The Steering Committee
Professor Paddy Phillips
The CEIH is led by a Commissioner, Professor Paddy Phillips. He is Chief Medical Officer for South Australia. He was previously a member or chair of a number of national committees including for the NHMRC, Australian Government, RACP and Heart Foundation. He has also held senior clinical academic posts at the University of Melbourne followed by Oxford University and is Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Duke University, USA. His interests are in building a better health system through innovation, collaboration and leadership. He remains clinically active in Acute General Medicine.
Professor Bernhard Riedel
Professor Bernhard Riedel is the Director of the Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and Clinical Associate Researcher at the Cancer & Neural-Immune Research Laboratory, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His academic interests are in the field of onco-anaesthesia; understanding the role of prehabilitation prior to major surgery and the impact of the perioperative adrenergic-inflammatory response and anaesthetic technique on tumor-progression signaling to improve cancer outcomes.
Professor Guy Ludbrook
Guy Ludbrook is Professor of Anaesthesia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Head of Acute Care Medicine at the University of Adelaide, and is the Director of an early phase clinical trials unit, PARC Clinical Research. His research background is in pharmacology, particularly related to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the CNS. After spending some time at London Business School, he has developed in interest in innovation in health services delivery, especially related to the value proposition of both outcome and cost. He is active in research into improved evidence-based models of care preoperatively and post-operatively. He is currently studying Health Economics at London School of Economics.
Dr. Robert Herkes
Dr Robert Herkes is Clinical Director at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. He is a highly respected Senior Clinician and leader in Intensive Care Medicine, with extensive operating and leadership experience in the development, evolution and provision of critical care services. Dr Herkes was previously Director of Intensive Care Services at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, State Medical Director of the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service, and Chair of the NSW Critical Care Taskforce
Wendy Keech
Wendy commenced as CEO at SA Academic Health Science and Translation Centre in February 2018. Prior to this she spent 4 years in the Aboriginal Research Unit at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) where she was the Executive Officer of the SA Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium and Senior Research Translation Manager working on a range of state and national research projects. In 2014 she moved to SAHMRI from the Heart Foundation where she had been Director of Cardiovascular Health for 11 years. Through her career she has had significant experience in developing, implementing and evaluating evidence based programs and working between research, policy and program delivery. She has a strong background in strategic planning, prevention, public health, heart disease, physical activity, tobacco control and nutrition.
Dr. Esushla Linedale
Ecushla holds a PhD in Medicine (UofA), entitled "Issues in the Diagnosis and Management of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: The Development of a Novel Clinical Pathway”. Her research interests lie in the intersecting areas of psychology and healthcare system design and evaluation. She is motivated to facilitate improvements in models of care, equity of access, and quality of life for patients. Her current focus are in Economic, Current clinical approaches, Assessing referral and treatment pathways, hospital resource use and patient outcomes.
Francesca Zappia
Francesca Zappia currently a Clinical Research Project Manager at the PARC Clinical Research. She has over 10 years experience in overseeing, supervising and conducting many academic and commercial clinical trials successfully. Her background in in Biomedical Pharmaceutics. Her research interest lie in clinical and technician staff education, data collection and documentation. She is also an Ethics and Governance Officer. Through her career she has had significant experience in developing websites and social media marketing.