The PEP-Aus Working Group
Established in early 2024, the PEP-Aus Working Group currently comprises members with lived experience of CF and multidisciplinary healthcare professionals who work in CF care and research across tertiary and community health in Australia.
Current Members of the PEP-Aus Working Group
Social Work and Social Policy Lecturer/ Honorary Research Fellow, University of Western Australia / Institute of Respiratory Health, WA
Dr Maggie Harrigan began her PhD at The University of Western Australia in 2019 after many years working as a hospital social worker at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth. Her doctoral research explored self-identity in adults living with the chronic condition, Cystic Fibrosis. She is an Honorary Research Fellow with the Institute for Respiratory Health and has a strong interest in healthcare communication, empowerment, health equity, and promoting a biopsychosocial approach to healthcare. A commitment to social justice underpins both her research and teaching. In 2025, Dr Harrigan completed her PhD and joined UWA as a Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy. Her work continues to focus on fostering collaborative learning and advancing equitable healthcare practices.
Paediatric CF Clinical Nurse Consultant, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
Dr Judith Glazner (PhD) is a Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. With extensive experience in paediatric respiratory care and a strong research background in cystic fibrosis, she is recognised for her leadership in advancing evidence-based clinical practice and supporting multidisciplinary models of care. Dr Glazner is committed to improving health outcomes and quality of life for children and families living with CF through expert clinical consultation, education, and service innovation.
Physiotherapist, Cystic Fibrosis Australia Ambassador, Community Representative for CFPhysio Inc, and person with CF, TAS
Lizzie is a physiotherapist and a person with CF. Alongside her clinical work, she also delivers female health education sessions in schools, sporting clubs and workplaces. Lizzie has worked extensively with CF Australia as an ambassador and advocate and feels passionate about empowering people with CF to live a life unencumbered by the disease.
Research Fellow, Health Consumers Centre, Deakin University, and person with CF, VIC
Pia lives with cystic fibrosis and is a seasoned health consumer leader. She brings extensive experience in consumer engagement, lived experience leadership, and community empowerment. Since 2014 she has contributed as a consumer member of six Australian Cystic Fibrosis committees and advisory groups. In 2024 she earned a Graduate Certificate in Consumer and Community Engagement in Healthcare (10947NAT) and is currently employed in a part-time Lived Experience role at Health Voices Victoria.
Adult CF Respiratory Physician, CF Clinic Director, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, WA
Prof Mulrennan is a Respiratory Consultant at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, and Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Service. She is also c Clinical Professor within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia and affiliated with the Institute of Respiratory Health. Her research interests include CF clinical research and population-based respiratory health research. She has been Principal Investigator for CF and bronchiectasis clinical trials at the Institute of Respiratory Health, supervises PhD students in CF-related research) and has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in the CF therapy area. Prof Mulrennan previously served as Co-convenor of the CF special interest group for the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and was Co-Chair of the Australian CF Centre Directors Group from 2020-2023. She is a current member of the Australian CF data registry committee and Australian CF Standards of Care committee.
Paediatric CF Clinical Nurse Consultant, Perth Children’s Hospital, WA
Charlotte is a Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Nurse Consultant at Perth Children’s Hospital, where she plays a key role in delivering specialised, family-centred care to children and young people living with cystic fibrosis. With extensive clinical experience across acute
and community paediatric respiratory care, Charlotte is dedicated to promoting best-practice management, supporting multidisciplinary teamwork, and enhancing patient and caregiver education. She is passionate about service improvement, advocating for early intervention and holistic approaches that improve long-term outcomes for children with CF.
Paediatric CF Respiratory Physician, CF Clinic Co-Director, Queensland Children’s Hospital; Senior paediatric respiratory specialist and Co-lead of CF paediatric CF services, Queensland Children’s Hospital, QLD
A/Prof Tonia Douglas is a highly respected Paediatric CF Respiratory Physician and Co-Director of Paediatric CF Services at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, where she also serves as a senior specialist in paediatric respiratory and sleep medicine. She has more than 15 years of experience managing complex respiratory and sleep conditions in children, including CF, asthma, congenital lung disorders, bronchiectasis, and sleep-related breathing disturbances.
A/Prof Douglas plays a national leadership role in advancing CF care in Australia. She is the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Standards of Care for Cystic Fibrosis in Australia (2023), helping define expectations for paediatric and adult CF care in the era of CFTR modulator therapies. She has also chaired the steering committees for multiple CF symposia, bringing together leading international experts to shape contemporary and future directions in clinical practice and research.
She is a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Queensland Medical School, where she contributes to teaching, mentoring, and clinical academic leadership. Her research focuses on the psychosocial wellbeing of children and adolescents living with CF, including the interplay between mental health and clinical outcomes. Through her clinical, research, and leadership contributions, A/Prof Douglas is widely recognised as a driving force in improving outcomes and quality of life for children and young people with cystic fibrosis in Queensland and across Australia.
Jenny has over 20 years of experience working in cystic fibrosis (CF), being involved in the development and delivery of clinical care to adults living with CF, involved in research, including but not limited to exercise promotion/beliefs, digital symptom monitoring, health coaching, and airway microbiological surveillance. An original author on the Australia and New Zealand Physiotherapy Clinical Practice Guidelines and the most recent review in 2025. Jenny is an accredited airway clearance instructor (ECFS, PhySIIG). Through the work with CFPhysio.com Inc Jenny strives to develop and deliver evidence-based education resources in CF physiotherapy. Including projects such as REACH for CF, fostering strong collaboration and connection across the global CF community. In her instrumental work in the NFP space, and her clinical role, Jenny has continued to develop her capacity in empowering others to navigate the healthcare system, passionate about developing positive therapeutic relationships, and enabling individuals to have agency and ownership in their healthcare decisions.
Dr Julianna Bailey (PhD) is the Lead Cystic Fibrosis & Respiratory Dietitian at Alfred Health in Melbourne, Australia. With over 15 years’ clinical experience across paediatric and adult CF programs in the United States and Australia, she leads clinical nutrition services, research, and quality improvement within the Adult CF Centre. Her work focuses on how CFTR modulators are reshaping nutritional and metabolic phenotypes, alongside behavioural and systems-level drivers of care. Her broader scholarship includes Learning Health Systems, implementation science, telehealth, and patient experience of care. She has published widely, co-authored CF nutrition guidelines, and has led national and multi-centre interdisciplinary CF quality improvement and research initiatives.
Senior Director of Partnerships for Sustaining Daily Care, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, US
Cindy is a nurse practitioner with 25 years of clinical experience in the field of cystic fibrosis. Her work with the U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has focused on advancing self-management and strengthening partnerships between individuals with cystic fibrosis, their families, and healthcare teams. A key initiative she developed is the Partnership Enhancement Program (PEP), which provides training for cystic fibrosis care teams in relationship-centered communication. This program is designed to foster trust, enhance collaborative care partnerships, and support high-quality, patient-centered care.
Nadeene brings over 19 years of specialised experience in cystic fibrosis (CF) through her long-standing roles at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Her career spans the full translational pipeline, from laboratory‑aligned research to frontline clinical implementation. She has worked extensively within multidisciplinary CF teams, contributing to the design, coordination, and delivery of clinical trials, translational research programs, and longitudinal cohort studies. Her expertise includes managing complex CF research protocols, supporting cross‑functional clinical teams, and ensuring high‑quality data collection and participant engagement across paediatric and adolescent populations. This depth of experience positions her as a key contributor to initiatives aiming to advance CF care, accelerate therapeutic development, and improve long‑term outcomes for children and young people living with CF.
Paula brings a unique set of non-clinical skills and experience to the PEP-Aus initiative, built on her background in medical research and more than 20 years of experience in medical education and communication within the healthcare industry and for the not-for-profit sector. As a member of the PEP-Aus team, Paula contributes her experience in and passion for collaborative design and production by engaging and empowering stakeholders to develop impactful healthcare solutions, while also ensuring that the plans, progress and successes of the initiative are shared across the broader CF and healthcare communities in Australia and beyond. Outside of the PEP-Aus initiative, Paula runs her independent medical education consultancy, The Med Collective Pty Ltd, which includes their co-creation offering, EMPOWERED Health Alliances.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank and acknowledge all members of the PEP-Aus Working Group as well as our partners, sponsors, health professional colleagues and members of the CF community who contributed their invaluable expertise and experience to the development of this work.
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PEP-Aus draws on lived experience and multidisciplinary, cross-sector collaboration — because to truly empower those impacted by CF, we need to work together.
If you’re a person with CF, a caregiver or a family member, a CF healthcare professional, or if you represent an organisation working in the CF space, we’d love you to be part of this initiative. Check out how you can partner with us and get in touch.