Current and past presidents
Dr Katie Heathershaw
Current President
Dr Heathershaw is a community paediatrician from Melbourne who has specialised in developmental paediatric from Melbourne. She has been involved with the NBPSA since 2017 and has served on the Board as Membership Director, then Vice President, now President.
Her qualifications include:
- MBBS University of Melbourne
- FRACP Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- MD University of Melbourne
After Training and working at the Centre for Community child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital Dr Heathershaw founded one of the first private multidisciplinary paediatric clinics in Melbourne. This was with the aim of enabling children with complex developmental and behavioural challenges to access the assessment and care they needed in the community. She hopes that through her involvement with the ASDP she will be able to help advocate for the needs of children with developmental challenges, support her fellow colleagues and contribute to the continuing advancement of the profession.
Associate Professor Michael McDowell
Foundation President
Associate Professor McDowell was President from the beginning of our Society in 2012 until 2016.
His qualifications include:
- MBBS University of Sydney
- FRACP Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- MPH Harvard University
- PhD University of Queensland
- CF Churchill Fellow
Dr McDowell is a Community Paediatrician who has specialised in developmental disorders of children and young people. Following medical and paediatric training in Sydney, he undertook further specialist training in developmental paediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital. Whilst there he also completed a Masters in Public Health at Harvard University.
After returning to Australia, he further completed a PhD at the University of Queensland. His academic position is with the University of Queensland. In 2004, Dr McDowell received a Churchill Fellowship, enabling him to compare developmental paediatric services in different countries.
Dr McDowell has retired from clinical practice. He remains involved in several activities of the ASDP.
Dr Jane Lesslie
Past President
Dr Jane Lesslie was President from 2020 to 2023
- MBBS University of Melbourne
- FRACP Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- DipRACOG Royal Australasian College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Dr Lesslie is a Community Paediatrician who has specialised her work in Developmental Paediatrics. Following medical training in Melbourne and an early career in general practice, Dr Lesslie undertook her paediatric training in Western Australia. She worked for several years as a paediatrician within the WA Child Development Service before moving east.
In NSW, Dr Lesslie was the Clinical Director at the Royal Far West scheme in Manly before moving to practice in Brisbane. In Queensland, she consulted for several years in a private multidisciplinary clinic (Child Development Network), where she was also a Director. Since returning to NSW Dr Lesslie has consulted from her private practice at Developmental Medicine Consulting in Neutral Bay.
Dr Lesslie was involved in the NBPSA from its inception. She was active in the steering committee, and served as Foundation Secretary, then Vice President. Following a 2 year break from leadership, she rejoined the NPBSA leadership as Vice-President in 2019, before becoming President in 2020.
Dr Lesslie's passion is to enable ASDP members to participate, feel a sense of belonging to their community, and in doing so contribute to the development of our profession and the quality of developmental paediatric care available to Australasian children.
Associate Professor Gehan Roberts
Past President
Dr Gehan Roberts was NBPSA President from 2016 to 2020.
- MBBS University of Melbourne
- FRACP Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- MPH Harvard University
- PhD University of Melbourne
Dr Roberts is a Community Paediatrician who has specialised in Developmental Paediatrics. He holds positions at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Centre for Community Child Health, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and the University of Melbourne.
Dr Roberts completed his clinical fellowship in child development at the Boston Children's Hospital. He has a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and a PhD in the field of child development from the University of Melbourne. Dr Roberts coordinates the Victorian Training Program in Community Child Health, is an Associate Director (Clinical Services) at the Centre for Community Child Health.
In addition to clinical care, Dr Roberts is passionate about research and medical education. His research interests are broad, including the developmental follow-up of children born prematurely. He supervises paediatric advanced trainees as well as at Honours-, Masters- and Doctoral-level students. He is involved in teaching medical practitioners, allied health workers, teachers and families and also in curriculum development and program evaluation.