Speaker biographies
More speaker bios to come
Julian Morrow - Master of Ceremonies
Co-founder of The Chaser and Giant Dwarf, Creator of The Checkout
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Julian Morrow is the co-founder of satirical media empire The Chaser and joke company Giant Dwarf. He has made numerous TV shows including The Election Chaser, CNNNN, The Chaser's War on Everything, The Hamster Wheel and The Checkout. His work has been nominated for many awards. In recent years, he's been the Executive Producer of two Lawrence Leung's series, Choose Your Own Adventure and Unbelievable, as well as Eliza and Hannah Reilly's Growing Up Gracefully and Sarah Scheller and Alison Bell's The Letdown (which won the 2018 AACTA Award for Best TV Comedy).
In 2012 and 2013, he hosted Friday Drive on ABC Radio National. In 2015, Julian founded Giant Dwarf theatre at 199 Cleveland Street Redfern.
Over the years, Julian has interviewed countless people including Edward Snowden, Christopher Hitchens, Sting, Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, Marc Newsome and the curator of TED, Chris Anderson.
Opening Session
Joanna Betteridge
Chair, Rare Voices Australia
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Joanna Betteridge, Principal of Betteridge Legal Consulting, is an employment and workplace safety lawyer and consultant and an accredited mediator. Joanna is also a Senior Fellow at Monash University and lectures in its Law Faculty post graduate program including lecturing in anti-discrimination law. Joanna is the immediate past Chair of the TEAR Australia Board (a global aid and development organisation) and has held a number of Board roles in a variety of not-for-profit and Government Boards since 2003. Joanna sat for many years on the committee of the Australian MPS Society, becoming involved soon after her two nephews, Jack and Tom, were diagnosed with MPS III, Sanfilippo Syndrome, in 1998.
Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Health and Aged Care
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The Hon Mark Butler MP has been a Labor Member in the Federal Parliament since 2007 and is the Minister for Health and Aged Care. He served as the Member for Port Adelaide from 2007 – 2019 and after a federal redistribution, which saw the abolition of the seat of Port Adelaide, he was elected the Member for Hindmarsh.
The Minister served as Minister for Ageing and Australia’s first Minister for Mental Health in the Gillard Government. He has also held the ministries of Housing, Homelessness, Social Inclusion, Climate Change, Water and the Environment.
Before the Minister was elected to parliament, he worked for some of the most disadvantaged people in the community as an official with United Voice for over 15 years, including 11 years as State Secretary.
In 2003 he was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to trade unionism.
Senator the Hon Anne Ruston
Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care
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Senator the Hon Anne Ruston has been a Senator since September 2012. She is currently the Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Shadow Minister for Sport and Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate.
In July 2014, Anne was elected Senior Deputy Government Whip in the Senate and Chair of the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee. She was also an active participant in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee.
Senator Ruston was appointed Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources in September 2015. She was subsequently appointed as Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific in August 2018. Prior to the 2022 election, Senator Ruston was a Cabinet Minister, holding the positions of Minister for Families and Social Services, Minister for Women’s Safety and Manager of Government Business in the Senate for three years.
Nicole Millis
Chief Executive Officer, Rare Voices Australia
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A qualified social worker, Nicole has both personal and professional experience in the rare disease sector. Nicole has over 12 years’ worth of experience in rare disease advocacy, particularly regarding access to treatments. Since 2018, Nicole has held the role of consumer nominee on the Life Saving Drugs Program Expert Panel. Under Nicole’s guidance, RVA led the collaborative development of the National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases, the first nationally coordinated effort to address rare diseases in Australia.
The Role and Importance of Lived Experience in Implementing the National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases
Beck Webber
RVA Ambassador
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In 2014, Beck noticed small micro changes in the way her body operated, which was noted in her medical files. On Christmas night in 2017, she fell down a flight of 11 stairs after losing her feet on the top step. This resulted in her spending the next 12 months with a crushed disc and surgery to replace the disc and rods in her back. In 2020, Beck noticed she was becoming highly fatigued, sleeping all day and her legs either felt like jelly or stiff as a board. After a blood test was sent to the United States of America for genetic testing, she was eventually diagnosed with Spinocerebellar ataxia type 36 (SCA36). Beck is looking forward to ‘illuminating’ the rare disease cohort in a more public manner and sharing her experiences as a para equestrian athlete.
Panel Discussion - A Person Centered Approach to Implementing the National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases
Lachy Beckett
RVA Ambassador
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Lachy was diagnosed with a rare disease called Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) when he was three years old. JDM is a form of Myositis affecting children. Myositis is a group of rare autoimmune diseases affecting the muscles. Lachy has been active as a volunteer in raising awareness for people with rare diseases for the past 10 years. He is currently involved in a business start-up with his family and in his spare time, loves playing guitar, reading and playing chess.
Tammie Rees
RVA Ambassador
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Tammie is the mother of two children and lives in regional Victoria. Her youngest is 5 years old and was born and diagnosed in 2017 with Maple Syrup Urine Disease. Tammie says it’s been a very big learning journey but one in which her family has managed to find their feet and now are ready to have their voices heard on important issues such as inclusion, research, cures and anything else they can do to help. She is excited to see what we can achieve together. When Tammie is not busy working and with family life, she enjoys running.
Image Credit: Alison Wynd, 2019, News Corporation
Katie Alexander
RVA Ambassador
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Frequent falls, extreme fatigue and pain led to Katie’s diagnosis of Dermatomyositis. The rare disease destroys skin, muscles, tendons and organs reducing strength, dexterity and mobility. It can present with cancer, cardiac and auto-immune conditions. Myositis is fatal when inflammation scars the heart (Cardiomyopathy) and lungs (Interstitial Lung Disease). Katie’s Myositis symptoms were untreated for nearly 40 years until advanced disease prevented her from climbing stairs and rising from chairs. By then her muscles were wasting, dying and shortening. Katie had problems chewing, swallowing and speaking. Significant hair loss, skin rashes, peeling, lumps and blood spots changed her appearance. The aggressive disease was resistant to pharmacological treatment (steroids, chemotherapy, immunotherapy) until a kinase (JAK) inhibitor was trialled in 2021. Katie is very grateful for this respite and now shares her experiences of rare disease, disability and family violence through advocacy roles with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Safe Steps, Peter MacCallum Cancer Hospital, Monash University and RMIT University.
Panel Discussion - Celebrating RVA's 10 Years of Rare Disease Advocacy and Shaping the Next Decade
Dr Mike Freelander MP
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Dr Freelander has been a paediatrician in Campbelltown for 37 years and has dedicated his life’s work to make sure our kids get the best start in life.
He trained as a paediatrician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Camperdown after completing his residency at the Royal North Shore Hospital. In 1984, Dr Freelander and his wife Sharon moved to the Macarthur Region where they raised their six children. At this time Dr Freelander commenced work at Campbelltown Hospital where he took on the role as Head of Paediatrics from 1986 to 2013. Dr Freelander set up practices in Campbelltown and Camden because he saw that the growing needs of the region were not being met. Despite his workload as a paediatrician Dr Freelander still finds time to give back to his profession, teaching the next generation of doctors as a lecturer at Western Sydney University.
His hard work and dedication to the region has earnt him the respect of local families and residents. In his near 4 decades as a paediatrician in the Macarthur region, Mike has seen over 200,000 patients.
Dr Freelander has increasingly seen his patients and their families face issues of access; access to healthcare, access to work, access to housing and access to education. It is these issues that drove Mike to run for the Federal seat of Macarthur.
Dr Kaustuv Bhattacharya
MBBS, MRCPCH, FRACP, MD (res)
RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Dr Bhattacharya performed undergraduate medical training at the University of London. His post graduate MD (res) at the University of London involved investigator-led clinical trials conducted at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. He has published novel approaches to treatment of glycogen storage disease type I, HMG Co-A Lyase deficiency, fat oxidation disorders, Hunter syndrome and Aspartylglucosaminuria. He has been in Australia since 2008 working as a full-time metabolic specialist. He is currently president of the Australasian Society of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (ASIEM).
Sean Murray
Chief Executive Officer and one of the founding directors of the Mito Foundation
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Sean is the Chief Executive Officer and one of the founding directors of the Mito Foundation - an organisation that supports the Australian mitochondrial disease (mito) community while driving research into mito to find preventions, treatments, and cures. He is responsible for the development and execution of the Mito Foundation Strategic Plan and all aspects of Mito Foundation operations. With multiple generations of family members affected by mito, Sean is deeply motivated to drive the impact of the work of the Mito Foundation in ending the suffering from mito.
Mito is one of the leading causes of childhood dementia and Sean is one of the founding directors of the Childhood Dementia Initiative. The Childhood Dementia Initiative aims to transform research, care and quality of life for children with dementia so they may live long and fulfilling lives. Sean has lived and worked in Australia, the UK and the US with broad industry experience in both private and government sectors, covering software development, business consulting and general management. Sean holds a degree in Computer Science and Pure Mathematics (BSc) from Sydney University.
Dr Carol Wicking
RVA Director, RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Dr Carol Wicking received her BSc (Hons) and MSc from the University of Melbourne and her PhD from the University of London. She has over 25 years of research experience, primarily investigating the molecular and cellular basis of a number of rare diseases including cystic fibrosis, naevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome and a class of rare diseases known as ciliopathies. Carol is the Science Advisor and a Board Member of Phenomics Australia, a capability of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. She is currently an independent consultant and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland.
Dr Kathryn Evans
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Dr Kathryn Evans is the Australian Managing Director of a multinational biotechnology company, making meaningful differences to the lives of children with rare genetic diseases. A qualified pharmacist, Kathryn made her mark as a top salesperson for companies such as Roche, Cochlear and Sanofi, before going on to earn her MBA. Her leadership credentials are supported by over 25 years of international experience.
Kathryn was awarded a Doctor of Business Administration in 2019 for her influential research on women in senior leadership, and in 2020 her research findings were published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIRLY is Kathryn’s first book, launched in 2022. It explores the barriers to women in senior leadership and shows how a National Plan for Gender Equality can drive economic success and transform Australia’s future.
Kathryn travels from Sydney’s lower north shore where she lives with her husband, two teenage daughters, six backyard chooks and a lop-eared rabbit called ‘The B’.
Panel Discussion - National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Disease - Awareness and Education
Dr Amanda Choo
Resources and Information Officer, Rare Voices Australia
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Amanda comes from a background in scientific research, having graduated with a PhD in Sciences (in the area of Genetics) from the University of Adelaide. She has previously worked on research projects studying Mucopolysaccharidosis Type III (MPS III, Sanfilippo Syndrome) and the tumour suppressor gene WW domain containing oxidoreductase (WWOX). Amanda has also worked as a university tutor for Medical Genetics. Since then, she has gone on to lead projects on developing genetic technologies for the horticultural sector, all whilst maintaining an active interest in human genetics. Amanda has a personal connection with rare disease, living with myasthenia gravis, and is passionate about using her scientific skills and knowledge to develop and provide customised, evidence-based information about rare diseases for the rare disease community.
Megan Donnell
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Megan is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Childhood Dementia Initiative, a world first approach to accelerate action on childhood dementia. Launched in November 2020, the initiative is driving systemic change for the 70+ conditions that cause childhood dementia with the ultimate objective to enable treatments and cures, equitable access to quality care, and for childhood dementia to be a health priority globally. Prior to this, Megan founded Sanfilippo Children's Foundation in 2013 following the diagnosis of both her children with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare form of childhood dementia.
Dr Falak Helwani
Research and Evaluation Manager, Rare Voices Australia
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Falak is a former research scientist with a PhD in molecular cell biology from the University of Queensland and postdoctoral experience in hematopoietic stem cell and bone marrow transplant biology at the Mater Medical Research Institute. She has co-authored several publications and has presented her research both in Australia and overseas. Falak paused her research career to care for her daughter who has a rare congenital heart defect and later learned that her youngest son has a rare auto-inflammatory disease. As RVA’s Research and Evaluation Manager, Falak is committed to ensuring that evidenced-based understanding of rare disease biology drives advocacy and policy reform.
Dr Emma Palmer
PhD, FRACP, MBBS RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Dr (Elizabeth) Emma Palmer is a clinical geneticist at Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN) and university lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She is passionate about improving the patient journey for all with rare genetic conditions and their families. Her work aims to improve the recognition of the possibility of genetic conditions by improving clinician education about rare diseases, maximising the diagnostic yield of genetic tests and optimising patient care by linking families to best practice guidelines, treatments and supports. She has over 70 peer reviewed journal articles, including those describing nine new genetic conditions. Dr Palmer strives to ensure that the patient and family voice is always central to all her research.
Case Studies from Myasthenia Alliance Australia
Susan White
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Susan’s journey with auto-immune disease began in her teens. The issues were variable and fluctuating but generally life was lived to the full. That all changed in her early 40s. Life was unexplained and challenging. It took four years to achieve a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis, and this was followed by a second diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis. There were more auto-immune conditions added making life interesting.
Always keen to participate in life and volunteer Susan joined the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Queensland (MGAQ) in 2006, taking office the following year. Fifteen years later, after meeting some wonderful people and undertaking a wide range of new experiences, she is now Vice President of the MGAQ and has been Chairperson of the Myasthenia Alliance since its inception in 2014. This volunteer work has been engaging and achievable as it has worked around her health and energy capabilities. Family is her greatest joy.
Update from the Department of Health: Newborn Bloodspot Screening
Lisa Schofield
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Lisa Schofield commenced as the First Assistant Secretary of the Cancer, Hearing and Program Support Division at the Australian Government Department of Health in early February 2022. In this role, she manages the National Cancer Screening Programs and the Hearing Services program.
Since joining Health in mid-2020 until the end of 2021, Lisa briefly managed the Health Economics and Research Division, responsible for the Medical Research Future Fund and health economic and data analysis, before establishing and managing the COVID-19 Vaccination Program. She drove the strategy and policy for consideration by the Australian Government and the states and territories, through the National Cabinet. As the COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce grew, Lisa took primary carriage of the policy and program design, including managing the Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group (SITAG) and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), as well as leading the commercial negotiations with vaccine providers.
Lisa has almost twenty years’ experience working in the Australian Government where she has held policy leadership roles in health, resources, innovation, and higher education.
Update on the Review of Health TechnologyAssessment (HTA) in Australia
Jo Watson
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Jo Watson is Deputy Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) and has been a consumer nominee on the PBAC since 2013.
In 2021 she was appointed the Deputy Chair of the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC), and is also Deputy Chair of the Board of Consumers Health Forum (CHF), the peak national health consumer organisation in Australia.
Jo’s areas of interest include developing pathways for patient engagement in HTA, public health responses to infectious disease outbreaks, and capacity building for patient representatives and advocates.
Jo has contributed to health policy reform and analysis in the areas of Communicable Diseases, the National Medicines Policy and PBS programs.
Update: Mental Health and Rare Diseases
Louise Healy
Education and Advocacy, Rare Voices Australia
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Louise has extensive experience working as a consultant and coach in the corporate sector and has post graduate qualifications in psychology. Her connection with rare conditions began when her first child was born with a rare metabolic disorder. Louise has been involved in rare disease support and advocacy for over 10 years and she is the current Vice President of the Metabolic Dietary Disorders Association (MDDA). She has led successful advocacy campaigns for access to medicines and support programs for people with rare disorders of protein metabolism. Louise is a previous RVA Board member, current member of the Queensland Genomics Community Advisory Board and a founding board member of the Global Association for PKU.
Rare Disease and the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Fiona Lawton
President - Angelman Syndrome Association Australia
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Fiona lives in Brisbane with her husband Gerry and has three adult children, a daughter and two sons – her youngest child, Connor, has Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic neurological condition.
Fiona started her career as a licensed Air Traffic Controller and spent over 25 years in the federal government sector, with more than 15 years in senior management, developing and implementing policy, regulations and frameworks across risk management, safety and community engagement.
Fiona has proudly served as the National President of the Angelman Syndrome Association Australia (ASAA) since 2019. The ASAA provides systemic advocacy and family support for people living with Angelman syndrome, and education to raise awareness and understanding of Angelman syndrome.
In 2010 she was a Founding Board Member of the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (Australia), which is dedicated to supporting research into potential therapeutics for Angelman syndrome.
Both organisations are proud partners of Rare Voices Australia.
National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases - Research and Data - Rare Disease Registry Audit
Prof Susannah Ahern
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Professor Ahern is a medical administrator and academic in health services research and management at Monash University. As the Head, Clinical Outcomes data Reporting and Research Program at Monash University, she is the Monash Academic Lead for six national clinical quality registries including in dementia, cystic fibrosis, breast devices, spine surgery and pelvic floor procedures. Her areas of research interest include registry governance, secondary use of clinical registry data, registry data reporting and benchmarking, and clinical and consumer engagement with registries. She is currently a member of a number of national and state-based committees regarding clinical quality registries, including the Clinical Principal Committee (CPC) Clinical Quality Registries (CQR) Expert Advisory Group (EAG) and the Breast Implant Expert Working Group of the Australian Government Department of Health; and the Clinical Quality Registries Framework Review Advisory Group, of the Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Healthcare. She is co-Chair of the Australian Clinical Trial Alliance Registry Special Interest Group, and a member of the International Collaboration of Breast Registry Activities (ICOBRA) and the Cystic Fibrosis Registries International Data Harmonization Working Group. Her work has informed national registry policy and since the recent release of the National Clinical Registry strategy, is work of increasing national significance.
Update: James Lind Alliance Project
Prof Adam Jaffé
BSc (Hons), MBBS, MD, FRCP, FRCPCH. FRACP, FThorSoc
Char, RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Professor Adam Jaffé is the John Beveridge Professor of Paediatrics and Head of the Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health and Clinical Campus, Randwick School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine, and a Paediatric Respiratory Consultant at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. Professor Jaffé was appointed as a Consultant in Paediatric Research at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and headed up respiratory medicine research at the Institute of Child Health London in 2001 until moving to Australia in 2006. Adam chairs the Young Lungs program of Lung Foundation Australia and is on Lung Foundation Australia’s Rare Lung Diseases Committee. He is chair of RVA’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee and is on the Board (ex officio). He is on the boards of Children’s Cancer Institute and the Australian Institute of Health Innovation. He is the Chair of the Research Advisory Committee of Asthma Australia. He was on the advisory committees for the National Strategic Plan for Lung Conditions (2019) and the National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases (2020).
Translational Research Study (BrAshA-T)
Prof David Coman
Paediatrician, Metabolic Physician, Clinical Geneticist
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David is a highly experienced Medical Doctor having trained in Paediatrics, Metabolic Medicine and Clinical Genetics. His area of expertise is in the diagnosis and management of children with rare diseases.
David is currently involved in multiple research projects aimed at novel disease discovery, improved diagnostic testing and treatments for children with inherited genetic disorders. The diagnosis of a rare disease is often delayed because of their individual small numbers and complex nature. David is a passionate rare disease advocate and engages with multiple rare disease support groups. He is director of a national clinic for Ataxia Telangiectasia brashat.org.au and has recently been awarded a $2.5 million NHMRC research grant for a phase 2/3 trial for treatment of this disorder. David is actively involved in the teaching of medical students and paediatric trainees and currently holds academic appointments at multiple Queensland universities. He is an active research member of the Australian Genomic Health Alliance australiangenomics.org.au.
David’s experience, empathy, professionalism, relaxed nature and sense of humour make him well placed to help guide families through what can be a stressful journey. When not working, David enjoys spending time with his family and watching as much sport as possible.
Panel Discussion - Flying the Flag for Rare Diseases
Clin/Prof Gareth Baynam
MBBS, DCH, FRACP, PhD, AFAIDH
RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Professor Gareth Baynam is the Medical Director of the Rare Care Centre and its state-wide clinical service based at the Perth Children’s Hospital; Head of the Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies (birth defects and cerebral palsy registers); Clinical Geneticist and Program Director of the Undiagnosed Diseases Program WA; Foundation Board Member of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network International; and Adjunct Genomics Policy Officer in the Western Australian Health Department. He is affiliated with the University of Western Australia; Curtin University; Murdoch University; Notre Dame University; Melbourne University; and Telethon Kids Institute. He is the founder of an integrated suite of cross-sector and community engaging initiatives to improve the lives of people living with rare diseases including Project Y, Cliniface (3D facial analysis for rare diseases diagnosis, clinical trials and device design) and Lyfe Languages (Universal Indigenous Medical Translator). He has partnered with the Aboriginal health care leaders and communities in WA over more than a decade to implement a range of state-wide initiatives to improve the equity for Indigenous people living with rare diseases. He Chairs and/or is one of the Executive or Advisories of multiple international rare diseases initiatives; and multiple National Institutes of Health in Europe, North America and Asia. He has personal connections to rare diseases.
Prof John Christodoulou AM
MB, BS, PhD, FRACP, FFSc (RCPA), FRCPA, FHGSA, FAHMS
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John graduated from the University of Sydney, and has formal qualifications in paediatrics, medical genetics and genetic pathology. He is based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne. He is currently the Director of the Genetics Research Theme of the MCRI, and co-leads the Brain and Mitochondrial Research Group with Professor David Thorburn. He holds the Chair of Genomic Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.
Apart from mitochondrial disorders, his other major research interests are in Rett syndrome and related neurodevelopmental disorders. He has a major research interest in the application of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies in rare genetic disorders and is a chief investigator of the Australian Genomics initiative.
He has published over 300 peer reviewed papers and is regularly called upon for lectures on a range of genetics subjects.
John is a former Past President of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia (2005 – 2007). In 2010 he became a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) and in 2017 became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences.
A/Prof Jodie Ingles
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A/Prof Jodie Ingles is Head of the Clinical Genomics Laboratory at Centre for Population Genomics, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She is a cardiac genetic counsellor in the Department of Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with more than 19 years' experience working with families with inherited heart diseases. She is an NHMRC Career Development Fellow and received an NHMRC Excellence Award for the top ranked application in 2018. Her team is focused on finding ways to use cardiac genomics and genetic counselling to improve care, clarify diagnosis and refine risk information, and to implement these findings into clinical care.
John Rasko AO
BSc (Med), MBBS (Hons), PhD, MAICD, FFSc (RCPA), FRCPA, FRACP, FAAHMS
RVA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee
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Professor John Rasko is an Australian pioneer in the application of adult stem cells and genetic therapy. Since 1999 he has directed the Department of Cell & Molecular Therapies at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at the Centenary Institute, University of Sydney.
He is a clinical haematologist, pathologist and scientist with an international reputation in gene and stem cell therapy, experimental haematology and molecular biology. In over 200 publications he has contributed to the understanding of stem cells and blood cell development, gene therapy technologies, cancer causation and treatment, human genetic diseases and molecular biology.
He serves on hospital, state and national bodies including Chair of GTTAC (OGTR) and past Chair of the TGA Advisory Committee on Biologicals. He co-founded and was past-President of the Australasian Gene & Cell Therapy Society and has served as President, President-Elect, and Vice President of ISCT.