Staff

Current ODREC Staff

Associate Professor Rosemary Nixon

Rosemary is the director of ODREC and is the only person to have attained Australian specialist qualifications in both dermatology and occupational medicine. A/Prof. Nixon runs monthly patch testing clinics which focus on occupational cases of contact dermatitis. She supervises research fellows, both local and international. Publishing research is a strong focus for Rosemary with over 250 publications during her time in dermatology. As mentioned above, she is a key representative for international committees for contact dermatitis and patch testing and is frequently invited to present at international conferences and meetings.

Ms. Amanda Palmer

Amanda has been working at ODREC since January 2003. She has a diverse range of roles including clinical nurse consultant, patch testing manager as well as researcher and health promotion officer. Amanda maintains the management system used for patch testing and runs the mail order allergen service, Contact Allergen Bank Australia.

She has qualifications in nursing, public health and masters in primary health care (research and evaluation).

Education is also a key focus for Amanda. Particularly, running the annual Patch Test Training Day and the Skin Health Education Day but also educating nurses and doctors about patch testing around Australia.

Research fellow 2026

Dr Michael Nohrenberg

Dr Michael Nohrenberg assists in clinics, presents current research at local dermatology conferences and is currently working on a range of research papers.

Patch testing dermatologists

Dr Jennifer Cahill

Dr Cahill has been involved in research at ODREC for many years and runs monthly occupational patch testing clinics. Dr Cahill was a research fellow with ODREC in 2004.

Dr Cahill assists with the patch test education and research papers. She is also on the board of directors at SHI and runs a private dermatology clinic in Ivanhoe and Fairfield.

Dr Mei Tam

Dr Tam has been patch testing at SHI for more than 20 years, primarily in contact clinics. She has been involved in training registrars and participates in the annual patch test training days. She also contributes to research and publications.

Dr Claire Higgins

Dr Claire Higgins was another of Dr Nixons’ research fellows in year 2015. She has also returned to ODREC to run patch testing clinics. Claire offers both occupational and general contact dermatitis patch testing clinics. Claire also participates in the annual patch test training days.

Dr Linda Bingham

Dr Bingham has recently joined the patch testing team and offers patch testing in the contact clinic. She has previously worked on research projects with ODREC and also works in the Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) clinic at SHI.

Dr Bruce Tate

Dr Tate has been involved in patch testing since the late 1990’2 and specialises in the general contact clinic. He has also been involved in training registrars throughout his patch testing career. He has been involved in patch testing research, publications and education for much of his career. Bruce has had a strong interest in contact dermatitis caused by plants. He has also been an active member of the dermatology college over the years with various roles.

Dr Nishan Amerasinghe

Dr Amerasinghe has been involved in patch testing for since 2015 at both at SHI in the general contact clinic, but previously also offering a patch test service at the Alfred Hospital. He also works in private practice.

Dr Anina Fitzgibbon

Anina has been involved in the general contact clinic at SHI and often works alongside Dr Mei Tam. She is also involved in the annual patch test training day. Anina has recently commenced patch testing at the Monash Medical Centre, Clayton.

Nursing team

Karen Betts, RN

Karen is a registered Div. 1 nurse, who started working in the field of patch testing at SHI in 2022. She is involved in all the patch testing clinics; making and applying patches but has a key role in the patch test clinic administration. She is also actively involved in Contact Allergen Bank Australia.

Kennedy Loffler, RN

Kennedy is a registered Div. 1 nurse, who has been working with the patch testing team since early 2024. She also has a role in the biologics team at SHI. Kennedy assists with all the patch testing duties, clinical administration and Contact Allergen Bank Australia. She has recently become involved in nursing education at the annual patch test training day.

Sarah Ginsberg, RN

Sarah is an enrolled nurse, who has recently joined the patch test nursing team on a part-time basis and is involved in both the occupational and contact clinics. She is also assisting in filling the CABA orders, patch testing clinics and assisting with clinical administration.

Suzette Foster, RN

Suzette is an enrolled nurse who has been patch testing for more than 16 years at SHI. She works 3 days a week and is involved in both patch testing clinics, CABA and has a key role in administration for the patch testing clinic. She has been involved in patch test training for nurses for many years and in the patch test education days.