Conference 2022 | Speakers

Dr Damien McKay

Paediatric Sports and Exercise Medicine
Paediatric Rheumatology

Damien is a paediatrician specialising in paediatric and adolescent sport and exercise medicine and rheumatology. He cares for children and adolescents with a wide range of conditions from rheumatic diseases such as inflammatory arthritis, to recreational and elite young athletes with acute or chronic sports musculoskeletal injury, concussion, and exercise related problems.

Damien currently holds appointments with the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network as a Staff Specialist in Paediatric Sports and Exercise Medicine with The Children’s Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, and as a Paediatric Rheumatologist at Liverpool Hospital. Damien is the Head Doctor for the Sydney Swans Academy and a Medical Officer for the Cronulla Sharks Football Club where he focuses on their Elite Academy and Junior Development Squads.

Damien has been an invited speaker at professional conferences and for key sporting bodies including the International Olympic Committee. He has authored or co-authored numerous publications in peer reviewed journals with his research interests including fitness assessment and exercise prescription in children with chronic illness, concussive head injury in youth athletes, and factors influencing injury in adolescent athletes, an area for which was appointed as a Scientific Advisor to the International Olympic Committee.

Damien will be a virtual speaker at this year’s conference.

Prof Peter Malliaras

PROFESSOR, PHYSIOTHERAPY
MONASH UNIVERSITY, MELBOURNE

Peter is a physiotherapist and researcher from Melbourne, Australia, who specialises in tendinopathy.

Since completing his PhD in 2007 he has undertaken post-doctoral research in the UK and Australia whilst maintaining a strong clinical focus managing people with persistent tendon pain. Currently, he is a Professor at Monash University Physiotherapy Department where his research focuses on understanding biopsychosocial impairments and developing better treatments for tendinopathy. He also currently co-leads an international consensus group striving to improve outcomes for people with Achilles tendinopathy by improving research standards and consensus in this field.

Peter will be in attendance in Wellington and in addition to his keynote Management of Achilles tendinopathy: a biopsychosocial perspective, he will also be conducting a practical seminar on Implementing a biopsychosocial approach to assess and manage Achilles tendinopathy.

Dom Vettise

Clinical Psychologist
Vettise Psychology, Cambridge

Dom is a registered clinical psychologist. His education began at Otago University where he finished up with a Master of Science (with Distinction) in Psychology. In 2011 he moved to the Waikato to complete his Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology.

Dom has worked with The Department of Corrections, and Hauora Waikato. He practiced across multiple teams at Hauora Waikato, primarily with forensics, as well as time spent with early intervention psychosis units, child and adolescent and adult mental health teams. Dom runs a private practice to which he contracted to ACC and Eden Sleep Clinic for over seven years.

Dom’s love for sport and a chance meeting with a jockey sparked his interest on human performance in moments of pressure. He now specialises in performance psychology, sleep psychology and clinical psychology within pressured environments. For the past five years Dom was the performance psychologist for the Black Ferns Rugby 7s. He has also worked for several campaigns with Auckland Cricket, Waikato BOP Magic Netball, BlackSox Softball and New Zealand Cycling. Dom continues to work with individual Olympic athletes through HPSNZ, and is lead sport psychologist for New Zealand Football, Canoe Racing New Zealand and is the Clinical Psychologist Advisor to New Zealand Rugby.