Australian Health Ethics Committee 2018–2021 – members

Professor Ingrid Winship is the inaugural Chair of Adult Clinical Genetics at the University of Melbourne and Executive Director of Research for Melbourne Health.

A medical graduate of the University of Cape Town, she completed postgraduate training in genetics and dermatology before combining an academic position at the university with a clinical position.

She is currently Chair of the Victorian Cooperative Oncology Group and a Member of the Victorian Cancer Action Plan Implementation Committee. She is on the steering committee for the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative and the clinical advisory panel for the Australian Synchrotron.

Professor Winship is the Chair of NHMRC’s Australian Health Ethics Committee.

Associate Professor Stephen Adelstein is the Chair of the NSW Board of the Medical Board of Australia and a practitioner member of the National Medical Board of Australia. He has been involved in medical regulation since 2008, initially as a member of the former New South Wales Medical Board, and as a past member of the Medical Council of New South Wales.

Stephen is Head of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy and Director of the Central Sydney Immunology Laboratory at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He is Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney where he teaches medical and science students.

In addition to his clinical and academic practice, he oversees undergraduate and postgraduate research and is currently the Chief Examiner in Immunopathy for the Faculty of Science of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Professor James Bourne is currently a Group Leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute and a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, and is a member of the NHMRC Research Committee. James completed his undergraduate training in Biochemistry (Hons) at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London. Following this, he pursued a PhD in the field of Neuropharmacology. In 2003, James was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2007, James started up his own group and in 2008 received an NHMRC R.D. Wright fellowship, for which he received an NHMRC Achievement Award for the top application. In 2009, James accepted a position at the newly founded Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, where he now leads a group of 13, including Postdoctoral fellows and students. In 2014 James received a prestigious NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship. In 2018, James received the NHMRC Marshall and Warren Award for the most innovative and likely transformative Project Grant application, and has continuous funding from the NHMRC, CSIRO, ARC, ERC and other national and international granting bodies. James has published more than 70 original papers and is on the editorial board of Early Human Development, Nature Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy and the Journal of Molecular Signaling.

Professor Cadet-James has extensive experience in the field of health and education with a background as a registered nurse and midwife followed by an academic teaching and research career in health sciences. She has experience as a principal and chief investigator on NHMRC, ARC and other funded grants. 

Her research interests lie in community based models to address tobacco and cannabis; maternal and child health; social, emotional and mental health wellbeing; and research benefit and impact. 

She is a co-leader on the Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program now utilised in some 57 organisations/communities across the nation, which assist people to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to make positive changes in their lives. 

Professor Cadet-James has been involved in national Indigenous research reform through representation on NHMRC committees including the Principal Committee Indigenous Caucus, and lead on the writing group for the recent revision of the NHMRC national ethical guidelines for research which involves Indigenous people. She plays a major role in strengthening the capacity of researchers, organisations and communities through teaching, acting in an advisory and mentor role; providing master classes and workshops specifically designed for Indigenous groups to set and take control of their own research agendas.

As a member of the Gugu Badhun nation Professor Cadet-James provides leadership for the Gugu Badhun Djima Research Centre activities.
 

For twelve and a half years Ainslie led the health consumer organisation, Arthritis Australia, building its reach and increasing its products and services. She left this position in July 2018.

Previous professional roles include Marketing & Business Development Manager, Arthritis Australia; Director of Marketing, TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute; and General Manager, Capricorn Publishing.

Currently, Ainslie is a Member of the National Health and Medical Research Council Community Observers Working Committee and, formerly, was a member of Comcare Health Benefits of Work Advisory Group (2015-16); The Department of Health/Department of Industry Clinical Trials Advisory Committee (2014-15); The Department of Health’s Life Saving Drugs Program Review Reference Group (2014-15);  Consumers Health Forum Board (2008-14); and TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute Board (2001-3).

Ainslie is a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division); Life Member of Arthritis Australia; and Life Member of Consumers Health Forum of Australia.   

Professor Angus Dawson’s background is in philosophy, but he has specialised in teaching ethics to health care professionals and medical students for over fifteen years. His main research interests are in public health ethics, research ethics and the relationship between empirical evidence and moral arguments. 

Angus was joint founder and is joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Public Health Ethics. He has been involved in ethics and policy work for the World Health Organization, the UK Department of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Médecins Sans Frontières and the GAVI Alliance. Angus has been editor or co-editor of five collections of original papers mainly on topics in public health ethics, including Ethics, Prevention, and Public Health (2007) and Dawson A. (ed.), Public Health Ethics: Key Concepts and Issues in Policy and Practice (2011).
 

Clara Gaff is Executive Director of the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance. Clara has influenced the use of genetics and genomics in health care through roles in genetic counselling, management of genetic services, health professional education, and strategic development in Australia and the UK. She has worked in public health, government, academic and not-for-profit sectors.

Clara is a member of the Australian Genomics Health Alliance National Steering Committee and co-leads their Education and Workforce Development Program. 

Clara is a member of the Genomics Health Futures Mission Ethics, Legal and Social Issues Working Group and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health Regulatory and Ethics Working Group. 

An Honorary Principal Research Fellow at the Departments of Medicine and Paediatrics at The University of Melbourne, Clara holds a PhD in molecular genetics, certification in genetic counselling and postgraduate qualifications in health service research and evaluation. 

Clara was awarded the inaugural International Leadership Award by the National Society of Genetic Counselors (USA). 
 

Professor Louisa Jorm is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. She has spent equal periods (more than 10 years each) in senior leadership roles in government and academia, giving her unique opportunities for translational research impacts. 

Professor Jorm is an international leader in health "big data" research and specifically in applying advanced analytic methods to large-scale routinely collected data, including hospital inpatient and medical and pharmaceutical claims data. She has made major scientific contributions to research in the areas of health system performance, health surveillance, data linkage and Aboriginal health. She has published >160 scientific papers and been awarded >$30 million in research grants.

Professor Jorm has played a leading role in the establishment of policy, infrastructure and capacity for "big data" health research in Australia. She is a high-profile advocate for more and better use of routinely collected health data for research.

After a career in child and adult education, Rabbi Kipen spent 17 years abroad, during which time she became the first Australian woman to be ordained as a rabbi (London, 1991). She has undertaken training in the Doctor of Ministry program. During the Centenary of Federation events (2001) in Victoria, Rabbi Kipen served as the Executive Producer of the multi-faith religious celebration. She has served on ethics committees, advised government, and worked on departmental committees.

Rabbi Kipen is also known for work for the Jewish community. In 2010 she accepted the invitation of the Master of Ormond College in the University of Melbourne to become a member of their Senior Common Room. She also worked extensively for the Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions. Rabbi Kipen has taught at the Melbourne College of Divinity and for the Progressive Christian Network.
 

Karen is the Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy at Western Sydney University. She has extensive practical and research experience in working with people with special needs in Australia, Hong Kong and the United States. 
 

Reverend Kevin McGovern is a Catholic priest. For 10 years from 1997 to 2006, he lectured in Christian ethics and moral theology at the Brisbane College of Theology. For 9 years from August 2007 to July 2016, he was the Director of the Caroline Chisholm Centre for Health Ethics in Melbourne. Along with his work in ethics, he is currently the Administrator of St Cecilia’s Church in Glen Iris in Melbourne.

In 2011, Reverend McGovern was one of five members of the Heerey Review of Australia’s cloning and embryo research legislation. He has previously been a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee for the 2012–15 and the 2015–18 triennia. From 2013 to 2017, Revd McGovern was a member of the NHMRC’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Review Committee, which issued revised Australian Ethical Guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research in 2017. He is currently a member of the NHMRC’s Organ and Tissue Working Committee, whose purpose is to revise and bring together all NHMRC ethical guidelines on organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

Reverend McGovern is a member of the Department of Moral Theology and Canon Law at Catholic Theological College in the University of Divinity. He is an Adjunct Lecturer at Australian Catholic University.
 

Peter O'Leary is a clinical biochemist and leads a research program on population genetic screening and health policy. Prior to taking up an academic role in 2011, he was Head of the Biochemistry Department at King Edward Hospital for Women and Biochemist at Royal Perth Hospital. In 2001, he was appointed the inaugural Director of the Office of Population Health Genomics in the WA Department of Health, responsible for policy development on prenatal population screening and diagnostic tests, genetic cancer screening, newborn screening, biobanking and genetic research ethics.

During the past 7 years, Professor O'Leary has published 55 papers and together with other investigators, has been awarded $9.72 million in research grants. He is Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee at Curtin University and maintains an appointment as Clinical Biochemist at Pathwest Laboratory Medicine (WA).

Professor John Prins is the Head of Melbourne Medical School.

He was previously the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Mater Research, a Senior Staff Endocrinologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Queensland.

John is an active clinician-scientist, a key opinion leader in diabetes and endocrinology in Australia and sits on numerous national and international scientific, clinical and educational committees and boards for NHMRC, non-government organisations and industry. John is the author of over 150 scientific publications.

John has substantial commercialisation experience, holds three international patents and was the founder and scientific Director of a biotech company – Adipogen Pty Ltd.

John undertook his clinical training in Endocrinology and his PhD in adipose tissue biology in Australia and then undertook a four year post-doctoral appointment at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. When returning to Brisbane in 1998, John established an active research program undertaking basic research and clinical trials in obesity and diabetes.
 

Bernadette Richards, BA, LLB (Hons), PhD is Associate Professor of Law and Associate Dean (Research), at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She teaches in the areas of medical law and ethics, bioethics and tort law and is the Director of the Research Unit for the Study of Society, Ethics and the Law and Associate Dean, Research. An active researcher, she has completed major projects on organ donation, consent to treatment and legal issues around innovative surgery. She is a chief investigator of a current National Health and Medical Research Council-funded Partnership Grant, "Strategies for the inclusion of vulnerable populations in developing complex and sensitive public policy: A case study in Advance Care Planning" and is currently writing a book 'Technology, Healthcare and the Law: An evolving relationship'. She has published over 40 journal articles and book chapters. For further information see University of Adelaide - Bernadette Richards.

Dr Sarah Winch is Head of the Discipline of Medical Ethics, Law and Professionalism at the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland and CEO of Health Ethics Australia, a charity dedicated to improving death literacy in the community and compassion safety for clinicians. She is one of Australia's leading health ethicists consulting nationally and internationally to clinicians and government agencies on matters of ethical concern. A prolific author, Sarah has published over 60 academic journal articles and book chapters and multiple articles for the print and electronic press. Her latest book, written for the community "The Best Death. How to Die Well" was released by University of Queensland Press in 2017.