Our ACTA 2024 Symposium Speakers

Christopher Reid is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and clinical trialist with a specific interest in large scale clinical trials, quality improvement and outcomes research.  

He holds a NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship and has had continual NHMRC research funding since 1997. He holds Professorial Research Fellow positions at both Curtin and Monash University and is Co-Director of the Monash Centre for Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics (CCRE) and Director of the Curtin Centre for Clinical Research and Education (CCRE).

Professor Christopher Sweeney is the inaugural Director of the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAIGENCI) at the University of Adelaide.  He returned to Australia Decemerb 2022 after 28 years in the USA where is last appointment  Full Professor at Harvard University and Medical Oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was awarded a Doctor of Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide in 2023 and Fellowship of Australasian College of Physicians in 2024.

His primary research interest is drug and biomarker discovery and development.  His academic focus is primarily on the management of genitourinary malignancies, with a focus on prostate and testicular cancer translational and clinical research.

  Felicity Flack is the Senior Manager, Strategy and Services for Australia’s national data linkage infrastructure, the Population Health Research Network. She is a leading expert in national data research infrastructure, research ethics, data governance, and policy, with a focus on the responsible use of linked data in health and medical research. With over 20 years of experience, she has played a pivotal role in shaping ethical frameworks that balance innovation with legal, ethical, and social responsibilities.

Felicity has held key leadership positions in several prominent health research organisations, where she has overseen complex data-sharing initiatives and developed policies that ensure privacy, legal compliance, and research integrity. Her work has been instrumental in creating environments where data can be used effectively for research while maintaining the public's trust.

Known for her ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes, Felicity is a trusted advisor to government, industry, and academia. She is a passionate advocate for transparent, ethical research practices that benefit both researchers and society at large.

Francesca Orsini received a Master of Science in Biostatistics from the University of Milan (Italy) in 2009. Francesca has been a biostatistician at the Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit (CEBU) at the MCRI since 2011, and is am a member of the Melbourne Children’s Trials Centre (MCTC) at the RCH. 

As part of this role, Francesca played a major part in the design, planning, conduct and statistical analysis for a range of clinical trials, including studies in allergy, pre-term neonates, cerebral palsy, public health, and education. Her role also includes statistical consultancy and providing training in clinical research, as well as mentoring students, project managers, and data managers of the study teams of which she is a member. 

Currently, Francesca is the lead biostatistician for over 9 clinical trials recruiting participants at the RCH, including five major multi-centre and two international trials, and two further trials in the planning stage. She has recently been appointed Team Leader within CEBU.

Professor Dore is Head, Viral Hepatitis Clinical Research Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, and Infectious Diseases Physician, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He has been involved in viral hepatitis and HIV epidemiological and clinical research, clinical care and public health policy for 25 years. He has developed extensive national and international collaborations, and internationally recognised in the areas of HCV natural history and epidemiology, therapeutic strategies for acute and chronic HCV infection, particularly among people who inject drugs, and HCV elimination strategies. 

Professor Dore was a member of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Council and is a NHMRC Leadership Investigator. 

Professor Dore established the St Vincent’s Hospital viral hepatitis service in 1999 and led its development into one of the leading national and international HCV treatment services, with a particular focus on marginalised populations including people who inject drugs, homeless persons, and people who are incarcerated. 

 Dr Periyalil holds Senior Clinical Leadership and Governance roles across various areas in the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. For almost a decade, as a Senior Medical Advisor in TGA, he has reviewed around 1000 clinical trials, resulting in key regulatory decisions and represented TGA in international collaborations with FDA and EMA. In the current role, he is providing evidence-based clinical input into the design and implementation of the Department’s various national-level projects and strategic clinical advice for current public health priorities. 

Dr Periyalil’s 20 years of clinical and research experience spans across Paediatrics and Respiratory Medicine. He was a finalist for the prestigious Ann-Woolcock Young Investigator Award and a recipient of the Department of Health’s Australia Day Award for his contributions. Dr Periyalil has completed management and governance training from the Yale University and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and is an active member of AICD. Having been in the current governance roles, he continues his scientific contributions as reviewer of scientific journals, publications and as an active member of ACTA.

Helen Monaghan is Head of Clinical Trial Partnerships at The George Institute for Global Health and has extensive experience in managing multi-centre clinical trials and leading a large project operations team. 

Helen has more than 25 years’ experience working on academic investigator-initiated trials and joined The George Institute in 2000 as Senior Project Manager on the landmark ADVANCE trial.  Helen is the Operations Lead on the Join Us project, leading the team supporting the recruitment, managing the collaborating organisations and sitting on the Management Committee. 

Ian Marschner is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Sydney and Director of Biostatistics at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre. He has over 30 years experience working on clinical trials and methodological research. 

He is a Chief Investigator for the Australian Trials Methodology (AusTriM) Research Network, and formerly he was Head of Statistics at Macquarie University, Director of Biometrics at Pfizer and Associate Professor at Harvard. 

A/Prof Ingrid Hickman is a Principal Research Fellow in Implementation Science with the UQ ULTRA team (Clinical Trial Capability) located within the Centre for Clinical Research in Brisbane. 

A/Prof Ingrid Hickman is an implementation scientist and has over 20 years experience in health services clinical research. Her career has focused on research excellence, strategic leadership and translating scientific evidence into improved clinical care for people with complex chronic conditions. 

From randomised controlled trials and mechanisms of disease progression through to patient centred co-design of health services, her collaborative approach to research aims to find solutions to health care problems. 

  Jasmin is a Patient Engagement Officer at the ANZDATA registry, supported by the BEAT-CKD Centre of Research Excellence (CRE-PACT). With over 20 years of health care experience in both public and private settings, Jasmin is a Registered Nurse with a master’s in public health and a postgraduate certificate in Cancer Nursing.

Jasmin's background encompasses management, education, clinical trials, and clinical practice. Her first role in patient and public engagement was with the NHS UK, where she facilitated programs such as the "15 Steps Challenge". Passionate about enhancing consumer engagement in kidney disease research, Jasmin uses her experience to advocate for meaningful involvement at every research stage, and firmly believes that success in this role hinges on cultivating meaningful relationships with those who stand to benefit the most from research – the patients.

Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque is the Chief Executive of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, and the Deputy Secretary, Clinical Innovation and Research at the NSW Ministry of Health.

He is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of New South Wales. He has a Medical Degree, a Masters in Community Health and a Doctorate in Public Health from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Jean-Frédéric brings extensive senior leadership in healthcare systems analysis and improvement, combining experience in clinical practice in refugee health and tropical medicine, in clinical governance and in academic research. He is a member of the HealthShare NSW Board and a member of the Strategic Analytic Advisory Committee of the Canadian Institute of Health Information.

As part of his research portfolio, Jean-Frédéric has published more than 150 peer reviewed publications and his seminal research producing a conceptual framework on healthcare access and inequity has been cited more than 2,000 times.

Professor Linda Worrall-Carter is the Founder, Director & CEO of Her Heart, Australia’s NFP and Peak Body for Cardiovascular Disease in women. She's a prominent figure in the field of Cardiovascular Health for Women, with a national and international background encompassing Cardiovascular Research, leadership, entrepreneurship, and advocacy. 

Linda has held significant roles such as Inaugural Foundation Director of three Research Centres and held positions as Chair of various boards and steering committees. With over 25 years in health and 15 years of experience in heart disease research, Linda has secured more than $12 million in funding, authored more than 100 publications and 160 conference papers. 

Linda's advocacy centres around equality, diversity, and innovation in the health industry, and is deeply committed to rectifying the disparities in heart disease for women compared to men. She's a social entrepreneur and activist and for her work she has received awards including Telstra Businesswoman of the Year award in 2019 (Social Enterprise category) & National Female Entrepreneur Award and the Casey Kinnaird Community Award.

Marion Campbell is Professor of Health Services Research and co-Director of the RCSEng Aberdeen Surgical Trials Centre at the University of Aberdeen. Marion is a medical statistician by training, a clinical trialist and methodologist. She majors on the design, conduct and analysis of complex trials including surgical and device trials. 

Marion has published widely on clinical trials methodology including on cluster randomised trials, surgical trial design and conduct, pragmatic trials and trials reporting.  She has served on many national and international funding agencies and committees and is currently Chair of the UK NIHR/MRC Better Methods Better Research panel. She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Faculty of Public Health and the International Society for Clinical Trials.

Michael Drummond is Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York in the United Kingdom. His main field of interest is in the economic evaluation of health care treatments and programmes.  He has undertaken evaluations in a wide range of medical fields including care of the elderly, neonatal intensive care, immunization programmes, services for people with AIDS, eye health care and pharmaceuticals.  He is the author of two major textbooks and more than 750 scientific papers.  

He has been President of the International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care, and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. In October 2010 he was made a member of the National Academy of Medicine in the USA. He has advised several governments on the assessment of health technologies and chaired one of the Guideline Review Panels for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK. He served for 14 years as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Value in Health and was made Editor Emeritus in May 2024. He has been awarded 3 honorary doctorates, from City University (London), Erasmus University (Rotterdam) and the University of Lisbon. He was a member of the Steering Group for the 2020-22 NICE Methods Review.

Mike Drummond was the recipient of the Avedis Donabedian Award in recognition of lifetime achievement in the area of improving health outcomes (2004) and the John Eisenberg Award, in recognition of exemplary leadership in the practical application of medical decision-making research (2012).

His recent projects relate to the conduct of economic evaluations and their use in health care decision making.

  Mitch has been a health consumer advocate for over 40 years and was recently named the 2024 Western Australian of the Year Community Winner. His advocacy journey has been to positively impact on the disconnect between health researchers/providers and health consumers, prompting his vision to have research, health and medical services focus on consumer needs, rather than the needs of service providers and policy makers. 

In his current role at The Kids Research Institute Australia, he bridges the gap between researchers and the community, mentoring and facilitating collaboration to translate research into meaningful improvements.

  Dr Nicola Straiton is a nurse and Senior Research Fellow at the Nursing Research Institute, a collaboration between St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and the Australian Catholic University, her research interests include cardiovascular disease, implementation science and digital health. 

Her role involves designing, leading, and conducting collaborative research to enhance the translation of evidence into practice and to build the research capacity and capabilities of clinician researchers. To further these efforts, Nicola currently co-leads ACTA’s Translation of Research into Practice Special Interest Group (TRIP SIG) and SPHERE’s (Sydney Partnership in Health, Education, Research & Enterprise) Nursing and Midwifery Implementation Science Academy's early and mid-career researcher group. Additionally, Nicola serves as an advisory and scientific member of the Australian and New Zealand Alliance for Cardiovascular Trials.

Nicola is also a keen advocate for involving patients and the public in research prioritisation, co-design and dissemination.

Professor Otavio Berwanger is Chair in Clinical Trials at Imperial College London and Executive Director of the George Institute for Global Health UK. An esteemed cardiologist and clinical trialist, Professor Berwanger has extensive research and managerial experience and has led, as Chair of the Steering Committee, large-scale, pragmatic randomised clinical trials and quality improvement studies across several countries. 

Trials led by Otavio have been published in high-impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and JAMA and have informed local and international guidelines. He currently leads the George Institute Global Innovative Clinical Trials Hub.

Paul is an epidemiologist with over 20 years’ experience of conducting multicentre randomised clinical trials, initially in Cancer, but now focussed in adult and paediatric critical care. As Director of the Clinical Trials Unit, he has oversight of the research team at ICNARC. He is currently the Joint-Chief Investigator for the UK-ROX trial (NIHR130508), which is a highly ambitious clinical trial, using extensive data collected routinely by the Case Mix Programme database.

Professor Prahlad Ho is a clinical and laboratory haematologist who went through most of his training at Northern Health, commencing as an intern in 2006.  Prahlad was the Director of Clinical Haematology at Northern Health and was instrumental in expanding the Thrombosis Service. In addition, he was appointed Divisional Director of Cancer Services and Specialist Clinics and led the development of the Cancer Clinical Trial Unit. He was also the inaugural Director of Northern Pathology Victoria and Divisional Director of Diagnostic Services, and led the introduction of in-house pathology and radiology services at Northern Health.

Prahlad is actively involved in clinical and laboratory research and has published in multiple international peer-reviewed journals. He heads the Northern Clinical diagnostics and Thrombovascular Research Centre (NECTAR) and is the Principal Investigator in numerous clinical trials. Furthermore, he chairs Research Executive Committee leading the research strategy for Northern Health. He is an adjunct Professor at the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University and also holds honorary positions at Melbourne and Monash Universities.

Suchit is an experienced health service executive with a demonstrated history of improving quality and outcomes across healthcare. He has a background in Mental Health, Drug & Alcohol, and has led health organisations through wide-ranging changes, including redevelopments, implementation of new models of care, and managing the COVID-19 pandemic in both a metropolitan CALD community and in rural remote NSW. 

With a Master’s Degree focused in Health Service Management, Suchit strives to deliver safe and innovative healthcare. Currently, he is the Director, Measurement for Improvement at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Suchit is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Professor Susannah Ahern is a medical administrator and academic in health services research and management at Monash University. As the Head of the Clinical Outcomes Reporting and Research Program, she is the Monash Academic Lead for national clinical quality registries, including the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Data Registry, the ADNeT Dementia Registry, the Australian Breast Device Registry and the Australasian Pelvic Floor Procedure Registry. 

She is also the recipient of many grants for registry-related research and improvement projects. She has published over 90 academic papers and thirty-five technical registry reports, and is a member of a number of international registry collaborations. She currently participates in a number of national committees regarding clinical quality registries, and is co-Chair of the Australian Clinical Trial Alliance (ACTA) Registry Special Interest Group (SIG). Her work informs national registry policy and practice, including the development and implementation of the National Clinical and Virtual Registry Strategy 2020-2030.

As director, Anne is responsible for the establishment of the TrialHub Directorate and the development, and implementation, of initiatives to improve access and participation in clinical trials for people in outer metropolitan, regional and rural communities. She also oversees the harmonisation of clinical trials at The Alfred.

Anne has over 30 years’ experience working in a broad range of fields in oncology clinical trials including clinical trials development, processes and governance at local, state and national levels.

She has worked in and with many different governance structures including networks, multi-service collative ventures and academic health centres as well as commercial and investigator-led research including Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), University of Melbourne, The Australian & New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group, the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Barwon Health.

Anne holds voluntary positions on numerous advisory committees including the Australian Clinical-Trial Education Centre (A-CTEC), VCCC and the Regional Trials Network (RTN).

Professor Asha Bowen is a clinician-researcher at Perth Children’s Hospital and The Kids Research Institute Australia. She is Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at Perth Children's Hospital and heads the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention team which forms part of the END RHD Program at The Kids Research Institute Australia. This uniquely positions her for rapid translation of research results from bush to bench to bedside and beyond, with impact globally. Prof Bowen and her team recently launched the second edition of the National Healthy Skin Guideline to guide clinicians in the recognition and evidence-based treatment of skin infections.

Dianne Tucker is currently a Senior Project Officer at the MCRI working on the implementation of the National Clinical Trial Governance Framework for the Melbourne Children’s campus.  For the past 10 years, Dianne was the Director Quality and Improvement at the RCH.  Before heading into the realm of Quality and Improvement, Dianne started her career as a medical scientist and was involved in research at both the University of Melbourne and the RCH.  Her field of expertise is in haemopoietic stem cells, and stem cell transplantation, which is the link between the scientific and the quality management careers as this filed is now highly regulated.

Dianne’s unique experience in research, medical science and quality management provides her with a thorough and practical understanding of quality systems and applicability to research and clinical trials.

Dr Iga Policinska is the Director of the Pharmacovigilance Compliance and Clinical Trials Section situated in the Pharmacovigilance Branch of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). She holds a Medical Degree and a Master of Public Health. She has previously worked internationally in a clinical setting and since joining the TGA, in 2015, she has worked across the entire regulatory life cycle of medicines. Dr Policinska holds extensive regulatory and technical knowledge ranging from clinical trials through to pre-market and post-market. She has also represented the TGA internationally through aid programs

Initially diagnosed with Melanoma in 2011, by 2013 Karen’s disease had progressed to stage IV. A lack of treatment options other than chemotherapy led Karen to research clinical trials discovering a phase III immunotherapy clinical trial. Within three months it was clear that Karen had responded well and, in gratitude, she took up the facilitator role for Melanoma Patients Australia in South Australia and started working with Cancer Voices SA in its Survivors as Teachers program with the Adelaide University Faculty of Medicine. Karen was able to return to work and is now Deputy Chair for Melanoma Patients Australia, Chair of Cancer Voices SA and co-chairs the MPA Consumer Advisory Committee.

The obvious success of the trial drug for herself and many patients, and the heartache of seeing others not being able to access it, led Karen to also focus on the HTA process in Australia. 

In addition to her role as Senior Policy Adviser for the SA Business Chamber, Karen supports research as an associate investigator, represents and advocates for consumers on State and Federal working groups, committees and boards and speaks at melanoma and cancer related conferences.

As the Associate Director, Integrated Digital Enablement Accelerator at the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI), I oversee the strategic direction and implementation system wide transformation programs through a digital health lens. I have a Master of Public Health (MPH) and an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA), which equip me with the skills and knowledge to design, deliver, and evaluate evidence-based and innovative solutions for complex health challenges. I have also published multiple articles on PRMs, stroke care, and health outcomes in peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Monika Janda is the Director, Centre for Health Services Research, and Professor in Behavioural Science, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland. 

Professor Janda leads the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Skin Imaging and Precision Diagnosis (2021-2025) and a NHMRC funded Synergy Program of Research (2022-2026). She trained as a health psychologist and is currently a behavioural scientist with a background in cancer prevention, early detection and quality of life research. Professor Janda is passionate about developing consumer-centred digital interventions that enhance self-management of health issues.

Nadine is a physiotherapist, NHMRC Leadership Fellow focused on musculoskeletal pain and orthopaedic research, particularly clinical trials, and Academic Director of the University of Queensland's Clinical Trials Centre. Nadine is also the program lead for the Health Research Accelerator (HERA 2) program focused on innovation in clinical trials (ULTRA - UQ's Clinical Trial Capability) and a theme lead for clinical trials in the Centre of Innovation in Pain and Health Research (CIPHeR) at UQ. She is passionate about supporting multidisciplinary groups to work together, with critical mass, to design, conduct, analyse and translate the results of high quality clinical trials, in ways that improve patient and service outcomes.

Dr Rasa Ruseckaite is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Qualitative Research) with the Clinical Outcomes Data Reporting and Research Program at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. With an undergraduate degree in Science, Rasa has a Master of Science and two PhDs; one in Applied Computer Science and the other in Neuroscience.

As a Deputy Academic Lead of the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Data Registry (ACFDR) Rasa is responsible for all aspects of the registry data management including acquisition of a good quality data, also analysis, interpretation and reporting.

Rasa has always maintained a strong interest in human health, patient outcomes and clinical registries. Rasa has also a strong interest in quality of life research and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). A/Prof Ruseckaite has been involved in a large number of qualitative and quantitative studies on PROMs in patients with cancer, dementia, venous leg ulcers, cystic fibrosis and pelvic floor disorders. 

Professor Trisha Peel (MBBShons, FRACP, GradCertClinRes, PhD) is an Infectious Diseases Clinician-Researcher and Deputy Director of Research in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash University and Alfred Health. She leads the Antimicrobial Stewardship Services at Epworth and Alfred Healthcare.  She was awarded her PhD in September 2013 and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, USA.

A key component of Prof Peel’s research program is prevention and management of surgical site infections through large-scale, adaptive randomised controlled trials and the implementation of multi-level, national and international surgical site infection prevention programs to improve patient outcomes.  She is ranked in the top 1.0% of experts in Surgical Infections (expertscape). The calibre of her research is evidenced by her funding track record: she has been awarded over $51.3 M in the last five years. This includes six NHMRC/MRFF Clinical Trials, two health services NHMRC CREs and NHMRC fellowships. Prof Peel was awarded the NHMRC Research Excellence Award as the top CDF-1 clinical applicant in the country.