Dr Steph Davis is a public health physician, General Practitioner and medical epidemiologist. She is currently working as a senior medical advisor in Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and as a GP in refugee health. She has worked across urban, rural and remote Australia and internationally as a clinician, public health practitioner and academic, including a stint as Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steph has particular interests in infectious diseases surveillance and outbreak response in low resource settings and the intersection of public health with primary healthcare.

Professor Elizabeth Gardiner is the Deputy Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU, Canberra, Australia and a group leader in the Division of Genome Science and Cancer. She is Scientific Head of the National Platelet Referral and Research Centre at ANU and The Canberra Hospital. She has published 178 peer-reviewed research papers, commentaries and reviews in the area of platelet biochemistry and platelet function, particularly relevant to both thrombosis and bleeding in patients. She identified a novel mechanism for shedding of vascular receptors triggered by shear stress, enabling new capabilities in diagnostic and therapeutic reagent development.

She is a Trustee of the Thrombosis and Haemostasis society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ), a Principal Editor and the Methods Editor of the journal Platelets, an Associate Editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and on the Editorial Board of Blood. She is Treasurer of the National Association of Research Fellows (NARF). She is Chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scientific Committee on Platelets and Megakaryocytes and a member of the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis Basic Science Taskforce. She has held executive roles in the Australian Vascular Biology Society.

Twitter: @PlanetPlatelet

Reena Ghildyal is currently Research Leader of the Biomedical Research Cluster within Faculty of Science and Technology. The research focus of the Cluster is to understand the basic mechanistic drivers of chronic inflammatory disease in order to develop novel therapeutics. Previous positions held by Reena include Head of School, Science and Deputy Director Health Research Institute.

Reena obtained her PhD in Life Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; a premier Indian research university. This was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the State Department of Agriculture, and Macfarlane Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2004 Reena was invited to establish a respiratory virology research group as part of a new Chinese Government initiative within Fudan University, Shanghai. On her return to Australia in 2007, she has continued her association with Fudan University and has been instrumental in establishing several bilateral research collaborations between Chinese and Australian scientists.

Reena moved to University of Canberra in 2010 where she is currently Professor in Microbiology and Director, Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions.

The focus of Reena’s research is molecular pathogenesis of respiratory viruses with special reference to asthma exacerbations. Current projects include the validation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidates in vitro and in vivo; elucidating the role of cytoskeleton in RSV assembly, investigating the role of rhinovirus (HRV) proteases in disease.

Reena collaborates with research groups within Australia (Monash University, University of Queensland) and Internationally (University of South Florida, University of Georgia, Imperial College, Fudan University) and her research is funded by National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia-China Science Research Fund and Australia-India Science and Technology Research Fund.

Frances is a biochemist by training and ran a successful research lab in the biomedical sciences (specifically molecular immunology) first in Adelaide and then at The Australian National University (ANU) for more than 25 years. She had a very successful track record of funding from national competitive grant schemes, the pharmaceutical industry and philanthropic funding, and published her work in prestigious international journals. 

She was Deputy Director and then Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the ANU over a 5 year period where she learned the importance of developing broad research strengths and themes, and strengthening shared infrastructure to facilitate collaboration. 

From 2009 to 2018, Frances was Deputy Vice Chancellor Research at the University of Canberra where she developed policy and practice to encourage research focus and collaboration. She was responsible for the establishment of a number of cross-university research Centres and Institutes, including the Health Research Institute.

Since 2019, Frances has worked as a Senior Associate with Outside Opinion, providing advice to university executives, Faculty Deans, Centre and Institute Directors on broad strategy matters, implementation planning and reviews, as well as working with individual researchers on grant support and review, and mentoring. She is an Emeritus Professor at both the ANU and the University of Canberra.

Liz de Somer was appointed as the first female CEO of Medicines Australia in 2018.  She is a dedicated advocate and policy expert for the pharmaceutical sector and is well known for her contributions to national policy development.

Liz contributes her clinical and industry expertise to a number of expert committees providing advice to Government and brings decades of experience to her role, having worked at the frontline of the medical field including as an intensive care nurse, clinical trials coordinator and clinical research associate.

Medicines Australia is the peak body representing research based pharmaceutical companies in Australia, where Liz leads a collaborative team of experts in partnership with industry, government, patient, and the clinical communities, to develop sound policies that support access to innovative medicines for Australian patients.

Melina is a research scientist, a social entrepreneur and champion for an inclusive health and medical research sector.

After a career in the lab researching novel vaccines against group A streptococcus she transitioned into a health policy career providing technical support to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation. Melina later joined the Bupa Health Foundation as their Research and Policy Manager responsible for building and investing in partnerships to improve health outcomes of the Australian population.

She is the founder of Franklin Women, a social enterprise which aims to create a science sector where women thrive and is currently leading the organisation as its Director.

Melina has been recognised through awards such as Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers, ProBono Australia’s 25 People of Impact and Women’s Agenda Leadership Award. She is a judge for the Australian Technology Competition and the Australian Museum Eureka Awards. In 2019 she shared her story on the TEDx stage.

Bianca is a Director of Serendis Leadership where her focus is to transform leadership capability to face current and future challenges. She does this by developing individuals, teams, and organisations to succeed in their sectors through the creation of high performing, inclusive cultures. She also contributes to the strategic development and growth of Serendis.

Bianca partners with clients across multiple sectors to identify their specific needs then designs and delivers unique behavioural change programs and strategic solutions to help them develop inclusive cultures that enhance individual and team performance.

Bianca’s experience as a consultant, facilitator and executive coach has developed over 20 years working in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining Serendis Leadership in 2010, she led strategic campaigns for several international non-government organisations including Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

She currently leads Serendis’ structured leadership and mentoring practice which has grown into new sectors and now reaches over 500 participants annually from the banking, finance, property, luxury retail, FMCG, medical, health and tertiary sectors. Her leadership of these programs has centred on helping individuals and teams to overcome the challenges they face in developing a more inclusive and diverse culture of performance within their organisations. This has informed her in-depth knowledge and expertise of inclusion and diversity.

Bianca holds a Bachelor degree in communications from UTS, and post-graduate qualifications in environmental management from the UNSW. She is an accredited executive coach with Coaching Australia and an accredited facilitator of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument.