Dear AFMW Friends and members
I am very happy to announce that I have been appointed Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of General Practice University of Melbourne. I will be working alongside Professor Kelsey Hegarty in the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence.
The Centre of Excellence is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and is are a partnership between the University of Melbourne, Murdoch Childrens’ Research Institute, La Trobe University and South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute.
The Centre of Research Excellence seeks to promote Safer Families (Safer Families Centre) and is the first dedicated Centre to lead research into the health effects of domestic violence and abuse and the health sector policy and practice responses needed to improve the safety, health and well-being of women, children and young people. This is a national and international collaboration comprising researchers, survivors, policy-makers, practitioners, and health, family, community and women’s services. I am proud to be part of the team which brings together researchers, investigators and scholars from all over the world with expertise in epidemiology, general practice, social work, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, social and health policy, paediatrics, psychiatry, social science, psychology and biostatistics.
Of course, I will be in clinical GP practice too, as always.
Kindest regards,
Magdalena
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
