Our Advisory Board

Fred D’Agostino is Emeritus Professor of Humanities at The University of Queensland, where he was previously Executive Dean of Arts, President of the Academic Board, and a UQ Senator. He works in political philosophy and in scientific method.

With over a decade of experience in the field of gastrointestinal disorders, Ceciel joined the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) in 2017 as President to champion the needs of patients and families living with these chronic and often misunderstood GI conditions. She has worked extensively with patients and their families as well as health professionals to improve education and patient care. Ceciel has taken part in advocacy efforts in the U.S., meeting with policy makers on Capitol Hill and providing testimony to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of the millions of Americans affected by a gastrointestinal illness. She is an Advisory Council member of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a member of the Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Consortium Working to develop endpoints in Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the current chairwoman for the Digestive Disease National Coalition. She has traveled internationally to encourage patient and professional education and advance research into these conditions.

Twitter: @cecielro

Sarah Gray is the Founder and CEO of ausEE Inc., Australia’s peak national support and patient advocacy organisation representing Australians living with eosinophilic diseases. She has two daughters, the eldest, Bella, was diagnosed with eosinophilic oesophagitis at 18 months of age and was the catalyst for her forming the charity, ausEE Inc. in 2009. Sarah is dedicated to ausEE’s mission to improve the lives of those affected by eosinophilic diseases through providing support, evidence-based information, resources, advocacy and by campaigning to raise awareness and funds for research in Australia. In January 2023, Sarah was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for her service to community health.

Sue Scheinpflug is an experienced leader and board chair, with more than 20 years of experience in the human services and health sectors. 

Sue currently holds the positions of Chair for Health Translation Queensland, Chair of West Moreton Health and Chair of UQ Health Care.  She is also Deputy Chair of CPL disability support services and a community board member of the Parole Board Queensland.

Sue holds qualifications in education and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has held numerous advisory and policy development roles at local, state and national government levels, and has won awards as a business and community leader.

Dr Chey received a medical degree & training in internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in gastroenterology and has remained as faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he is currently the Timothy T. Nostrant Collegiate Professor of Gastroenterology & Nutrition Sciences.

His research interests focus on the diagnosis & treatment of disorders of gut brain interaction and H. pylori infection. He has mentored more than 50 students, residents, fellows and junior faculty, many of which are leaders in Gastroenterology. He is a medical innovator and holds several patents. Dr Chey is former co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology and has authored more than 350 manuscripts, reviews, chapters & books including more than 10 national and international clinical practice guidelines. Dr. Chey is a board member of the American College of Gastroenterology, Rome Foundation, International Foundation of GI Disorders, and GI on Demand.

He has been elected to “Best Doctors” since 2001 and received the Dean’s Outstanding Clinician Award and Dean’s Award for Innovation and Commercialization at the University of Michigan and the Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Gastroenterological Association. In 2020, Dr. Chey was awarded honorary membership in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and received the prestigious Berk-Fise Award from the American College of Gastroenterology. He will assume the role of Secretary of the American College of Gastroenterology in 2021.

Dr. Purna Kashyap is Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Bernard and Edith Waterman Director of the Microbiome in the Center for Individualized Medicine and Director of the germ-free mouse facility at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. The Gut Microbiome laboratory led by Dr. Kashyap is interested in understanding the complex interactions between diet, gut microbiome and host physiology and strives to move the field beyond associations of microbiome with different diseases to defining the functional role of gut microbes in regulating host physiology. The laboratory uses germ-free mouse models in conjunction with measures of gastrointestinal physiology in vitro and in vivo to investigate effects of gut microbial products on host gastrointestinal function. In parallel, they use a systems approach incorporating multi-omics, patient metadata, and physiologic tissue responses in human studies, to aid in discovery of novel microbial drivers of disease. The overall goal of his program is to develop novel microbiota-targeted therapies. Dr. Kashyap has published over 100 peer reviewed articles including journals like Cell, Cell Host Microbe, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, and Gastroenterology. He currently serves as chair elect of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) Gut Microbiome Center for Education and as an ad hoc member on NIH study sections.

Dr Melissa Carroll is a proud Aboriginal woman of Wiradjuri decent. She is a Gastroenterologist and General Physician, working at the Royal Darwin Hospital, NT and holds the position of Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Charles Darwin University. Her lengthy career in health has seen her hold a number of leadership and mentoring roles, including Board Director for the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) and she has recently worked with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in health Care, on updating the Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standards.  

 Dr Carroll has an interest in autoimmune disease in First Nations Peoples, and is the current Chair of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Governance and Advisory Committee for Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease Research. She is involved in a number of research projects focusing on First Nations health, including her roles as Associate Investigator on NHMRC funded research projects aimed at ‘Optimising screening and surveillance models of care for liver disease in remote Indigenous Australian communities’, and the END-B CRE: End Hepatitis B, Centre for Research Excellence group.