HEALTHYWEIGHT AUSTRALIA - Key Persons
Bri is part of the administrative team at Healthy Weight Australia, and will be your point of contact for booking in appointments or if you have any questions about the program. .
Job Titles:
- DIETICIAN
- Accredited Practising Dietitian, Health
- DIETITIAN
Brianna is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, health promotion advocate and mum to 4 who loves eating and cooking food with family and friends and balancing all that is good health with a busy lifestyle.
Having honed her skills in chronic disease management over the last 12 years, today she is a published and very experienced dietitian in the field of bariatric nutrition. She has spent the majority of her career in chronic disease management and over this time has worked with people wishing to manage weight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart health, fatty liver, diabetes and their long term digestive symptoms.
She loves working in a multidisciplinary team where everyone in the team brings their expertise, knowledge and skills together to meet the complex care needs of each patient and thus, improve health outcomes for all.
Brianna sees her role as the one who helps you to adhere to dietary changes necessary to help you change your lifestyle and behaviours so you can achieve your long term weight goals. She's here to help you not only get to your goal weight, but be able to maintain that in the long term for the rest of your life.
Job Titles:
- GENERAL and LAPAROSCOPIC SURGEON
- General Surgeon
- Specialist
Dr Andrew Pearson is a specialist General Surgeon with an interest in acute general surgery, trauma surgery and surgery of the liver, pancreas and biliary tract.
Job Titles:
- UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL and BARIATRIC SURGEON
Dr Gillespie is an Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric surgeon based out of the Northern Beaches Hospital.
Job Titles:
- Specialist
- UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL, LIVER & PANCREATIC SURGEON
Dr Christos Apostolou is a specialist Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon. He completed surgical training at the University of Cape Town with subsequent fellowships in South Africa and Sydney.
Dr Dinushka Kariyawasam (Pakiarajah) is a consultant Anaesthetist working at Blacktown and Bankstown Public Hospitals.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Dr Divya Namboodiri is a Consultant Endocrinologist dedicated to providing comprehensive and personalised, evidence-based care to her patients. After completing Endocrinology Training at Macquarie University, Blacktown, and Liverpool hospitals, she obtained Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2022. She has publications in peer reviewed journals in the areas of Pituitary and Thyroid disorders. She has been actively involved in teaching and is an Honorary Associate at the Macquarie University. Dr Namboodiri enjoys managing all aspects of Endocrinology including Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, metabolic health and weight management, thyroid disease, osteoporosis, pituitary disorders and endocrine disorders during pregnancy. She has a special interest in management of Type 1 Diabetes and Thyroid disorders. She is multilingual (English, Hindi and Malayalam). Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India.
Job Titles:
- GASTROENTEROLOGY and HEPATOLOGY
- Staff Specialist
Dr Judy Chiou is a Staff Specialist Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist at Gosford Hospital. She completed medical training in large tertiary and quaternary hospitals including Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Westmead Hospital and St George Hospital, and subsequently completed a fellowship year at Gosford Hospital. She is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Dr Chiou's practice encompasses all aspects of gastroenterology and hepatology with a special interest in cancer screening, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and liver disease. She is a GESA certified endoscopist and can provide expert diagnostic and therapeutic gastroscopy and colonoscopy services.
Dr Chiou provides excellent, evidence-based and compassionate care for her patients and believes in delivering high quality health care to all. She is bilingual and can consult in either English or Mandarin.
She received her undergraduate degree in Medicine from the University of New South Wales and has also completed a Master in Medicine (Clinical Epidemiology) from Sydney University.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- GASTROENTEROLOGIST and HEPATOLOGIST
Dr Keval Pandya is a consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, providing quality services in endoscopy, luminal gastrointestinal disease and liver disease. He provides medical consultations at GastroHealth centres in Rouse Hill, Bella Vista and Oran Park. He performs endoscopic procedures at Norwest Private Hospital, Campbeltown Private Hospital and Minchinbury Community Hospital. He can also facilitate procedures at Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals.
Dr Pandya completed his M.B.B.S from the University of New South Wales in 2012, graduating with Honours. He completed his basic physician training and advanced training in gastroenterology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, a tertiary referral centre and liver transplantation unit. He then completed a fellowship year at Blacktown Hospital with an emphasis on inflammatory bowel disease and therapeutic endoscopy.
Dr Pandya is a GESA certified provider in diagnostic and therapeutic adult gastroscopy and colonoscopy. His endoscopic skills include cancer screening, management of upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, variceal banding and glue ligation, dilatation of strictures (oesophageal, pyloric, colonic and ileal), thermal therapy for angioectasia and radiation proctitis, polypectomy and percutaneous gastrostomy tube insertion.
His services include the comprehensive investigation, diagnosis and management of iron deficiency anaemia, oesophageal disorders (including reflux disease, eosinophilic oesophagitis and motility disorders), dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, coeliac disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. He has a specific interest in acute and chronic liver disease including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis and decompensated cirrhosis.
Dr Pandya has completed a masters degree in clinical epidemiology at the University of Sydney and actively participates in clinical research, with several publications in peer reviewed medical journals. He has attended several national and international conferences and actively participates in teaching.
Dr Pandya takes pride in providing excellent patient care, with a holistic, compassionate and multidisciplinary approach. He is bilingual and can communicate fluently in English and Gujarati.
Job Titles:
- BARIATRIC and GENERAL SURGEON
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- CONSULTANT ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Dr Natassia Rodrigo is a consultant endocrinologist who will be providing medical consultations at Diabetes and Hormone Health centres in Nepean. She also has private rooms at St Leonards. Dr Rodrigo' s practice includes all aspects of diabetes and general endocrinology. She has a special interest in the monitoring and management of diabetes, gestational diabetes and endocrinology and osteoporosis in view of preventing their long-term complications. Natassia is dedicated to providing evidence based comprehensive care in a personalised and compassionate manner. She will work alongside your general practitioner to ensure the best possible outcome for your health conditions. After completing her training at Westmead, Liverpool and Royal North Shore Hospitals, she obtained fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2018. She has completed a PhD in metabolic health and is actively involved in teaching and clinical research. She is a Clinical lecturer at the University of Sydney.
Job Titles:
- GASTROENTEROLOGIST and INTERVENTIONAL ENDOSCOPIST
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Dr Rabbia Haider is a consultant endocrinologist at Blacktown Hospital. She provides consultative services at Complete Health Australia in Norwest and Rouse Hill. She is passionate about all fields within endocrinology, with a special interest in management of gestational and pre-gestational diabetes in pregnancy. She is dedicated to providing evidence-based medicine in a holistic and comprehensive manner, as well as working closely with GPs to ensure the best outcome possible for all her patients. Dr Haider completed her endocrinology training at Westmead, Prince of Wales and Nepean Hospitals. She obtained the fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2021. She has also completed Masters of Philosophy (Medicine) from the University of Sydney, examining the impact of telemedicine in improving outcomes for people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. She is a recipient of the Jerry Koutts Foundation Scholarship. She also enjoys teaching and research. She has multiple publications, primarily in the use of technology in T2DM and the area of diabetes in pregnancy. She has been actively involved in teaching with the University of Sydney Medical School. Dr Haider is fluent in English, Urdu and Hindi.
Job Titles:
- INTERVENTIONAL GASTROENTEROLOGIST
Dr Saurabh Gupta is an Interventional Gastroenterologist specialising in advanced diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. Dr Gupta has extensive experience in all forms of bariatric endoscopy, including endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty and intragastric balloon placement and removal and is participating in research looking at obesity outcomes. Apart from bariatric endotherapy, Dr Gupta has a special interest in pancreatic and biliary disease including therapeutic EUS and ERCP, as well as endoscopic resection of advanced neoplasia (including Barrett's endotherapy), capsule endoscopy and balloon enteroscopy for small bowel disorders.
Dr Gupta graduated with Honours from the University of New South Wales in 1999 before undertaking his Fellowship in Gastroenterology with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Following this, Dr Gupta spent time in Brisbane and then undertook the prestigious Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina USA, before returning to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane where he worked as a senior consultant and interventional endoscopist for 6 years. He returned to Sydney in 2016 to be closer to friends and family, and has taken up a position as an interventional endoscopist at Concord Hospital, the Sydney Adventist Hospital and Pennant Hills Day Surgery.
Dr Gupta has recently been elected chairman of the EUS special interest group within the Gastroenterological Society of Australia, and is a frequent invited speaker to national and international meetings. He is an active member of the EUS taskforce Asia-Pacific where he participates in training for advanced endoscopy, especially therapeutic EUS. Dr Gupta is accredited for all available endoscopic procedures by the Conjoint Committee for training under the Gastroenterology Society of Australia.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- GENERAL PHYSICIAN and ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Dr Shamani Mendis is a consultant endocrinologist leading the Medical Weight Management Program at Healthy Weight Australia.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- GASTROENTEROLOGIST and HEPATOLOGIST
- GASTROENTEROLOGY and HEPATOLOGY CONSULTANT
Dr Viraj Kariyawasam is a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Blacktown hospital. Viraj provides medical consultations at GastroHealth centres in Bella Vista and Rouse Hill. He is also a visiting gastroenterologist at Concord Hospital, Macquarie University Hospital, Norwest Private Hospital and Pennant Hills Day Surgery. He performs endoscopic procedures at Pennant Hills Day Surgery, Norwest Private Hospital and at Blacktown Hospital.
After completing his gastroenterology training at Gosford, Westmead and Concord Hospitals, he obtained the fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2011. He then completed an advance therapeutic endoscopy fellowship at Concord Hospital and embarked on a clinical research fellowship in IBD at the world-renowned IBD center at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in the UK. Viraj is published widely and actively involved in teaching and clinical research. He is a Conjoint Clinical Senior Lecture with University of Western Sydney.
Dr Kariyawasam's practice encompasses all aspects of gastroenterology and liver disease, with expertise in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and advanced therapeutic endoscopy (gastroscopy, colonoscopy, endoscopic mucosal resection, stricture dilatation, insertion of stents and endoscopic ultrasound). He has a special interest in cancer screening with emphasis on prevention and early detection of colorectal, oesophageal and stomach cancer. He offers advanced surveillance techniques for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and has expertise in removal of precancerous lesions from the stomach and large polyps from the colon endoscopically.
Viraj takes pride in providing high quality comprehensive patient care, which is highly personalized and readily accessible. He is a strong advocate of Open Access endoscopy to suitable patients to improve accessibility. He provides this service for privately insured patients at Hospital for Specialist Surgery, Pennant Hills Day Surgery and Norwest Private Hospital. He will work closely with you and your General practitioner to achieve the best possible outcome for your condition.
He is bilingual (English and Singhalese).
Job Titles:
- GENERAL and INTERVENTIONAL GASTROENTEROLOGIST
Dr Waqas Fazal is an Australian and UK trained general and Interventional Gastroenterologist. He specialises in pancreatobiliary disorders and performs Endoscopic Retrograde CholangioPancreatography (ERCP) and Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS).
Dr. M Sohail Shahzad currently working as GP registrar on AGPT pathway of RACGP. He has worked in various specialities including Emergency Medicine, Paediatrics, Mental health, Intensive care, General medicine including Palliative Care, Trauma & Orthopaedics Surgery across various hospitals in Queensland. He also holds a Diploma of Child health from Children's Hospital Westmead (Sydney) and Emergency Medicine Certificate from Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
Languages spoken
Manjunath Subramanya is a consultant Oesophago-Gastric, Bariatric and General surgeon. He undertook surgical training in UK and Australia. He a public appointment at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital and works at various private hospitals.
Job Titles:
- Accredited Practising Dietitian
- DIETITIAN
Timmy Chu has been an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) since 2008 after graduating from the University of Sydney with Honours.