Past FHRI Fund Advisory Council members and nominees

John is the Chair, Crown Perth and Non-Executive Director of Crown Resorts. He is also a Non-Executive Director of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (WA) and a Member of the Investment Attraction Fund WA.

Prior to this John spent over 30 years in insurance, wealth management, private banking and investments including executive positions within several global financial services groups including executive positions within several global financial service groups. Including the roles of CEO of Friends Life UK and International in London, he served as Managing Director Wealth at ANZ Bank in Sydney and CEO of Clerical Medical and Halifax Life in the UK.

John has been a Senior Adviser for Blackstone and an independent non-executive on several boards.

He holds an MBA from the University of Western Australia and has studied at London Business School and Oxford University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Begley MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FRCPath, FAHMS was the inaugural CEO of BioCurate Until February 2021. BioCurate was created by Monash and Melbourne Universities to achieve research-impact from their medical research.

For 15 years in California he was CSO at biotechs Akriveia, TetraLogic, and Vice-President at Amgen. He presented on research integrity to President Obama's Science Council, White House, US NIH, Academies of Science, NIST, and Wellcome Trust and NHMRC.

He is a Board Member of the Adelaide BioMedical City initiative. He currently serves as an international biotechnology consultant and is co-founder and head of drug discovery at Parthenon Therapeutics (Boston, MA), is Senior Scientific Advisor at Certara (Princeton, NJ) and Head of Biology at BridGene Biosciences (San Jose, CA).

He has >27,800 citations (h-index 79) and his TED-seminar has >110,000 views.

He was elected to American Society of Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, Research "Hall of Fame" at his alma mater, and Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Professor Eades leads a NHMRC and MRFF funded program of research focused on Aboriginal child and youth health, mental health and prevention of cardiovascular disease and dementia in Aboriginal people.

She currently leads a NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence focused on Aboriginal child and adolescent health and has contributed to training several current Indigenous health research leaders. Professor Eades is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia.

Sandra is a recipient of the Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medical research, to Indigenous health, and to professional organisations.

Vicki is a Nyikina Mangala Aboriginal woman from Derby, who has worked as a Strategic Leader in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health for 15 years.

At the time of her Advisory Council membership, Vicki was CEO Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (KAMS) in Broome. Vicki was instrumental in the establishment of both the DAHS dialysis unit and the Kimberley Renal Service.

Vicki has been a board member of AHCWA for over 15 years (8 years as the Chairperson), and is Chairperson of the WA Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee. She is an advisor on numerous State and Federal Ministerial Committees involved in Aboriginal health issues including representing WA on the Closing the Gap Coalition of Peaks and the WA Aboriginal Advisory Committee.

Vicki has a passion for Aboriginal Health which is noted on a state, regional and national level. She has gained enormous respect for her knowledge, attention to detail, and communication skills at a grass roots level. She is a Medal of the Order of Australia recipient for her service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia.

Nominee of the Director General of the WA Department of Health

At the time he was a nominee on the Advisory Council, James was Assistant Director General leading the Clinical Excellence Division. The Clinical Excellence Division provides direction and advice to the Department of Health on clinical policies, professional and regulatory affairs, clinical leadership, safety & quality and health research.

After graduating in medicine and bacteriology from Edinburgh University Dr Williamson completed his PhD at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne. He has served the Royal Australasian College of Physicians as Chair of the Specialist Advisory Committee in General Medicine and member of the Committee for Physician Training. He is currently on the NHMRC Council.

Nominee of the Director General of the WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation

Professor Klinken is the Chief Scientist of WA, providing independent expert advice to the State Government.

Professor Klinken is a leading WA medical research scientist, whose previous roles include: Professor in Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Western Australia; Director of Research at the Royal Perth Hospital; and the Director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

Professor Klinken was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2017. He was Western Australian Citizen of the Year (Professions) in 2008, and made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2015) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2016).

Director General of the WA Department of Health

Dr David (Russ) Russell-Weisz is the Director General of Western Australia’s Department of Health, a position he has held since August 2015.

Dr Russell-Weisz graduated as a doctor in Scotland but has spent the best part of his professional life in Western Australia. After moving to Australia in 1993, he joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill, and then moved to Western Australia, where, as a procedural General Practitioner and then Director of Medical Services, he served communities in regional and remote parts of Western Australia.

Later, as Chief Executive of the North Metropolitan Health Service, he led the billion dollar redevelopment of the QEII Medical Centre and subsequently also led the commissioning of the State’s flagship $2 billion Fiona Stanley Hospital, which opened its doors to its first patients in late 2014.

Along with the WA Health Executive team, Dr Russell-Weisz is now responsible for delivering on the State Government’s Sustainable Health Review, which provides an ambitious blueprint for the delivery of high quality, safe and sustainable health care services for Western Australians over the next 10 years.