Empower Series

Susan is a Specialist Sport and Exercise Physician with more than 30 years’ experience working with elite athletes. She has attended multiple Paralympic, Olympic, Youth Olympic, Commonwealth Games and World Championships in a range of roles including as team Doctor and on organising committees and medical commissions.

Susan is an Adj Professor at the Latrobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre and is Chair of the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee. She was part of the Medical Expert Advisory Group for the IPC at the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympics and is CMO for the Australian Team at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Susan is also Chair of the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee.​

With 20 years’ experience in high performance sport across coaching and performance lifestyle, Leesa currently leads the VIS Performance Lifestyle Team developing and implementing wellbeing initiatives across the VIS, as well as providing Performance Lifestyle support to athletes.

With a background in education, Leesa has held teaching and educational leadership roles and is a qualified career practitioner and accredited Morrisby user. She has an elite coaching qualification in netball and has coached Victorian teams to 6 National Championship titles and led the VIS Netball development program.

Leesa also holds leadership roles within the Australian sporting system, on wellbeing advisory groups and HP2032+ working groups.

Grace is a Performance Lifestyle Adviser and organisational psychologist. She is experienced in wellbeing, leadership development, career development, and learning. Grace has designed and delivered interventions across the individual, team and system level. At the Victorian Institute of Sport, Grace supports the wellbeing of developing, Olympic and Paralympic athletes across a range of sports. She has completed a Masters in Organisational Psychology and is accredited in a number of psychometric assessments.​

Daniel is the Performance Psychology Manager at the Victorian Institute of Sport, where he leads the performance psychology team, supports the Olympic Shotgun and Individual Athlete Scholarship programs. He is a sport and performance psychologist specialising in performance under pressure, attentional control, psychological flexibility, and mental health in high performance environments.

Daniel is also the performance psychologist for Golf Australia and works with professional athletes in elite sport across the world.

He is an experienced speaker and facilitator in performance, leadership, mindfulness, and mental health.

Karla Bulte is a Performance Scientist specialising in physiology, with six years’ experience supporting athletes across Olympic, Paralympic, professional, and amateur sport. She is currently embedded within the VIS swimming program while contributing to broader sport science projects.

Previously, she spent four years as Sport Science Coordinator for Carlton Football Club’s AFLW team and has taught in Deakin University’s Exercise and Sport Science program.

Karla holds a Bachelor and Honours degree in Exercise and Sport Science and is completing a PhD on physiological profiling in elite swimmers. She also has a strong interest in evidence‑based individualised preparation and recovery strategies.

Emily Meehan is an Advanced Sports Dietitian and Nutrition Manager at the Victorian Institute of Sport.

With over 15 years’ experience working with athletes across Olympic, Paralympic, and professional sports, she brings a depth of high performance expertise.

Emily focuses on delivering practical, athlete-centred nutrition strategies that support performance, recovery, and long-term health.

Ebonie is a clinician researcher with more than 22 years' experience working with athletes across Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games Sports. She consults clinically to multiple professional sports and is invited to teach around the world on areas of musculoskeletal pain and neuroscience.

Ebonie completed her PhD in tendon pain and also holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (hons), Masters of Sports Physiotherapy, Bachelor of Applied Science, Graduate Certificate in Pain Science and completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.