (including eating disorders) and their psychosocial co-morbidities in children, adolescents and adults. She is particularly interested in the development, evaluation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions for the treatment of obesity, disordered eating, eating disorders and their psychosocial co-morbidities. Dr Brennan can be contacted via email at Leah.Brennan@monash.edu.
	Ms Cheryl Laurie  is a senior research nurse in the Centre for Obesity Research and Education. She has had many years of experience in co-ordination and administration of clinical trials mostly associated with treatment of obesity both medically and surgically.Cheryl can be contacted via email at Cheryl.Laurie@monash.edu or on +61 3 9903 0750.
	Mrs Tania Richter is the executive officer of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education. She has extensive experience in managing a research centre and coordinating the financial and administrative aspects of clinical trials. Tania can be contacted via email at tania.richter@monash.edu or on +61 3 9903 0725.