Oration & Plenary Speakers
Bringing Specialists Together.
Sharing Knowledge. Building Skills.
Oration Speakers
Opening Keynote Address
Professor Ross Upshur
Head, Division of Clinical Public Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Professor Upshur is also the Scientific Director, Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, and Assistant Director, Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System and is an Adjunct Scientist at the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences, an affiliate of the Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology and a member of the Centre for Environment. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences and Associate Member of the Institute of Environment and Health at McMaster University.
Professor Upshur is the former Director of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (2006-2011) and former Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto (2006-2011). He is a member of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Chair of the Ethics Committee. He is also a member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Ferguson- Glass Oration
Emeritus Professor Nortin M Hadler
Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology Thurston Arthritis Research Center
Professor Hadler is a graduate of Yale College and The Harvard Medical School. He trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, and the Clinical Research Centre in London. He was certified a Diplomate of the American Boards of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, and Geriatrics. He joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 1973, was promoted to Professor in 1985 and transitioned to Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology in 2015. He served as Attending Rheumatologist at the UNC Hospitals till 2015. In recognition of his clinical activities, he was elevated to Mastership in both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Rheumatology.
Priscilla Kincaid-Smith Oration
Professor Brendan Murphy
Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government
Professor Brendan Murphy is the Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government and is the principal medical adviser to the Minister and the Department of Health. He also holds direct responsibility for the Department of Health’s Office of Health Protection. Apart from the many committees he chairs, co-chairs and participates, he is the Australian Member on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Governing Committee and represents Australia at the World Health Assembly.
Prior to his appointment Professor Murphy was the Chief Executive Officer of Austin Health in Victoria.
Cottrell Memorial Lecture
Professor Stephen Nicholls
Heart Health Theme Leader at SAHMRI, Cardiologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and Professor of Cardiology at the University of Adelaide
Professor Nicholls completed his medical training in Adelaide, cardiology training at John Hunter Hospital and his PhD in the Lipid Research Group led by Philip Barter and Kerry-Anne Rye at the Heart Research Institute, focusing on the anti-inflammatory properties of high-density lipoproteins (HDL, the good form of cholesterol).
AFRM President’s Oration
Mr John Walsh AM
Board Member, National Disability Insurance Agency
John Walsh has recently retired as a Partner in the Advisory division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked for over twenty years. He has been a Board member of the NSW Motor Accident Authority and the NSW HomeCare Service and statutory actuary to workers compensation authorities of both New South Wales and South Australia and the NSW Lifetime Care and Support Authority. In 2008 Mr Walsh was a member of the Disability Investment Group established to study options for increasing the investment opportunities in the disability sector, and in 2010 he was appointed to the Productivity Commission to investigate the feasibility of a National Disability Insurance Scheme and other options to fund lifetime care and support for people with a disability.
In 2011 he was made Deputy-Chair of the National Health Performance Authority and recently was appointed to the Board of the National Disability Insurance Agency.
Howard-Williams Medal
Professor Elizabeth Elliott AM
Distinguished Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney; and Consultant Paediatrician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network Westmead
Elizabeth is an academic paediatrician with a national and international reputation for leadership in medical research, education and advocacy. Her focus is children with rare diseases in immigration detention and developing settings, and Indigenous children. She founded and leads two national surveillance systems – the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit for rare childhood diseases and Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance system, and has led the International Network of Paediatric Surveillance Units. She holds a prestigious NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship; is a Consultant for the Australian Human Rights Commission and the WHO; and is Member of the Order of Australia.
Plenary Speakers
Professor Alan Mackay-Sim
2017 Australian of the Year
Alan Mackay-Sim is a neuroscientist and stem cell scientist. He graduated with a PhD from Macquarie University in 1980 and worked at the University of Sydney, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wyoming and the University of Adelaide before taking up a position at Griffith University in 1987. In 2015 he retired and was appointed Emeritus Professor. His research has encompassed the human sense of smell and how the olfactory sensory neurons in the nose get regenerated throughout life. He identified the olfactory stem cell in the nose that is responsible for the regeneration of the sense of smell and uses these “adult” stem cells and other olfactory cells from the nose for therapeutic purposes.
Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs
President of the Australian Human Rights Commission
Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs is the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, with a five year appointment. She was Dean of the Faculty of Law and Challis Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney from 2007-12 and Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law from 2005-7. She is a former Barrister and a former Governor of the College of Law.
Professor Triggs has combined an academic career with international commercial legal practice and has advised the Australian and other governments and international organisations on international legal and trade disputes. Her focus at the Commission is on the implementation in Australian law of the human rights treaties to which Australia is a party, and to work with nations in the Asia Pacific region on practical approaches to human rights. Professor Triggs' is the author of many books and papers on international law, including International Law, Contemporary Principles and Practices (2nd Ed, 2011).
Professor David Amor
Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne
Clinical Geneticist, Royal Childrens Hospital and VCGS
David trained in paediatrics and genetics at the Royal Children’s Hospital before completing a PhD in Chromosome Biology at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. In 2016 he was appointed to the Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine at the University of Melbourne, prior to which he was Director of Victorian Clinical Genetics Services. His current research focuses on the genetics of intellectual disability, the translation of new genetic technologies into clinical practice and the identification of genes for rare syndromes.
Nathan Basha
Nathan has Down syndrome but he says, “That’s not who I am”. He has spoken at international and national conferences, political forums, corporate functions, universities, schools, community groups and workshops, sharing his insights about what can happen when people are encouraged to live their dreams and live life to their full potential.
Nathan is a film maker. He attended The University of Sydney and works at the prominent radio station Nova 96.9. Nathan believes if change is truly to occur "It's in the mind sets - the fixed and mixed mind sets that create barriers and we need to break through that, allow more people to have a chance in life and allow people's ability the chance to shine. What you see on the outside is one thing, but what you see on the inside is more". Nathan lives in his own home along with two flatmates in Huntley's Cove.
Professor Louise Baur (AM)
Associate Dean Sydney University Discipline of Child & Adolescent Health The Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School
Professor Louise Baur also has a conjoint position in the Sydney School of Public Health. In addition, Louise is a consultant paediatrician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network where she is an active member, and former Head, of Weight Management Services, a multidisciplinary clinical service for children and adolescents affected by obesity. She is Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (EPOCH).
Louise has made research contributions to the prevention of obesity, especially in early childhood; the impact of food marketing to children; the antecedents of obesity and the metabolic syndrome in young people; the complications of obesity; the management of obesity and related disorders in a variety of clinical settings; and the measurement of body composition, dietary intake and physical activity in young people.
Dr John Carmody
Discipline of Physiology, University of Sydney
Founding Convenor "Medicine and Music" Master of Medical Humanities program and President. Australian Catholic Historical Society
Dr Owen Bradfield
Dr Bradfield graduated with First Class Honours in 2003 from Monash University’s unique combined Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Laws program. He was awarded the Ebsworth & Ebsworth Prize for Medical Law and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Prize. Dr Bradfield is a qualified medical practitioner and lawyer. He completed his internship at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and later completed his articles of clerkship at Slater & Gordon Lawyers. Dr Bradfield also has experience in health services management and completed an MBA at Monash University, where he was awarded the prize for the top graduating student.
In addition to his work at Avant, Dr Bradfield also works as a part-time General Practitioner, is Deputy Chair of the Patient Review Panel and Chair of the Law Institute of Victoria’s Health Law Committee.
Ms Joy Cairns OAM
Joy’s unique work is the foundation for successful disability services in Tasmania today. Mother of two children born with severe disabilities, Joy was traumatically thrown into the unknown world of disability, associated complex health conditions, grief and despair, facing insurmountable odds, and a community’s disregard for inclusion.
Believing it unjust to treat disabled children as lesser value due to birth lottery, Joy commenced harnessing and training hundreds of volunteers to establish specially designed programs improving quality of life for disabled people, families and carers. Immensely important in the evolution of services she was architect of Australia’s first Commonwealth fully funded Recreation Service.
Dr Armand Casolin
Chief Health Officer, Chief Health Officer of Sydney Trains and NSW trains, Sydney, Australia
Armand Casolin graduated MBBS from the University of Sydney in 1992 and MSci Tech (Occ Med) from the University of NSW in 2000. He has over 20 years experience in occupational medicine and is a fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
In 2005 Armand joined RailCorp (now Sydney Trains) as Chief Health Officer. Notable achievements in recent years have been: the establishment of an Australian national training program for authorised health professionals conducting rail safety health assessments; contributing to the working group that prepared the 2012 and 2017 editions of the National Standard for Health Assessment of Rail Safety Workers; and the development of the Railway LED Lantern Test. Armand has published numerous research papers in international journals and is Chairman and on the teaching faculty the Australasian Medical Review Officer’s Association (AMROA).
Associate Professor Patrick Charles
Physician in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine, Austin Health
Associate Professor Patrick Charles is a physician in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine at Austin Health as well as being on the National Examination Panel with the College. Along with a busy clinical role, he has a keen interest in medical education and is involved in clinical research into community-acquired pneumonia, the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection, the treatment and prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections, and diabetic foot infections. He’s also a keen photographer, cyclist and triathlete.
Professor John Christodoulou AM
Chair of Genomic Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne,
Head of the Neurodevelopmental Genomics Research Group, at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Professor John Christodoulou graduated from the University of Sydney, and has formal qualifications in paediatrics, medical genetics and genetic pathology. He undertook his formal genetic training at the Murdoch Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and had further postdoctoral training in genetic metabolic disorders at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He returned to Sydney and for 18 years was the Director of the Western Sydney Genetics Program at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, one of the largest fully integrated clinical and laboratory diagnostic genetic services in Australia.
Associate Professor Peter Connaughton
President of Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Peter is the President of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He works in private practice in Perth, Western Australia and he is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Medicine, the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. Peter graduated from the medical school of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and later studied occupational medicine at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of WA and has a special interest in Corporate Social Responsibility. He serves on the boards of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the charity CINI Australia.
Dr Daryl Efron
Paediatrician, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Daryl is a developmental-behavioural paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Senior Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and Senior Lecturer in the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics. He has a long-standing clinical and research interest in ADHD, and was a member of the reference committee for the 2009 revised NHMRC Guidelines on ADHD. His main current research focuses on mapping developmental trajectories of children with ADHD, and identifying modifiable predictors as targets for intervention. He is also interested in psychopharmacology, treating comorbidities in children with ADHD, models of care for children with developmental disorders, and addressing inequalities in access to health services for children. He is on the steering committee of the Australian Paediatric Research Network, and is active in the Neurodevelopmental and Behavioural Paediatric Society of Australasia as well as the newly established peak professional body for ADHD advocacy the Australian ADHD Professionals Association.
Professor Elizabeth Farmer
Chair, Medical Board of Australia Expert Advisory Group on Revalidation
Professor Liz Farmer is a general practitioner and Chair of the of the Medical Board of Australia’s Expert Advisory Group on Revalidation. She is also Chair of the Australian Medical Council’s Prevocational Standards Accreditation Committee, a role she has held since 2013.
In 2007, Professor Farmer was appointed as Dean of Medicine at the University of Wollongong and became the first female general practitioner to become the Dean of a medical school in Australia.
Following this, Professor Farmer was the Executive Director of Workforce Innovation and Reform at Health Workforce Australia and led a national program developing policy and practice in health workforce innovation and reform for all health professionals.
Associate Professor N. Deborah Friedman
Director of Physician Education, Barwon Health
Deb Friedman is an infectious diseases specialist, general physician and the Director of Physician Education at Barwon Health in Geelong. She is an Associate Professor at Deakin University. Her work is divided between teaching, training and mentorship of junior medical staff, clinical work and research. She received her MD in the area of Infection Control and hospital-acquired infections. Her main research interests are infections that develop in hospitalised patients, optimal antimicrobial use, and infection prevention for multi-resistant bacteria. She is a member of the NCAS research team supervising research into antimicrobial stewardship in aged care, hospital-in- the-home and in regional and rural areas.
Associate Professor David J Heslop
Director UNSW Health Management Programs
Dr David Heslop is an Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW and is the Director UNSW Health Management Programs. He is a chief investigator in the Integrated Systems for Epidemic Response (ISER) NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence, with research focus on analysis of epidemic response systems and health systems during crises, emergencies and disasters. He retains significant military responsibilities as Senior Medical Adviser for CBRNE to Special Operations Headquarters Australia and to Australian Defence Force (ADF) joint senior leadership.
Professor Harriet Hiscock
Director, Health Services Research Unit, The Royal Children's Hospital
Co-leader, Community Health Services Research, Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Principal Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
Professor Hiscock is a consultant paediatrician and senior research fellow. She is Director of the Royal Children’s Hospital Health Services Research Unit, Co-Group Leader of the Community Health Services Research group at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Director of the Australian Paediatric Research Network, and Director of the Unsettled Babies Clinic. Her research focuses on common child health conditions, in particular (i) developing and trialling community approaches to their management; (ii) reducing low value care (i.e. unnecessary imaging, pathology testing and medication); and (iii) optimising care for common mental health conditions such as ADHD and anxiety. She is also interested in improving child health outcomes through paediatric, secondary care-based research including e-health. She is driving this research through the Australian Paediatric Research Network – a research network of 500 paediatricians. She is assisted by a team of about 15 researchers and students.
Dr Ryan Hoy
Respiratory Physician, Monash University
Dr Ryan Hoy is a Respiratory and Sleep Disorders physician who completed his medical degree at the University of Melbourne in 1998. Ryan undertook specialist training in respiratory and sleep medicine in Victoria and then a fellowship in Occupational Lung Diseases at Toronto Western Hospital in Canada, where he gained valuable experience in the diagnosis and management of complex work-related respiratory disorders. He obtained a Master's degree of Occupational and Environmental Health at Monash University. Ryan is currently a senior research fellow at the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health. He has several publications in this field and has presented at national and international conferences. His clinical practice is based at Cabrini Malvern and the Alfred Hospital.
Professor John Kolbe MB BS, FRACP
Respiratory Physician, Auckland City Hospital and Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland.
John Kolbe is a graduate of the University of Queensland, Australia. His postgraduate training was undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand, and then at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore MD. He is currently a respiratory physician at Auckland City Hospital and Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland.
Previous roles have included President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and more recently President, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (2010-2012). He is currently Chair of the RACP Revalidation Working Party, Chair of the Health Research Council of New Zealand Clinical Trials Assessment Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Internal Medicine. His recent research interests include asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer.
Dr Nic Kormas
Senior Staff Specialist Endocrinologist at Concord Repatriation General, Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals
Dr Kormas initiated and is the Head of The Metabolic Rehabilitation Programs (Diabetes, Fatty Liver & Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome) at Camden and Concord Repatriation General Hospitals. These programs are intensive interdisciplinary programs managing adults with severe obesity and obesity related diseases.
He has experience in integrating multidisciplinary diabetes and obesity programs run by non-government organisations, with hospital run programs. Examples include the HEAL Program run by Medicare Locals in 2011-2015 & the BEAT it Program run by Diabetes Australia.
He is the Coordinator of the Sydney Local Hospital District Publically Funded Bariatric Surgery Program, the largest program in NSW, from its initiation in 2009 to date.
George Laking
George is a medical oncologist in Auckland. Many years ago he was a student of medical philosophy in Dunedin. In the interim he studied health economics and tumour physiology in London and Manchester. These days his practice is mainly in gastrointestinal malignancy and sarcomas, including adolescent and young adult cancer. Ki te taha a tona Māmā, he uri a Te Whakatōhea a Hōri. George chairs the Māori Health Committee of the RACP, and is a member of its NZ Committee, and of the College Policy and Advocacy Council and its Advisory Committee. He chairs the College’s Working Party on Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Dying. In his spare time he enjoys going out to see a band, and a long bike ride.
Associate Professor Brian Le
Palliative Care Physician; Medical Oncologist and Director of Palliative Care at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Brian is the director of Palliative Care at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, including the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Brian is a specialist in both Palliative Medicine and Medical Oncology, and is an Associate Professor of the University of Melbourne. Brian is the current Chair of the Training Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, responsible for training of all palliative medicine specialists in Australia and New Zealand. Brian is involved with many other Commonwealth and State governmental and not-for-profit organisations concerning Palliative Care, and is a past chairman of Palliative Care Victoria. Brian is involved with research in the areas of palliative and supportive care, including clinical trials of novel therapies, and research into palliative care integration and benefits for patients and carers.
Dr Catherine Marraffa
Deputy Director in the department of Neurodevelopment and Disability and senior clinician in the Mental Health Service, Specialist Autism Assessment Team at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne.
Dr Marraffa is a clinician caring for children with a broad range of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Gaining experience in the UK as a consultant paediatrician in developmental disability, child protection and public health between 1988 and 1994, she returned to Australia and has worked predominantly in the area of assessment and long term care of children with intellectual and physical disabilities. Current research interests include the use of medication in children with autism and improving the care of children with neural tube defects.
Ms Jane Martin
Executive Manager
Obesity Policy Coalition, Cancer Council Victoria, Diabetes Australia Victoria, WHO Collaborating Centre Obesity Prevention - Deakin University and VicHealth
Jane Martin, BA (Hons), MPH, is an Honorary Fellow at Melbourne University and a Senior Fellow at Deakin University.
She leads the OPC, a partnership between Cancer Council Victoria, Diabetes Victoria and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University. Jane advocates for policy and regulatory reform to prevent overweight and obesity, with a focus on food marketing, labelling, and tax and pricing measures.
For over twenty-five years, Jane has worked extensively in public health advocacy, firstly in tobacco control then in obesity prevention and alcohol policy. Her interests lie in advocacy, policy oriented research and partnerships to support policy reform. Jane is the recipient of a Jack Brockhoff Foundation Churchill Fellowship and is an alumnus of the Williamson Community Leadership Program. She is Vice President of the Australian New Zealand Obesity Society and a board member of Family Planning Victoria.
Professor Jennifer Martin
Chair of Clinical Pharmacology in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle and practicing physician in the Hunter New England Local Health District.
Professor Jennifer Martin has studied politics and health economics at Oxford University and has used this experience to serve on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, the Economic Subcommittee and other Government and Statewide committees examining appropriate allocation, regulation, safety and efficacy in pharmaceuticals. Her PhD (Monash) and subsequent postdoctoral work at the Walter and Eliza Hall focussed on the function of macrophages and statin activity with high fat diet. Her recent research is in the area of clinical development of both novel and old drugs for a variety of diseases including cancer therapies, old antimicrobials and drugs of abuse.
Due to national legislative changes, the research has moved to understanding the clinical pharmacology and potential efficacy, safety, regulatory and reimbursement issues for clinical use of cannabinoids. These involve developing both early and late phase clinical trials, assessing evidence and understanding pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors affecting individual patient response and the appropriate regulatory framework in which to enure safety for patients.
Chris McKinlay
Chris McKinlay is a neontologist at Kidz First Neonatal Care, Auckland and senior lecturer in perinatal health at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland. He divides his time equally between neonatal intensive care and research, focusing on early-life interventions to improve long-term developmental and metabolic outcomes in at-risk infants. His interest in medical assistance in dying stems from the difficult decisions that clinicians and families face when caring for babies with complex needs and severe illness. His has a Post-graduate Diploma in Professional Ethics.
Dr Katherine Ong
Senior Medical Adviser, Office of Medicinal Cannabis at the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria
Dr Katherine Ong is currently assisting with implementation of the Victorian Access to Medicinal Cannabis Act 2016. Katherine is a public health physician and previous roles have included: work with the Victorian Chief Health Officer, medicines regulation, communicable disease control, and research in the fields of health economics and Aboriginal health.
Kym Peake
Secretary, Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
Kym Peake commenced as Secretary of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services in November 2015. Kym has extensive experience in both state and Commonwealth Government, including as Deputy Secretary, Higher Education and Skills Group at the Victorian Department of Education and Training, Deputy Secretary Governance Policy and Coordination at the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and Executive Director, Productivity and Inclusion at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Kym possesses an Executive Master of Public Administration, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws, all from the University of Melbourne.
Professor Roger Reddel
Director of Children’s Medical Research Institute and Lorimer Dods Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney
Professor Roger Reddel is Director of Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and Lorimer Dods Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney. A medical graduate of the University of Sydney, he trained in medical oncology (FRACP 1985), completed a PhD in cancer cell biology, and undertook postdoctoral research in molecular carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
On returning to Sydney, he set up a lab at CMRI to study cellular immortalisation, an almost-universal characteristic of cancer. He has made many discoveries regarding the enzyme telomerase upon which 85% of cancers depend for their growth, and the alternative mechanism utilised by many of the remaining 10-15%. The aim of this research is to develop new forms of cancer treatment. Professor Reddel was awarded the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research and the NSW Premier's Award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher, and elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
Professor Dinah Reddihough
Dinah Reddihough is a paediatrician at The Royal Children’s Hospital, a Professorial Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne and a Research Fellow in the Developmental Disability and Rehabilitation Research Group at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. She has been involved in the clinical care of children with disabilities, particularly cerebral palsy, for over 30 years. Her research program has focused on gaining an improved understanding of the causes and outcomes of disabilities in childhood. Currently Dinah is Chief Investigator on an NHMRC funded Centre of Research Excellence in Cerebral Palsy.
Professor Charlotte Rees
Professor and Director of Curriculum (Medicine) and Director of the Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education (MCSHE) at Monash University
Professor Charlotte Rees was previously Professor of Education Research and Director of the Centre for Medical Education at the University of Dundee, Scotland and Founding Director of the Scottish Medical Education Research Consortium. Charlotte has over 15 years’ experience as a health professions education researcher and has led a 10-year programme of research on patient-centred healthcare professionalism. She has over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books and has secured over £1.5M of health professions education research income as Principal or Co-Investigator over the last 10 years. She is Associate Editor for Advances in Health Sciences Education, was Deputy Editor for Medical Education (2008-2016) and was the medical education expert on the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) sub-panel for education (2011-2014). She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. Her areas of teaching expertise include research supervision, teaching education research methodologies and methods, educational management and leadership, and professionalism education.
Associate Professor Darren Roberts
Associate Professor Darren Roberts
He has worked in Australia and UK and held multiple academic appointments and positions of responsibility on peak hospital, state, national and international committees. Research has been in the broader fields of clinical pharmacology toxicology and nephrology with a focus on pharmacokinetics, therapeutics and evidence based medicine. Current appointments are in clinical pharmacology/toxicology at St Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney) and renal medicine at The Canberra Hospital and an Associate Professor at ANU and University of Sydney. He is Chair of the Clinical Pharmacology Interest Group of Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologist (ASCEPT), Co-chair of Scientific Review Committee of AACT and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Asia-Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology (APAMT). Darren was an RACP representative on various discussions about biosimilars with the Department of Health.
Professor Monique Ryan
Director
Department of Neurology and Group Leader, Murdoch Children’s Institute at the Royal Children’s Hospital
Professor Ryan's qualifications include Bachelor Degrees in Medicine and Surgery (University of Melbourne, 1991), fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (1998) and a Master's degree in Medicine (University of Sydney, 2001).
She completed subspecialty training in paediatric neurology in Sydney, a neurology residency at the Children's Hospital Boston, and a neurophysiology fellowship at the Lahey Clinic, Boston Massachusetts.
Career highlights include awards for clinical research from the Child Neurology Society (USA) (2000), American Academy of Neurologists (2002), and the XIth International Congress on Neuromuscular Disorders (2006).
Peter Sainsbury
Peter Sainsbury was until his recent retirement Director of Population Health in South Western Sydney Local Health District. He holds adjunct professorial appointments at the Universities of Notre Dame, Sydney and New South Wales. Peter is Vice President of the Climate and Health Alliance, a past president of the Public Health Association of Australia, and a past member of the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Health Ethics Committee.
Peter’s qualifications (MBBS, MHP, PhD, FAFPHM) and background cover medicine, public health, health services management and sociology. His professional interests include inequalities in health, healthy urban development, and climate change and environmental sustainability. Peter is very active in several environmental and climate change organisations. Other interests include figurative war memorials, cooking and eating, the arts, cricket and Florence Nightingale.
Associate Professor Ian Scott
Consultant General Physician and Director of Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane
Dr Ian Scott is also Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Queensland and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Monash University. He has research interests in evidence-based medicine and decision-making, quality improvement, guideline development, advance care planning, deprescribing, integrated care. Dr Scott is a research fellow at the Queensland Centre for Research Excellence in Quality and Safety of Integrated Primary-Secondary Care, is the inaugural chair of the Australian Deprescribing Network, and is a member of Queensland Policy and Advisory Committee on new Technology (QPACT). He also sits on committees of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Queensland Health, the Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Health Care, and the MBS Review Taskforce for Cardiac Services.
Dr Scott has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and is a recipient of several NHMRC and government research grants.
Dr Linda Sheahan
Palliative Care Medical Specialist at the University of Sydney
Dr Linda Sheahan is a Palliative Care Physician, and a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, and Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine. She works as a Staff Specialist in Palliative Care at St George and Calvary Hospitals in Sydney.
Linda is the Clinical Ethics Consultant for South East Area Health Service, and is an Honorary Associate with the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine at the University of Sydney as a member of the clinical ethics network. She is a member of the racp clinical ethics committee.
Catherine Storey OAM
Chair, Library and Heritage Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Catherine is now retired from clinical practice as a neurologist but continues to teach at the Sydney Medical School, where she has established a museum, which traces the history of the Faculty. She has a keen interest in the History of Medicine, particularly in the field of the neurosciences, having served as President of the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences.
Brett Sutton
Assistant Director Communicable Disease at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
Brett Sutton is currently Assistant Director Communicable Disease at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. He previously worked on secondment at the Burnet Institute, focused on Hepatitis C elimination. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine and recently successfully completed final exams for the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM). He is the Victorian representative of the Communicable Disease Network Australia and deputy chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee of AFPHM nationally. He is also a founder and co-chair of an international group working to incorporate palliative care practice into humanitarian responses. He initially had a 10-year career in Emergency Medicine including as Deputy Director in a Tasmanian Emergency Department. This was followed by several years of field-based international public health in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Timor-Leste. He has worked with internally displaced and refugee populations in all those countries and continues to have a strong interest in refugee health and human rights.
Professor Boyd Swinburn
Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health, University of Auckland and Alfred Deakin Professor, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Melbourne
Professor Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health, University of Auckland and Alfred Deakin Professor, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Melbourne Professor Swinburn is also Co-Chair of World Obesity Policy & Prevention section (formerly International Obesity Task Force). He trained as an endocrinologist and has conducted research in metabolic, clinical and public health aspects of obesity. His major research interests are centred on community and policy actions to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity, and reduce, what he has coined, ‘obesogenic’ environments. He is currently leading an initiative www.informas.org to monitor and benchmark food environments internationally. He has over 350 publications related to obesity, established WHO’s first Collaborating Centre on Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in 2003, led two Lancet Series on Obesity and co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Obesity. He has been an advisor on many government committees, WHO Consultations, and large scientific studies internationally.
Katrina Williams
Professor Katrina Williams is a paediatrician and public health physician who has worked and trained in Darwin, Sydney, London and Melbourne. Katrina is the APEX Chair of Neurodevelopment and Disability Department (Formally Developmental Medicine), University of Melbourne and Director of Neurodevelopment and Disability Department, Royal Children’s Hospital. Katrina is also an Honorary Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Honorary Fellow, Deakin Child Study Centre. Her current work includes clinical care, service development, research and evidence synthesis and translation.
Clare White
Clare is a Geriatrician from Western Health, Melbourne. She has trained and worked in a wide variety of clinical settings including in the acute hospital, in residential aged care, in the community (ACAS) and in subacute hospital settings. She has a Diploma of Palliative Medicine. Her current responsibilities as a consultant Geriatrician include; consult liaison service, our Cardiogeriatrics Heart Failure service and a specialist dementia assessment clinic (CDAMS). Other clinical experience includes 2 years as the consultant managing the Dementia Management Unit at Western Health. Clare is currently a member of the RACP Working Party appointed to develop a college position on Euthanasia/Physician Assisted Dying. She has interests in frailty, multimorbidity, end of life issues, Quality and Safety in Healthcare and clinical ethics.
Hong Wu
Tianhong (Hong) Wu is a 3rd year Basic Physician Trainee currently working at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria. She has interests in academic medicine, public health, and trainee’s personal and professional development. She is undertaking a part-time Master of Medicine (Clinical Epidemiology) at the University of Sydney, and is the Chair of Victorian and Tasmanian Trainees’ Committee, trainee representative of Victorian State Committee, and the Victorian AMD representative on College Trainees’ Committee. In her spare time, she has volunteered in remote areas of Nepal and led an Emergency Medical Team in the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and is a board member of The Centre and TrekMedic, two not-for-profit community organisations.
Dr Mary Wyatt
Specialist Occupational Physician
In the area of return to work Mary has worn many hats: treater physician, assessing physician, reviewing workplaces for return to work, conciliator in dispute resolution, and as a manager involved with the development of effective return to work systems.
Mary teaches at Monash and was a member of the Victorian WorkCover Advisory Committee from 1993 to 1998, serving on a number of sub committees primarily concerned with the development of back pain guidelines for Victoria and the world leading public back campaign.
Her dedication to making a difference in peoples' lives led to Mary and others to establish OccCorp in 2001. There she managed a team of 25 case managers to coordinate return to work across a range of industries and company sizes.
