Professor Michael Brooks

Professor Michael Brooks is an AHIP Board Director and Chair of the AHIP Executive Group.

Professor Maria Makrides

Professor Maria Makrides is the new Executive Director for SAHMRI.  Maria was previously the Theme Leader for SAHMRI Women and Kids and is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Principal Research Fellow and also Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Adelaide.

Maria has extensive experience in leading a multi-disciplinary research group of over 60 staff who are highly skilled in conducting and translating nutrition intervention trials involving mothers and babies.

As a research dietitian, Maria is committed to improving the health and nutrition of mothers and their babies through conducting and translating high-quality research. She is particularly recognised for work investigating the health effects of dietary fatty acids, iron and novel dietary ingredients in the perinatal period. This work has resulted in significant changes in the composition of infant formulae and had an important impact on changing international food laws (Codex Alimentarius), which determine the minimum safe composition of infant foods. More recently Maria was part of an international expert advisory group to comment on the composition of follow-up formulas under review by Codex.

Maria is also President of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids. She has over 300 peer reviewed publications including a number in the prestigious journals the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the British Medical Journal. She is also co-editor of four books, including the most widely sold textbook in paediatric nutrition that is now translated into Chinese, Spanish and Russian.

Professor Andrew Zannettino

Professor Andrew Zannettino is the Professor of Experimental Haematology, Faculty of Health and Medical Science at the University of Adelaide and heads the Myeloma Research Laboratory within the Precision Cancer Medicine Theme at the South Australian Health Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). His laboratory focuses on identifying the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for the of myeloma disease progression and myeloma-associated bone loss.

In addition to research into the pathophysiology of multiple myeloma, Andrew is a recognised leader in the field of mesenchymal stem cell biology. With collaborators, Andrew holds numerous patents covering the composition and regenerative properties of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs), a rare cell population present in many postnatal tissues. The family of patents underpin the world’s largest cell therapy company Mesoblast Ltd.

Andrew provides executive leadership as Pro Vice Chancellor (Health Partnerships) and Executive Director Research Strategy at Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN). He is a founding member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) of Myeloma Australia and serves on the Executive Management Group for the Cancer Council, Health Translation South Australia, the Robinson Research Institute and is a non-executive director of AusHealth Pty Ltd.

Dr Emma McCahon

Dr Emma McCahon is the new CALHN CEO, Emma started her career in health as a pediatrician and over the last 20 years Emma has held senior executive roles in large health services across metropolitan and regional areas.

In addition to her clinical training, Emma has invested in building her leadership skills through completing a Graduate Certificate in change management, an Executive MBA, completing the advanced training program in quality and safety at Intermountain health care and an executive coaching certificate.

Emma believes that to achieve different outcomes in healthcare we need leadership that leans into the expertise and experience of its people on the ground and focuses on building the capability of our workforce.

This type of leadership requires courage, requires focus on the people, connection, trust and collaboration.

Dr Liz Sutton

Dr Liz Sutton is the Director of Research at CALHN and has a diverse background in health care services and management, including working as a Registered Nurse in the critical and coronary care areas. She is a Doctor of Philosophy and has a PhD in Social Sciences.

Liz’s research interests include how medicine and health care are delivered, issues of patient agency in health care, birth trauma and reproduction, strategic planning, change management, medical governance, decision making and advance care planning.

Her research and policy development experience traverses injury compensation systems, health services and public health policy, including tobacco control reforms.

Liz enjoys communicating with stakeholders from various professional groups, as well as complex policy challenges.

Liz has received a Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence and has had her work recognised by the British Medical Association.

Professor Danny Liew

Professor Danny Liew (FRACP PhD) is the Dean of Medicine and Head of the Adelaide Medical School at The University of Adelaide. He is also a consultant physician in general medicine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Danny’s research interests lie in clinical epidemiology, health services research and health economics. He is also passionate about education, training and mentorship. Danny also consults to government and the health care industry.

In addition to his expertise in clinical care, education and research, Danny brings energy, passion and vision to AHIP.

Professor Peter Psaltis

Associate Professor Peter Psaltis is an Academic Interventional Cardiologist who holds Level 2 NHMRC Career Development and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowships. He has Faculty positions within the University of Adelaide, Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and is the SAHMRI Co-Theme Leader of the Lifelong Health, Program Leader of Heart and Vascular Health and Co-director of the Vascular Research Centre in the Lifelong Health Theme.

Peter ranked first in each of his six years of medicine and was the recipient of 25 undergraduate academic prizes and awards, including the highly prestigious University and Alumni University Medals. He undertook training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and then his PhD at the University of Adelaide from 2006 to 2009. His doctoral studies investigated the cardiovascular reparative properties of immunoselected bone marrow mesenchymal precursor cells. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship as an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Robert Simari at the Mayo Clinic, MN, USA (2009-2012).

Peter has unique expertise across all three disciplines of basic, translational and clinical research, and leads bench-to-bedside projects spanning topics of developmental, macrophage biology, vascular stem cells, inflammatory regulation of atherosclerosis, pharmacological modification of atherosclerosis and coronary plaque imaging.

Professor Steven Larkin

Professor Steven Larkin is a Kungarakan man from Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. He is currently the Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous Engagement at the University of Adelaide.

Steven was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary education. Prior to that, he held the roles of Pro Vice Chancellor for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Newcastle and as both the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Indigenous Leadership and Director of the Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Education (ACIKE) at Charles Darwin University.

Steven’s appointment as Pro Vice Chancellor at Charles Darwin University in 2009 was a historic moment as he became the first ever Aboriginal person to be appointed to a Senior Executive position at any Australian University.

Steven holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the Queensland University of Technology, a Master’s degree in Social Science from Charles Sturt University and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Queensland. He has served on numerous national advisory committees in Indigenous Affairs across a number of portfolios and has chaired the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council for three years  where he successfully lobbied to instigate the Behrendt Review on Indigenous higher education in Australia, and in doing so, was subsequently appointed as a member of the review panel.

In addition to these appointments, he continues to provide invaluable input as a member of several national advisory committees and well-respected professional affiliations which include The Healing Foundation, Beyond Blue Research Advisory Committee and The New Colombo Plan Reference Committee.

Steven continues to hold honorary appointments as Conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle, as a Charles Darwin Distinguished Fellow at Charles Darwin University, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Queensland.