ACTA 2025

Our 2025 ACTA Symposium Speakers

Professor Chris Reid

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).

Dr Jodie Austin

Dr Jodie Austin is a clinical pharmacist by background working for both the public and private hospital sectors across Australia and the United Kingdom. Over the last decade her career shifted into the field of clinical informatics, working to establish and maintain electronic medical records for both private and public healthcare organisations. She completed her PhD in digital health through the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland, focused on the management of high-risk medications within a digital hospital environment.

She currently works for the Queensland Digital Health Centre at the University of Queensland. She is the Director of Clinical Informatics, working within the SMART Hub, a service established to assist researchers with accessing Queensland Health, electronic medical record data. She holds a research conjoint position with the Office of the Chief Clinical Information Office at eHealth Queensland.

Dr Saraid Billiards

Dr Saraid Billiards is the CEO of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI), the peak body representing medical research institutes across Australia. Saraid has more than 20 years of experience in the health and medical research sector, including over a decade in senior roles within Australia’s major government funding agencies — the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). She previously led Strategy and Engagement for Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), a transformative initiative supporting systemic change for gender equity in Australian academic institutions.

A highly regarded leader, policy expert and researcher, Saraid is deeply committed to advancing health and medical research, as well as promoting gender equality, diversity, and inclusion across the sector.She holds a PhD in neurophysiology from Monash University and was a research fellow in the Department of Neuropathology at Harvard Medical School.

Professor Laurent Billot

Laurent is Director of Research Innovation and Director of Biostatistics and Data Science at the George Institute for Global Health. He is a Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of New South Wales and adjunct Professor at the University of Bordeaux.

His research focuses on biostatistics and their application to clinical and health services research. He is recognised internationally for his leading role in the design and analysis of large-scale trials in critical care, cardiovascular, neurological and musculoskeletal diseases. He holds a Master of Science in Statistics and Computer Science and a Master of Research in Public Health (Biostatistics). He is an accredited statistician by the Statistical Society of Australia (AStat).

Professor Bianca Brijnath

Professor Bianca Brijnath is a Professor of Health Communication in Society at La Trobe University. Her background is in medical anthropology and public health, and her research focuses on cultural diversity, dementia, and mental health. Within these areas, she has conducted numerous studies on dementia prevention, awareness, diagnosis, and care, particularly within culturally diverse communities in Australia and beyond.

Bianca has authored over 150 publications and created more than 70 multilingual films, comics, and animations. Additionally, she has generated over $26 million in research income. In recognition of my work, she was inducted into the State Government of Victoria’s Multicultural Honour Roll in 2022.

Dr Adrian Burton

Adrian has 20 years’ experience applying emerging information technology to research at national and international scales. With backgrounds in IT, academia, government and linguistics, he addresses opportunities holistically, ensuring that policy, people, and governance frameworks work alongside systems, services and infrastructure.

Dr Jessica Costa-Pinto

Dr Jessica Costa-Pinto is a General Paediatrician at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne and completing a PhD through Deakin University. The focus of her PhD is the Assessing the Reduction of Recurrent admissions using OM-85 for the treatment of preschool Wheeze (ARROW) Trial.

Through ARROW, she is aiming to reduce hospital admissions with preschool wheeze, and promote a culture of research among General Paediatric clinical teams utilising a novel and pragmatic decentralised study design. ARROW is the first trial to be led by CIRCAN (Children’s Inpatient Research Collaboration of Australia and New Zealand), with over 40 sites participating across Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Felicity Flack

Felicity is the national lead for the Population Health Research Network’s (PHRN) Trial Link and CROSS-Link projects, which are focused on supporting clinical trials researchers to access and use linked data. In this role, she works closely with researchers, data custodians, and collaborators to develop practical pathways and solutions that enable high-quality, data-driven clinical research.

As part of the national data linkage infrastructure, Felicity provides strategic leadership and guidance, shaping national policies and partnerships that strengthen the use of linked data in health research. She brings more than 20 years of experience across hospitals, research institutes, and universities, with deep expertise in research data infrastructure, ethics, and governance.

Felicity also supports the Chief Executive and Board of the PHRN, coordinating national strategic planning and managing relationships with external partners who share the vision of advancing health and medical research through innovative use of data. Her work bridges the gap between policy, infrastructure, and practice—ensuring researchers have the tools and support they need to improve outcomes through clinical trials.

Kate Francis

Kate Francis is a biostatistician with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), and Honorary Senior Fellow within Department of Paediatrics, the University of Melbourne.

As a biostatistician working in research and clinical settings, she plays a vital role in ensuring all projects adhere to best practice guidelines and are transparently reported. She has served as the lead statistician for the analysis of clinical trials across a broad range of subject areas, including neonatal resuscitation, BCG for allergy and infection, convulsive status epilepticus and her work has been published in top journals such as N Engl J Med, JAMA, and The Lancet.

She was awarded the 2025 Excellence in Trial Statistics Award for her work on the PLUSS trial which investigated Intratracheal budesonide mixed with surfactant to increase survival free of BPD in extremely preterm infants.

Isabelle Haklar

Isabelle Haklar is a Senior Project Officer with the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA) in South Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Medical Science and a Master of Public Health, and is a strong advocate for health equity and systems change. Isabelle has worked on several grant-funded projects within ANZDATA, with a particular focus on improving access to kidney transplantation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Her contributions were recently recognised through the Advancing Equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Māori Award, which was co-awarded by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology.

Suchit Handa

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.

Dr Suzie Harte

Dr Suzie Harte is the National Program Manager for the PARTNER Network program, bringing health research to rural Australians. Her role with the University of Melbourne, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science is funded by a Medical Research Future Fund infrastructure grant as part of the Australian Teletrial Program. As a passionate health researcher and accredited practising dietitian Suzie has special interests in health systems, health and education equity, community involvement in research, paediatric health and disability.

Building on her PhD qualitative research program of study investigating children’s eating behaviour, Suzie has been involved in novel research studies in the field of neurodevelopmental disability, paediatric acquired brain injury, neurodiversity and Long COVID. Suzie has extensive career experience in large-scale global systems development programs across industries as diverse as satellite communications, pharmaceutical business intelligence and travel ticketing systems.

Professor Thomas Jaki

I am Professor of Computational Statistics at the University of Regensburg and MRC Professor of Statistics at the MRC Biostatistics Unit at the University of Cambridge. My work focuses on developing and evaluating novel statistical methods for clinical studies. These methods are adapted for specific applications to ensure they can be used in the pharmaceutical industry and also in public sector research institutions. My current research focuses on model-based dose-finding trials, Master protocols and the evaluation of algorithms.

Andrew Lalor

Andrew is the Assistant Secretary, Health Modelling, Partnerships and Evaluation at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. In this role, Andrew leads health data modelling initiatives to cost policy initiatives and assess their impact on Australians. Andrew leads the Commonwealth’s activities to reform the operating and regulatory environment for health and medical research (including clinical trials) and to position Australia as a leading destination for research. He works with diverse stakeholders to build the evidence base and provide analytic support for portfolio interventions.

Andrew also leads portfolio evaluation activities for health programs and policies. His work is instrumental in shaping strategies enhancing the health and well-being of individuals with disabilities and the ageing population. Previously, Andrew led the Data Policy and Assurance Branch at the Australian Government Department of Finance where he led whole of government public sector data policy, strategy and governance; cross jurisdictional data and digital ministerial engagement; and assurance of the Australian Government’s high-cost and high-risk projects and programs.

Andrew worked at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he oversaw whole of government public sector data policy and supported the Australian Government’s digital transformation agenda. Andrew has also held senior roles relating to skills policy and programs, aviation security, broadband infrastructure and innovation policy.

Dr Karen Lee

Karen is part of the Prevention Research Collaboration, based at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney. Her research interests are in the area of implementation and scale up of chronic disease prevention, obesity prevention and physical activity programs. She co-developed the Intervention Scalability Assessment Tool, a internationally recognised and widely used pragmatic tool to assist with making decisions on interventions for scale.

Karen's research focuses on examining how scale up decisions and processes can be improved for population health benefits. Prior to commencing in academia, she worked extensively across both public and private sectors in the area of program and policy evaluation and health service redesign.

Brett Manley

Brett is a Consultant Neonatologist at The Mercy Hospital for Women, and a Professor of Neonatal Research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at The University of Melbourne. He leads and collaborates on large clinical trials to improve the health of sick and preterm infants.

Jennifer Muller

Ms Jennifer Muller has a lived experience of stroke and has been a consumer advocate for stroke survivors on various state and national committees. She was the Non-Executive Director of the Stroke Foundation Board, representing the interests of Consumers, and Chair of the Consumer Council for nine years. During this period, she was a consumer member of the Commonwealth government expert committees on the National Action Plan for Heart and Stroke and the National Clinical Quality Registries.

She also draws on her experience and knowledge of public health, health systems and strategic planning. She held the position of Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Social Work, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology for six years.

Marie Mury

Maria Mury is a recognised advocate and leader of Australia’s advancement of cancer research and innovation. With over 20 years of experience across clinical research, research governance and research development, Maria has demonstrated a unique impact on statewide initiatives driving sustainable improvements in cancer care outcomes, by increasing our understanding of cancer outcomes, strengthening capability and building capacity of the cancer research sector across New South Wales.

As Director, Strategic Research and Innovation, at the Cancer Institute NSW, Maria leads the Institute’s cancer research agenda, shaping the research landscape in order to maximise its impact on cancer patients as it delivers against ambitious goals as part of the NSW Cancer Plan 2022-2027. Maria began her career as a Registered Nurse specialising in oncology clinical care in Ireland and Australia. Her passion for improving the health care journey for patients with cancer motivated her to pursue opportunities that deliver better patient-centred care at a statewide and national lens. Maria has specialised experience in clinical trial strategy and study design, strategic research development, research translational and research ethics and governance, ensuring that research not only advances knowledge but delivers meaningful impact to patients, communities and health systems.

Beyond her technical expertise, Maria is driven by a strong commitment to improving cancer outcomes. She is a passionate advocate for equitable access to advanced cancer treatment and is inspired by the Cancer Institute NSW’s commitment to translate research discoveries into impactful clinical practice that benefit all cancer patients, equitably.

Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady

Associate Professor Shafiabady is an internationally recognised expert in the field of Computational Intelligence with many years of professional experience in both academia and industry. She is currently the Head of Discipline of IT and the Director of Women in AI for Social Good lab at ACU. She is the inventor of a computational optimisation algorithm and has developed two AI tools- including Ai-Labz which is a simple Computational Intelligence predictive analysis tool.

Dr Tessa Sherry

Dr Tessa Sherry is the acting Director of the Pharmacovigilance Compliance and Clinical Trials Section, which is responsible for managing the clinical trial notification and approval schemes, as well as the pharmacovigilance and Good Clinical Practice inspection programs. She has a PhD in genetics and biochemistry. Since joining the TGA in 2020, Tessa has worked across regulation of biologicals, prescription medicines and clinical trials.

Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith is a Project Manager at The George Institute for Global Health, where she leads Join Us — Australia’s national research register connecting the public with health research across the country. With over a decade of experience in projects and public health, Jessica is skilled at building partnerships, advancing health initiatives, and delivering complex projects from concept to completion. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney where she focused on health literacy and patient engagement.

Passionate about making research more inclusive, Jessica is developing a global Accessibility Toolkit through TGI’s Emerging Thought Leaders program, designed to help researchers create participant materials and design studies that are accessible and inclusive. Whether working with national partners or collaborating across borders, Jessica brings a commitment to equity, innovation, and impact — ensuring research is not just done for people, but with them.

Associate Professor Rachel Sutherland

Associate Professor Rachel Sutherland is Deputy Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence – National Centre of Implementation Science, and a Chief Investigator on a $5 million MRFF-funded trial focused on the sustainment of chronic disease prevention programs. She has led more than 20 large-scale clinical trials examining the implementation, scale-up and sustainment of chronic disease prevention interventions, including three of the largest national scale-up randomised controlled trials in this field.

Dr Sutherland leads an implementation laboratory, embedding clinical trials within a learning health system approach that integrates data-driven methods and continuous co-design between researchers, policy makers, practitioners and end-users. Her work has been described as an exemplar model for maximising research translation and population health impact, providing policy makers and practitioners with critical evidence to enable rapid implementation, scale-up and sustainment of effective chronic disease prevention programs.Her research integrates behavioural science, implementation science and digital technologies, leading to improved health outcomes, knowledge gain and significant cost savings.

Over the past five years, she has developed and scaled three major healthy eating and physical activity programs across school and health care settings, now embedded in NSW Health and Education systems and informing state, national and international policy.

Dr Tanya Symons

Dr Tanya Symons is a highly experienced clinical trial consultant and an internationally recognised expert in Good Clinical Practice (GCP). She has delivered GCP and ethics committee training to over 80,000 individuals worldwide.In the UK, Tanya manages the internationally recognised NIHR Clinical Trials Toolkit.

In Australia, she collaborates with governments, government-funded organisations, and clinical trial sponsors to ensure trial initiatives align with international best practices.Tanya has authored or co-authored several national guidelines, including the TGA Australian Clinical Trials Handbook, the NHMRC Safety Reporting and Serious Breach Guidelines, and the ACTA/CTIQ Consumer Involvement and Engagement Toolkit.Her research interests include consumer involvement in research and the integration of clinical trials within a learning healthcare system.

Associate Professor Emma Tavender

A/Prof Emma Tavender is the Team Leader for Implementation Science and the Knowledge Translation Co-ordinator for the Emergency Research Group at Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) Network.

Emma’s research is focussed on understanding health professional behaviour and designing and evaluating strategies to improve and sustain evidence-based practice in the Emergency Department and acute care setting.

Associate Professor Natalie Taylor

A/Prof Natalie Taylor is an Implementation Scientist, advancing methods to translate evidence into practice in healthcare settings to support healthcare professionals and improve patient care and outcomes. Her work involves extensive collaboration with academic, health, government, and non-profit organisations across Australia and internationally. Natalie designs and conducts both hybrid and pure implementation trials with accompanying process evaluations.

Natalie is pioneering research that combines implementation and data sciences to optimise understanding around patterns associated with successful implementation of new treatments, technologies, policies, and guidelines. Natalie is the Director of Research at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, where she also leads her team – Implementation to Impact (i2i) – focusing on studying and supporting implementation across a range of clinical contexts, including cancer, genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular health.

Dr Guy Tsafnat

Dr. Guy Tsafnat is a leading expert in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to digital health and evidence-based medicine. With over 27 years of experience of innovation in both academia and industry, his work focuses on the intersection of AI and clinical decision making. He is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Evidentli Pty Ltd, an Australian company that uses AI to clean and harmonize real-world healthcare data with healthcare and life sciences clients in the USA, UK, EU and Middle East. Tsafnat holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. He has held positions as a senior research fellow and is an Adjunct Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University.

Guy Tsafnat is a prominent figure in the field of evidence production automation, co-founding the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR). This group brings together clinical researchers, computer scientists, and other experts from over 20 countries to advance the automation of systematic reviews.He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed academic papers and scholarly works. His contributions to the field are recognized by his roles as an Associate Editor for two major digital health journals, the Journal of Biomedical Informatics and the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). He is also a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health. Dr. Tsafnat's work is driven by the goal of making healthcare more effective and efficient through the use of technology.

Professor Steve Wesselingh

Professor Steve Wesselingh took up the position of the Chief Executive Officer at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in August 2023. Professor Wesselingh is an infectious diseases physician and researcher. He undertook his undergraduate and doctoral training at Flinders University and his post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins in the United States.

Until July 2023, Professor Wesselingh was the inaugural Executive Director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). He was also a member of NHMRC Council, Chair of Research Committee, and the President of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).Between 2007-2011, he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

Associate Professor Chris Williams

Associate Professor Williams is a Principal Research Fellow with broad expertise in clinical trials, health services research and implementation science. He holds an NHMRC Emerging Leader 2 Investigator Fellowship with the University Centre for Rural Health, School of Health Sciences and is also the Research Development Manager for Mid North Coast Local Health District. He has qualifications in exercise science, physiotherapy, and postgraduate training in biostatistics.

Chris founded a successful embedded research program in Hunter New England Local Health District, which now spans four Local Health Districts in NSW and has attracted >$15 million in research funding. The program supports embedded comparative effectiveness trials and quality improvement initiatives with a focus on musculoskeletal conditions, chronic disease prevention and integrated health systems. Chris’ expertise in this area resulted in his appointment to the leadership committee of the Australia Clinical Trials Alliance reference group for ‘embedding trials into healthcare’. His work has also led to invited consultancies with the World Health Organisation and regional health organisations such as NSW Regional Health Partners.

Duncan Young

Duncan Young is the Chief Data Officer and head of Health Economics and Research at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. This role promotes and champions a data-driven culture across the department and enables this through data analytics, data science, evaluation, modelling, and data governance. This area also has policy responsibility for Commonwealth health and medical research initiatives to improve patient care, the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system, and boost economic growth.

Duncan previously worked for over 20 years, including nearly 15 years in the Senior Executive Service with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). With a mathematics and computer science background, Duncan led the 2016 Census, a significant transformation to a digital-first design that delivered significant savings, environmental benefits, and reductions in workplace injuries. Duncan was also the national program manager for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017 – a logistically complex undertaking that needed to be delivered in only 99 days. The conduct of this survey was recognised for its high participation rates, cross-government collaboration, high public trust and delivering well below budget. Duncan has also managed the ABS’ survey program and data acquisition services through COVID-19.

Nik Zeps

Nik is an experienced clinical research administrator with expertise in research ethics, governance and regulatory affairs. He is the Clinical Research platform lead at the Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre, and holds an adjunct professorial position with the Eastern Health Clinical School at Monash University.

He is leading a number of initiatives aimed at facilitation of clinical research, and in particular clinical trials, in Victoria and Nationally, including in his role as the Director of Operations for the Cancer Research Program in the Department of Chronic Disease and Ageing in the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.