W
hen you first meet Professor
Silva (or Desi as she is known
to her friends), you can’t help
but notice she is a real people person.
She is someone who makes you feel
really special, because she is genuinely
interested in what you have to say. Her
magic? She gives her full and undivided
attention to whatever she is attending
to. You can tell by the way she lights up
a room simply by her presence. So you
can imagine that as a Paediatrician, she
is much loved by all her young patients
and their families.
BRAIN FIT
LEADERS:
HOW HIGH
PERFORMANCE
THINKING LEADS TO
SUCCESS.
Dr. Jenny Brockis
48
GLOSS JUNE 2015
From all accounts she has carved out a
hugely successful career for herself; as
Professor of Paediatrics at Joondalup
Health Campus and the University of
West Australia, she also runs a private
clinical practice, teaches medical
students, provides paediatric health
care to the Pilbara and is passionate
about her work in the field of ADHD
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder). Having just finished her
Ph.D. examining early risk factors
and outcomes for kids with ADHD,
she is now heading up a large research
project called The Origins with The
Telethon Kids Institute and Joondalup
Health Campus to look at how noncommunicable disease can influence the
early pre-programming and epigenetics
of kids’ health.
Her life is full to the brim and
incredibly busy. So I wanted to ask her
how she does it, how does she manage