Meet the staff at CHISM and their incredible work in children's healthcare.

My name is Andrew Fyffe and I am an Exercise Physiologist at the Children’s Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine (CHISM) and Kids Concussion Service (KCS) at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. This position has allowed me to work alongside an amazing team of medical, allied health and administrative personnel, with our collective goal of assisting children and adolescents with injuries and chronic health conditions. My particular roles include exercise testing and prescribing exercise programs to our patients.

In addition, I have a casual teaching position at the University of New South Wales in the Exercise Physiology department, and am currently completing a PhD in research at the University of Sydney based around the role of exercise testing in the diagnosis and management of concussion in young people. I am also heavily involved in undertaking research at CHISM and KCS with a number of ongoing or soon to commence projects including assessing a new method of analysing concussion in young children (4 to 8 year olds), investigating treatments to improve sleep after a concussion, and the development of some new exciting technologies to diagnose, assess and manage concussion.

Sport and exercise have always been interests of mine starting from watching cricket and rugby league with my dad and then playing soccer throughout my childhood and teenage years. I believe participation in sport and exercise is a hugely important aspect of life and teaches children team work, strategy and resilience as well as being a core component of motor skill development and improving both physical and mental health. This drew me to studying Exercise Physiology, and learning about the fundamentals of exercise and how it can be used to manage countless health issues. I have also always enjoyed working with children and wanted to work at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead to combine all of these passions.

Since joining the CHISM team, I have found myself learning something new every day, and have had the opportunity to present our research both domestically and internationally. It has been a privilege to work with some amazing patients, to hear their unique experiences and share in both their setbacks and their triumphs. I hope to continue to learn and to put this knowledge into practice so that our patients are provided the best possible care.