Kate Armstrong

Recipient of the Gerard Loeber Award 2023

Kate Armstrong (B Med, DCH, MPH, FAFPHM) works as a public health physician in Australia and received her DrPH from Flinders University, Adelaide.

In 2004 Kate founded CLAN (Caring & Living as Neighbours), an Australian NGO committed to equity for children living with chronic health condition in resource poor settings. CLAN’s work initially focused on Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) in Vietnam, where consultation with parents and health professionals informed the development of CLAN’s Strategic Framework for Action and Five Pillars. This strategic framework has since been used to translate action across a range of childhood NCDs (including Type 1 Diabetes, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Nephrotic Syndrome and Epilepsy) and countries (including Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Fiji, Uganda and Zimbabwe).

In 2021 Kate co-founded the @MATES4Kids (Maximising Access To Essential Supplies for Children) movement, which seeks to reduce the preventable mortality associated with CAH by 30% by 2030, and thereby contribute to efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The @MATES4Kids movement proposes to reduce CAH mortality by improving access to essential medicines, strengthening community development and scaling NBS to drive sustainable change.

Kate Armstrong was unable to attend the award ceremony, unfortunately. Dianne Webster (ISNS VicePresident), Sameer Saral (LabDiagnostics), and Peter Schielen (ISNS Office Manager) holding the plaque that was sent to Kate Armstrong later.