Lauren has been an Accredited Practising Dietitian for the past 20 years. She began specialising in diabetes care 18 years ago and has worked at Diabetes Victoria for the past 11 years. Throughout her career, Lauren has worked in community health, private practice and sports dietetics, and was a sports dietitian at the Hawthorn Football Club. 

Lauren has trained in motivational interviewing, health coaching and the Flinders Model, which is a tool that enables health professionals to help clients more effectively self-manage their long-term conditions. She has a passion for supporting people to achieve their goals and enjoys working with people living with, or at risk, of diabetes. 

As a part of her role at Diabetes Victoria, Lauren answers enquires on the NDSS Helpline, writes articles for Circle magazine and the Membership Matters monthly enewsletter.  She has been involved in training health professionals in carbohydrate counting, OzDAFNE and OzDAFNE Pump. She also runs a range of programs for people living with type 2 diabetes; such as DESMOND, CarbSmart, ShopSmart and Ready, Set, Go – Let’s move. 

For people with type 1 diabetes, Lauren runs programs such as OzDAFNE Pens, OzDAFNE Pump and OzDAFNE@home and has been involved in the curriculum development for the OzDAFNE Pens program. She was the lead dietitian in developing the new OzDAFNE Pump program in 2019 and trained OzDAFNE facilitators in Australia and New Zealand to run this program. Lauren also was the co-lead dietitian in developing OzDAFNE@home. Lauren was also involved in the development of the Protein & Fat Awareness and Dosing curriculum for OzDAFNE Pens & OzDAFNE Pump in 2019. 

Lauren enjoys hiking with her young family, baking and playing tennis.  

Tim has been an accredited practising dietitian for 11 years. During this time he has specialised in the area of diabetes nutrition, firstly with Diabetes Tasmania and now with Diabetes Victoria for the past 7 years.  

During his 11 years as a diabetes dietitian, Tim’s passion for helping people has grown by providing practical, real-life advice and support to all people living with diabetes. He is an accredited OzDAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) facilitator, which is a self-management program for adults living with type 1 diabetes. He provides education on carbohydrate counting for those on flexible insulin therapy. He is also an accredited DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) and Smarts facilitator, which are programs mainly for people living with type 2 diabetes.  

You may have seen Tim’s face in many of the Membership Matters articles or short videos over the years or various other diabetes publications. He has a real enthusiasm for both producing quality messages to people and public speaking. Tim has presented at many major events, for both people living with diabetes and health professionals on nutrition management for diabetes. You may have also spoken to Tim during his time answering enquires on the NDSS Helpline.  

Previously Tim has worked in Aboriginal health and since 2013 has been an accredited sports dietitian. Over the years he has worked with a wide range of areas in sports nutrition, including AFL/VFL teams, endurance athletes and other team sports. He has a special area of interest in people living with type 1 diabetes and exercise.  

When Tim isn’t working at Diabetes Victoria, he is spending top quality time with his lovely young family, drinking coffee and exercising when his body allows him to. 

Yung is a credentialled diabetes nurse educator for over 12 years. Yung’s professional background is Nursing. She has been working as a Diabetes Educator at Diabetes Victoria for 12 years and is passionate about helping people with diabetes to live a long healthy life.  

She is an accredited OzDAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) facilitator, which is a self-management program for adults living with type 1 diabetes. She provides education for those on flexible insulin therapy to know how to match their insulin doses to the amount of carbohydrates they consume.  

She is an accredited DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) and Smarts facilitator, which are programs mainly for people living with type 2 diabetes.  

She regularly answers enquiries on the NDSS Helpline, write articles for Membership Matters and reviews factsheets from NDSS.   

Yung is also a bilingual diabetes educator who speaks fluent Vietnamese. She has worked privately with Primary Care Networks to help spread diabetes education messages throughout the Vietnamese community.  

She has also worked as a casual staff member at Western Health’s department of Diabetes Education services where she has also worked with gestational diabetes clients at Joan Kirner maternity hospital providing inpatient education.  

Yung enjoys the outdoors and travel when she is not at work. 

Dee completed her training as a Registered Nurse in 1999.  She worked at St.Vincent’s Health Melbourne from 2000-2008 as an Associate Nurse Unit Manager specialising in endocrinology, dermatology and rheumatology, which is where her passion for diabetes was born. She completed her certificate in diabetes education and in 2008 commenced working at Diabetes Victoria.  

During her 15 years as a Credentialed Diabetes Educator, Dee has been working on the Diabetes Victoria Helpline supporting people living with or affected by diabetes, carers, health professionals and students.  She has been involved in writing various articles for diabetes publications such as the Circle.  

She is an accredited DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) and Smarts facilitator, which are programs mainly for people living with type 2 diabetes.   

Dee has worked as a Diabetes Educator at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre supporting people who live with cancer and have pre-existing diabetes. Dee has a particular interest in steroid induced diabetes and helping people manage their blood glucose levels whilst having treatment.  

Emanuala is a health psychologist who has extensive training across the public and private sectors, including community public health, inpatient services, and specialist diabetes clinics. 

Emanuala’s key passion and interests include working with young people and adults who are experiencing chronic health issues, particularly diabetes, and with people reporting difficulties with eating and body image concerns.  

As part of her doctoral research (MILES Youth Australia), Emanuala explored risk and protective factors for disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in teenagers with type 1 diabetes. Emanuala has published her research and presented her findings both nationally and internationally. Emanuala was also the recipient of the Diabulimia Helpline 2018 Innovation Award for her research.  

Accessing psychological support when you have diabetes is very common and can be very helpful at different times during your diabetes journey. Emanuala has experience and can help support individuals with diabetes with a range of concerns and issues including: 

• Adjusting to a new diabetes diagnosis or changes in diabetes management 
• Diabetes burnout 
• Depression 
• Anxiety 
• Difficulties with motivation 

Emanuala is a warm, approachable clinician who values working collaboratively and empowering individuals to be able to better self-manage and improve their wellbeing. She draws upon a range of different therapy modalities and approaches including acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing and mindfulness. 

When Emanuala is not at Diabetes Victoria, she enjoys travelling, discovering new foods, exploring markets and hanging out with her golden retriever. 

Psychology available at Carlton and Telehealth appointments only.

 Cynthia has been a Credentialed Diabetes Nurse Educator since 2016 and is deeply committed to enhancing the lives of individuals living with and affected by diabetes.

 Before joining Diabetes Victoria, Cynthia worked as a CDE for Melbourne Health's Hospital Admission Risk Programs Diabetes Co-management service. In this role, she provided tailored diabetes self-management support to clients with   complex medical and social needs.

 Cynthia also engaged in contract work as a rural and remote Diabetes Nurse Educator, providing outreach services to Aboriginal communities in Central Northwest Queensland.
 Between 2015 and 2018 Cynthia worked as a trial coordinator and research nurse for the Diabetes Research Centre at the Walter Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. Responsibilities included the coordination and  delivery of diabetes clinical trials, working closely with principal investigators and leaders in their field, contributing to advancements in diabetes prevention and treatment.
 

As a part of her role at Diabetes Victoria, Cynthia:

• Delivers group education programs for individuals living with diabetes as well as health professionals and disability support workers.
• Serves as a CDE at diabetes camps for children with type 1 diabetes, offering guidance and support to young patients and their families.
• Worked in the coordination and delivery of the diabetes in schools’ program. Educating teachers and advocating for policy improvements in collaboration with the Royal Childrens Hospital and Monash Children's Hospital
• Writes articles for Diabetes Victoria and Diabetes Australia publications, contributing to public awareness and education on diabetes-related topics.
• Mentoring and supervising students pursuing graduate studies in diabetes education.
• Responding to inquiries on the NDSS helpline

Cynthia's dedication to diabetes care is founded on the belief in the holistic and collaborative management of people living with diabetes. She works closely with individuals to navigate the daily challenges that often complicate diabetes management, striving to ensure the most optimal outcomes for each person under her care.

Cynthia is a beach lover who adores her spoodle Allan, travel and cherishes spending quality time with her young family and lifelong friends.