Prof Jane Hall
Founding Director, Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation; Professor of Health Economics, Faculty of Business, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Prof Hall is involved in health policy and planning issues both in Australia and internationally and has served on numerous advisory committees and working parties. She is well known for her analysis of developments in the Australian health care system. Among her current research are studies of unpaid health care, and of the nursing workforce. Her previous research includes economic evaluation studies in many areas of health services and public health. She was president of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand. Since 1997, Jane has been the Commonwealth Fund’s Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and Practice representative in Australia. She is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Jane serves on the Coordinating Committee of the Commonwealth Fund’s International Program in Health Policy and Practice.


Mr Andrew Goodsall
Senior Healthcare Analyst, UBS Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Mr Goodsall commenced as a sell side analyst in 1999 after an extensive health policy background: he was senior adviser/chief of staff to the health minister in the reformist Kennett Government (Victoria, Australia), with responsibilities for advice on 120 public hospitals, episodic funding, medical research funding and privatisation programmes (hospital and pathology). Andrew is now the senior healthcare analyst at UBS Australia. Andrew and the team at UBS have been rated the number one healthcare equities research team in each of the major surveys since 2003. Andrew holds MBA, BA (hons) and Grad Dip (Asian studies) qualifications.
 

Mrs Clare Bayram
Senior Research Officer & PhD Candidate, Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Mrs Bayram’s background is in health information management. Since 2002, she has been working on the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) study, a national study of general practice activity. Clare is currently in her second year of a PhD investigating the quality use of pathology in Australian general practice, under the supervision of Associate Professor Helena Britt and Associate Professor Graeme Miller.



Dr Gregory Flynn, BSc MD FRCPC
Managing Director, Quality Management Program-LS, Ontario, Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Flynn brings clinical, research and practical laboratory practice and management perspectives to his role as the Managing Director of QMP–LS (2006) and the Chief Executive Officer of IQMH (2009).   A graduate in science and medicine from the University of British Columbia, Dr. Flynn practiced in rural Nova Scotia before beginning a career in laboratory medicine that has involved studying and practicing medicine in five of Canada’s ten provinces as well as a Medical Research Council Fellowship abroad at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Surgery under Sir Peter Morris. For a number of years before assuming his current position, Dr. Flynn has been active as an elected representative of the doctors of Ontario.  He was the President of the Ontario Medical Association representing over 25,000 physicians. He has been a member of many committees developing policy on laboratory regionalization, funding and distribution of other diagnostic services and is one of the founding members of the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/ohtac/ohtac_mn.html). Currently he leads the Quality Management Program–Laboratory Services (QMP–LS), providing External Quality Assessment (proficiency testing) and laboratory accreditation to the ISO 15189 Standard to laboratories in Ontario, elsewhere in Canada and abroad.  The recently established Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH) provides educational and other resources to promote the development and implementation of quality management systems outside the Ontario laboratory system.   Dr. Flynn’s advice is frequently sought in resolving complex issues in the evolving laboratory environment.
 

Mr Trevor English
General Manager, Hospital Support and Laboratories, Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Trevor trained at Christchurch Hospital as a Medical Technologist and, on qualifying, left NZ for Sydney where he continued to work as a Medical Scientist in Biochemistry until taking a year off to travel. Returning to Sydney Trevor focused on management working in private pathology organisations as a Laboratory Manager and as a Company Director as well as in the public sector as Chief Hospital Scientist, Area Pathology manager and in Project management roles for IT installations. He achieved a Masters of Applied Science (Clinical Biochemistry) and a Masters of Business Administration. Trevor moved to Canberra to take up a position as CEO of a private Radiology group. During this time he was also involved in the medical imaging industry as Vice President of the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association. After 5 years in Imaging, Trevor moved to the commercial sector as the National Business Area Manager with responsibilities in sales, marketing and support for diagnostic and applied science products for a large global diagnostic supply organisation. The motivation for the move to Christchurch to take up the role of an operational General Manager at the CDHB was the NZ life style and to devote more time to family.


Mr Larry Siedlick
Chief Executive Officer, The ARx Group, New York, USA.

Larry Siedlick was one of the founders of Sunrise Medical Laboratories in 1972 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until July 2009. Sunrise is recognized as one of the most successful laboratories in the U.S. and located just outside New York City. In 2007 Sunrise became part of Sonic Healthcare’s worldwide federation of laboratories. During his leadership Sunrise received numerous nationally recognized business awards including being named in 2007 to Inc. Magazine’s “5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.” Mr. Siedlick has over 35 years executive level experience. He is also a member the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA) and the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC). He has advocated extensively for the laboratory profession at the national legislative level in the US. Mr. Siedlick’s management strategies for creating high performance corporate culture have been the subject of numerous professional publications. He is a recognized expert and has spoken at numerous laboratory and business conferences in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom on the subject of creating high performance corporate culture. He is currently the CEO of The ARx Group which provides revenue management services to laboratories throughout the US.


Mr Greg Jewson
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, NCS International Pty Limited, Rhodes, NSW, Australia.

Greg  joined NCS International in 1993 after fifteen years experience in the surface coatings industry with technical, managerial and environmental responsibilities. He was appointed CEO of NCSI in 2007 after thirteen years experience in management systems including their development, implementation and assessment. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemistry) from the University of Melbourne(1977) and Post Graduate qualifications in Environmental Studies from Macquarie University (2002). For many years Greg led the Environmental team at NCSI, where his contribution was integral to the development of a framework for sustainability and environmental management reporting. Representing NCSI Greg was appointed by the Federal Government to the National Carbon Emissions Trading Panel and NCSI holds a position as a leading Australian certification body in the environmental area including management systems, sustainability reporting, carbon footprinting and Greenhouse Gas Verification. Greg is a member of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) and has been active in their mentor program. He also served for a number of years on the RABQSA Auditor recognition panel for environmental auditors. 


Mr David P. Jackson, MBA
Senior Vice President, Strategic Services, ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Mr. Jackson, senior vice president of Strategic Services, has been with ARUP Laboratories since 2000 and holds BA and MBA degrees from the University of Utah. Mr. Jackson’s specific areas of responsibility at ARUP include strategic planning, project management, human services, wellness, and education. He has also directed facility operations and development, and new building construction during his tenure at ARUP. Prior to joining ARUP, Mr. Jackson held various marketing, planning, and operations positions in the health care industry. His experience includes time as an assistant administrator of a 150-bed hospital, director of operations for a 10-clinic multi-disciplinary physician-practice organization, and regional director of marketing, planning, and public relations for a 5-hospital, 15-clinic health care system. In addition, Mr. Jackson has more than 20 years of experience as a health care consultant, with expertise in strategy development and implementation.


Ms Leanne Ballard
Medical Laboratory Scientist, Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Leanne has over 18 years experience as a Medical Laboratory Scientist for Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology in Brisbane after graduating from the Queensland University of Technology.  Her primary pathology discipline was in Haematology where she held the positions of Supervisor, Quality Systems Coordinator and Corporate Morphology Trainer. Her interest and passion for LEAN process excellence began two years ago.  Since then she has lead process improvement projects at SNP fostering a ‘learn by doing’ philosophy and developed a LEAN training course for the company. Leanne has recently been appointed to the position of Process Analysis and Improvement Manager at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology. In this role she is responsible for the educational development, implementation and integration of LEAN Six Sigma methodologies and philosophies throughout the organisation.  She also leads LEAN champions in process improvement projects aligned with strategic and quality improvement goals within SNP.  She has recently completed a certified course in LEAN Thinking and Process Redesign in Healthcare at the Flinders University in South Australia.


Mr Ken Worth, BAppSc, MBA
PaLMS Pathology, Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service, Wyong Laboratory Manager, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Ken Worth has over 20 years experience working in, and running pathology laboratories. He is a science graduate of the University of Technology Sydney and has an MBA from La Trobe University Melbourne. He has used this combined  knowledge to develop quality improvement methods that work in real labs. He has spent most of his career applying and refining these techniques to make real improvements in the way pathology laboratories operate. These techniques are designed to be applied in any laboratory by the current lab staff and still achieve amazing long lasting results. Ken has occupied several positions within the PaLMS Laboratory group and currently holds the position of Laboratory Manager at Wyong Hospital. Ken’s other role is as a key driver of Quality Improvement projects in PaLMS and has taught and led many teams from different labs. Several of these projects have won quality awards and recognition for their achievements. He is continuing his quality pioneering efforts with the introduction of Lean 6 Sigma tools and philosophies to keep PaLMS at the forefront of quality management.


Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite, BA, MIR (Hons), MBA, DipLR, PhD, FAIM, FCHSE
Foundation Professor and Director, Australian Institute of Health Innovation; Director, Centre for Clinical Governance Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 

Professor Braithwaite’s research examines the changing nature of health systems, particularly patient safety, leadership and management, the structure and culture of organisations and their network characteristics, attracting funding of more than $32 million, chiefly from National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian Research Council grants. He has published multiple times in the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, Social Science & Medicine, Quality and Safety in Health Care and many other prestigious journals. Jeffrey has received numerous national and international awards including a Vice-Chancellor’s award for teaching from UNSW and six separate awards for research papers in 2007 and 2008.


Robert L. Michel
Editor In Chief, the dark report, Spicewood, Texas, USA.

Robert L. Michel is Editor In Chief of the dark report, an intelligence service and publication providing economic and strategic assessment of the clinical laboratory industry for senior executives and pathologists that was founded in 1995. He produces the Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, held every May. This meeting has an international reputation as a source of innovative and effective management strategies and business models for pathologists and laboratory executives. During recent years, Mr. Michel has participated in conferences and visited laboratories in such countries as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Germany, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. This has provided an international perspective to his understanding of healthcare trends and developments in laboratory medicine. He co-authored several major assessments of the laboratory industry. He is frequently used as a strategic consultant by integrated hospital systems, commercial laboratories, pathology practices, and diagnostic manufacturers. His extensive site visits to innovative laboratory organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Korea, and South America provide Mr. Michel with an unmatched perspective on the management trends now shaping clinical laboratories and the pathology profession. He attended University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), earning a B.A. in Economics. He is a winner of the Specialized Electronic Publishers Association’s “Best Investigative Reporting” Award and is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine.


Ms Janney Wale
Consumer health advocate, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Janney is a pharmacologist by training, has four daughters and a significant combined family history of medical conditions. From assisting her husband in his country WA dental practice back to medical research then over to the ‘other’ side to take the health consumer perspective, Janney has a particular interest in evidence-based health care, informed consent and a safe and effective health system. She is Convenor of the Cochrane Consumer Network and a Consumers Health Forum consumer representative on national pathology committees, the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry Advisory Group and MDEC, as well as a member of the Community Advisory Committee for the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She is also consumer representative on Lab Tests Online Au and the AACB POCT Group.


Ms Karen Kaye
Deputy CEO & Executive Manager, QUM Programs, National Prescribing Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Karen joined the National Prescribing Service in March 2008 as Executive Manager, QUM Programs and Deputy CEO. Prior to this appointment she was Executive Officer for the NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group for almost 10 years and worked with clinical experts and government agencies to inform policy development for QUM in hospitals and the wider community.Karen holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from University of Sydney and has completed post-graduate studies in hospital pharmacy and pharmacoeconomics. She has practised in community, hospital, industry and academic settings and in the professional organisations of pharmacy. For nine years she was Director of Pharmacy at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and maintains a strong interest in hospital pharmacy practice through her role as a Federal Councillor for the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. Karen has a particular interest in promoting system changes to improve safe and effective medicines use across the continuum of care and ensuring a cost-effectiveness approach to evaluation.

W. Andrew (Andy) Faucett, M.S., CGC
Assistant Professor, Director, Genomics & Public Health Program, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Mr Faucett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University. His research and program interests focus on healthcare provider education; translation of testing for rare genetic conditions from research to the clinical laboratory; oversight of genetic testing; quality control of genetic testing; patient entered registries; and non-traditional models of genetic services. He is the Program Coordinator for the NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research CETT Program www.cettprogram.org , which provides evaluation and funding for rare genetic disease test translation. His career began at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas where he coordinated the information for the maternal serum screening program. In 1989, he developed the first genetic counseling service in Savannah, GA and focused on prenatal and cancer genetic services. He has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2000 in the division responsible for the oversight of genetic testing. Mr. Faucett’s interest in non-traditional models of genetic services resulted in a position as a Medical Advisor for DNA Direct, Inc., a direct-to-consumer genetic testing. He received his B.S. from the Baptist College at Charleston and his M.S. from Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY.  He is board certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC).  He serves on the Board of Directors for the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics, on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Perinatal Association, on the CDC EGAPP Stakeholder’s Group, and on the EUROGENTEST Workgroup.


Dr Graeme Suthers
Deputy Head, South Australian Clinical Genetics Service; Head of the Familial Cancer Unit, Adelaide, SA, Australia.


Dr Graeme Suthers trained in clinical and laboratory genetics in Sydney, Adelaide, and Oxford. He is Deputy Head of the South Australian Clinical Genetics Service, Head of the Familial Cancer Unit in SA, and a visiting consultant to a number of teaching hospitals in Adelaide. Dr Suthers has sat on a variety of local and national committees. He is the Chair of the Genetics Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. His main professional and research interests involve making current research knowledge useful for families and simplifying the management of genetic data for both clinical and laboratory services



Prof Leslie Burnett
Director and Chief Executive, Pathology North, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Pathology North provides Pathology and Laboratory Medicine services to the 93 NSW Public Hospitals from Sydney to the Queensland border. 

Dr Burnett has held a number of senior professional roles both in Australia and internationally. He is currently Chairman of the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council (NPAAC) of Australia (by Ministerial appointment) and President of the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB). Previous professional roles have included serving as member of Council of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA), and being the past-President of the National Coalition of Public Pathology (NCOPP). In 2004, the American Association of Clinical Chemistry awarded him its Management Sciences Award in recognition of “achievements of an individual who has made outstanding contributions in management sciences to the clinical laboratory and healthcare industry”. Professor Burnett is Clinical Professor within the University of Sydney Medical School and is Adjunct Professor in Science and Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney.


Ms Monica Persson
Chief Executive Officer, Audiology Society of Australia Inc, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Monica Persson is a respected, innovative and dynamic senior business executive with extensive experience gained over a wide industry background. She has a track record of high level organisational achievement in representation to government, community and in public forums. Monica took up the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2001 for the Audiological Society of Australia Inc (ASA) trading as AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA. Established in 1968, the ASA is the principal professional association representing Audiologists in Australia. ASA currently has a membership of nearly 1800 audiologists, representing some 98% of the profession. Prior to ASA, Monica was the General Manager for VRI Incorporated, a membership organisation of 10,000 members which focused on providing leisure and employee benefits to organisations and individuals across Victoria. Monica also held roles as General Manager for Meridien Consulting Group Pty Ltd and Business Development Resources Pty Ltd – Recruitment, Outplacement and Management Consultancies specialising in career guidance to individuals & organisations, and training and strategic positioning for organisations. From 1994 -1998, Monica was the CEO of the Victorian Small Business Training Company Ltd, a business formed to provide training, advice and access to government funding to small to medium enterprises.