Who We Are

Sean is a recovered mould illness patient with a background in engineering. His story of his illness and recovery is published on our blog: The Good News Is Your Illness Isn’t Real. After his experience of struggling to find medical help, he wrote a brief scholarly review to help potential Mould Illness/CIRS patients receive proper testing and referrals, and this eventually morphed into a number of related projects that included moderating the Toxic Mould Support Australia support group with Caleb Rudd and developing content for the group’s website, including the research database, science primer, and explainer on CIRS. With Macquarie University’s Professor Gilles Guillemin, he helped to write a grant application that won funding from Australia’s NHMRC for further research into CIRS. And with Professor Cheryl Harding of CUNY and a team of scientists and academics from across Australia, he has coordinated a forthcoming literature review of mould illness. Despite the negative effects of this illness on his life, he counts himself lucky to have met so many other wonderful patients, advocates, doctors, and researchers as a result.

Dr Barry graduated with honours from the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University in 2005, and then went on to complete a PhD in Evolutionary and Nutritional Ecology where she was awarded the University Medal and Alfred Russel Wallace Award for excellence in research. After two postdoctoral fellowships in the US, she returned to take up an academic position at Macquarie University where she started the Evolutionary and Nutritional Ecology research lab. After five years as a successful academic, Kate became unwell with various neurological symptoms and chronic fatigue that doctors could not explain. After two years of searching for answers, she finally got a diagnosis of CIRS/Mould Illness and began her journey of recovery. After an extended period of sick leave and much frustration with the medical system, she decided to retrain as a functional medicine practitioner so that she could help others with chronic illness to recover. Dr Barry spent the new few years training as a functional medicine nutritionist, health coach and naturopathy practitioner, and also has CIRS/Mould Illness training certifications with Dr Ritchie Shoemaker and Dr Jill Crista. Dr Barry established the Holistic Health and Nutrition Clinic in 2020 so that people suffering from Mould Illness could access the appropriate care from anywhere in the world.

Dr Bird is a committed and driven environmental microbiologist and chemist and business owner delivering healthier buildings through past and current academic and commercial research, laboratory management, training, and consulting. Claire completed a Doctoral degree in Bioaerosol detection and characterisation in 2005 before moving to Australia to establish the Environmental Technology laboratory at Flinders University. Today, she is dedicated to delivery of established and cutting-edge microbial analytical and testing products, processes and services through her Australian based business, LITMAS.

Claire acts as an advocate for better Indoor Air Quality, volunteering extensively as a subject matter expert and liaison point across a speciality and geographically diverse range of indoor air quality (IAQ) focused National and International professional bodies and organisations. She is frequently asked for written and verbal presentation on the topic of indoor air quality and disease transmission.

Former elected President of the Indoor Air Quality Association Australia and Chapter Director of the global Indoor Air Quality Association for 4 years, Claire now volunteers as Vice President of the global-based Integrated Biosciences and Built Environment Consortium (IBEC) who coordinates a team of world leading scientific advisers in the area of pathogens, people and buildings. Through this work she has been heavily involved in the provision of training through a long-standing webinar series, through coordinating diverse industry groups, and in supporting development of products through the Commit-2-CARE program. Dr Bird also acts as Associate Director for the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH).

Dr Kim graduated in medicine from the University of NSW in 1987 before going on to complete a certificate of family planning in 1989, followed by a Diploma of Counselling and Psychotherapy through the Australian College of Applied Psychology in 1992. She then obtained a certificate in general practice through the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners in 1993. In 2011 she completed a Fellowship at ACNEM and then in 2015 completed the Shoemaker certification in Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).  Dr Kim is a member of ACIIDS as well as ISEAI. She is a keen world traveller, as well as a yogi, gym junkie, and detoxer extraordinaire

Nicole is a researcher, building biologist, bestselling author (Healthy Home Healthy Family), and CEO of the Australian College of Environmental Studies (est. 1999). Nicole is the founder of the Healthy Home (Building Biology) movement in Australia which was created to educate people about the health hazards in the built environment. Nicole has lectured at tertiary institutions for over 30 years, has published in peer-reviewed journals and is regularly consulted by the media to discuss mould, electromagnetic fields and toxic chemicals, and lectures in Australia and abroad about environmental health issues. Nicole was a committee member for the first Australian Standard for Mould (2025). Her research has explored the impact of environmental chemicals (ref, ref) and wireless technologies (ref) on human health and their ramifications for general medical practice.