Our Dubbo pathology lab has welcomed new lab manager, Shaleen Shah, who has embraced country life and joined a local dragon boating team to maintain her connection to the water.

Shaleen Shah dis­cov­ered her pas­sion for pathol­o­gy while study­ing a Bach­e­lor of Med­ical Lab­o­ra­to­ry Sci­ence at Auck­land Uni­ver­si­ty of Technology.

“I’ve always been inter­est­ed in sci­ence and I want­ed some­thing that allowed me to con­tribute to the com­mu­ni­ty as well,” she explains.

“Pathol­o­gy is the per­fect mid­dle ground between a patient-fac­ing role and some­where I could still explore my pas­sion for science.”

Before mov­ing to Dub­bo, Shaleen worked in the Immunol­o­gy Depart­ment at Monash Med­ical Cen­tre in Mel­bourne. She says join­ing NSW Health Pathol­o­gy was a long-held goal.

“NSW Health Pathol­o­gy has a great rep­u­ta­tion, so when the lab man­ag­er role in Dub­bo came up, it felt like the right time for a tree-change.”

Shaleen and her fam­i­ly were look­ing for a lifestyle shift, some­where with a strong sense of community.

“Dub­bo has such a relaxed vibe. I get to spend more time with my daugh­ter and fam­i­ly, while still grow­ing in my career and con­tribut­ing mean­ing­ful­ly to the community.”

She’s also impressed by the statewide net­work of pathol­o­gy ser­vices in NSW.

“Here, I can tap into shared resources and reach out to col­leagues across the state. It’s a huge advantage.”

A new lab on the horizon

Man­ag­ing the Dub­bo lab­o­ra­to­ry and its 45 (FTE) staff is a wel­come chal­lenge for Shaleen and she’s excit­ed about what’s ahead.

Lat­er in 2025, the team will move into a brand-new, pur­pose-built pathol­o­gy lab at Dub­bo Hos­pi­tal, com­plete with upgrad­ed tech­nol­o­gy and more space.

“As Dubbo’s pop­u­la­tion has grown, so has our lab, but the cur­rent space is pret­ty cramped. The new facil­i­ty will be a game-chang­er for staff and for patient care.”

Born in Kenya, raised in New Zealand, and now liv­ing in Aus­tralia, Shaleen says her diverse back­ground helps her con­nect with staff from all walks of life.

“It real­ly helps when man­ag­ing a team with peo­ple from dif­fer­ent back­grounds, espe­cial­ly those who’ve come to region­al areas on visas. I under­stand what it’s like to adapt to new environments.”

Making a splash with dragon boating

After mov­ing inland in ear­ly 2025, Shaleen and her fam­i­ly were keen to keep their con­nec­tion to the water alive.

“It was a tough deci­sion to move so far from the coast. We all used to surf! In Auck­land, you’re nev­er far from a beach, and we had great access in Mel­bourne too.”

One day, while relax­ing by the Mac­quar­ie Riv­er at Sandy Beach, Shaleen spot­ted a drag­on boat­ing team glid­ing past.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that looks real­ly fun!’ It’s a team sport, so every­one has to pitch in. I just walked up and asked, ‘How do I join?’”

She was warm­ly wel­comed into the crew and her daugh­ter was too.

“She’s been adopt­ed by a boat­ful of grand­par­ents, which is won­der­ful since we don’t have extend­ed fam­i­ly here.”

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