NOFASD is pleased to announce that Professor Elizabeth Elliott AM has joined us as a Board Member and Dr Svetlana Popova has become an International Ambassador for NOFASD Australia! These two professionals bring a wealth of knowledge and practice wisdom to our organisation for which we are extremely grateful.
Professor Elizabeth Elliott AM is a Distinguished Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health in the Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney; Consultant Paediatrician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network at Westmead; a National Health and Medical Council of Australia (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellow; and Chair of the National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Technical Network, convened by the Australian Government Department of Health. She has been involved in clinical services, research, advocacy and policy development regarding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in children and alcohol use in pregnancy for over 20 years.
Professor Elliott established Australia’s first clinic for the diagnosis and assessment of FASD and was the Chief Investigator on the NHMRC Grant for the Lililwan Project, Australia’s first population-based prevalence study on FASD.
In 2008 Professor Elliott was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to paediatrics and child health and in 2018 she received a number of prestigious awards including the Next Generation Fellowship, the AMA Excellence in Healthcare Award, and the James Cook Medal for her significant contributions to improving the health and quality of life of ill and disadvantaged children. Follow these links to read more about these awards, read Professor Elliott’s full bio or watch her speak about FASD in this video.
Dr Svetlana Popova, MD, PhDs, MPH is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) which is a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre. She is also an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health Epidemiology Division and at the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Dr. Popova’s research focuses on substance abuse and disease burden and evidence-based policy development. She has a particular interest in the epidemiology, economic cost, prevention and intervention strategies related to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Currently, Dr. Popova is leading one of the largest studies, guided by the WHO and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), on determining the global prevalence of FASD among children in low- and middle-income countries of Eastern and Central Europe, Africa, and Canada (with more countries to join within the next five years). Dr. Popova was a principal investigator of the Canadian component of this prevalence study.
Dr. Popova has been published in high-impact journals such as the Lancet, The Lancet Global Health, JAMA Pediatrics, International Journal of Epidemiology, American Journal of Epidemiology, and Addiction. Her research is widely read and cited. Follow these links to read Dr Popova’s full bio or watch an interview discussing her Canadian FASD prevalence study.
Learn about NOFASD’s other International Ambassadors.
Read more about our staff and Board Members.
For more NOFASD Australia blogs click here.
