Natural Therapies Working Committee – previous term from January 2022 to June 2023

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Professor Green is an international leader in the epidemiology of melanoma and skin cancer. Her ground-breaking randomised controlled trial of long-term sunscreen application in an Australian community provides the scientific basis for clinical and public health advice about sunscreen use for skin cancer prevention. Other significant contributions include insight into risk factors for ovarian cancer and into the burden of cancer in Indigenous Australians. Professor Green has received international awards and is a recognised advocate for cancer control, including through longstanding membership on national and international scientific and advisory councils. She has trained and mentored a generation of epidemiologists and clinician-scientists. She chaired the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Testing Expert Advisory Group and is an Honorary Senior Scientist at QIMR Berghofer.

Deakin University, VIC 

Professor Bennett has a distinguished career in public health practice, research, academic governance and teaching. She joined Deakin University in 2009 after more than eight years with the University of Melbourne as Associate Professor in Epidemiology, Deputy Chair of the Academic Programs Committee in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and Director of Population Health Practice in the Melbourne School of Population Health. Prior to that, Professor Bennett worked with the New South Wales and Victorian State Governments in a variety of senior positions, including Olympic Public Health Coordinator for Northern Sydney. She was also founding Chair and President of the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions (CAPHIA).

Western Sydney University, NSW

Professor Bensoussan is one of Australia’s prominent integrative medicine researchers with a focus on Chinese medicine spanning 30 years. He was Chair of the Advisory Committee for Complementary Medicines of the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (2011-14) following ten years prior Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration committee service, and served on the National Medicines Policy Committee (2008-11). Professor Bensoussan has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, the Singapore Health Sciences Authority Expert Panel for Herbal Medicines, on four international journal editorial boards and is an invited grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Monash University and Cabrini Institute, VIC

Professor Buchbinder is an Australian NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. She has been the Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology since its inception in 2001 and a Professor in the Monash University Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine since 2007. She is a rheumatologist and clinical epidemiologist who combines clinical practice with research in a wide range of multidisciplinary projects relating to arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions. Other roles include Coordinating Editor of Cochrane Musculoskeletal and Back and Neck, founding member and Chair Executive Committee, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for the Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal (ANZMUSC) Clinical Trials Network and she also chairs the Australian Living National Guidelines for Inflammatory arthritis. She was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to epidemiology and rheumatology in 2020. She has been recognised as a Highly Cited Researcher since 2018.

Professor Hillier is an academic and clinician with teaching and research interests in the broad field of neuroscience and rehabilitation. One of her main research areas is on the effectiveness of rehabilitation approaches after stroke - this includes the role of afferent stimulation or training using multimodal feedback, as well as models of rehabilitation and access to rehabilitation. The influence of rehabilitation on neuroplasticity is also a focus. She also has an interest in movement education and intervention approaches for other populations such as children with developmental coordination disorder or people who are ageing. As well as conducting clinical trials to produce primary evidence, Professor Hillier is an experienced Cochrane reviewer (vestibular rehabilitation, HIV, self-management after stroke, task-specific training) and has published many systematic reviews for comparative effectiveness trials as well as clinical measurement. Professor Hillier maintains a small private practice at the University and contributes to the community through her work with stroke organisations locally and nationally. She teaches regularly in Australia and internationally to assist clinicians to implement best practice. She has supervised 21 candidates to completion in PhD programs in Australia and overseas. Her current role at the University of South Australia is Dean: Research for UniSA: Allied Health and Human Performance. She is also a member of the Australian Feldenkrais Guild inc.

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, SA

Associate Professor Middleton holds an NHMRC fellowship and is an affiliate with the Robinson Research Institute at the University of Adelaide. She is a perinatal epidemiologist and implementation scientist with particular research interests in preterm birth, nutrition, stillbirth and diabetes in pregnancy. Her ‘tools of trade’ are randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, research synthesis (quantitative and qualitative), guidelines, research reporting standards and translating research evidence into policy and practice. Since 2005, she has held continuous national and international research funding in perinatal health and in research methodologies, totalling greater than $9 million in the last 5 years. In addition to her NHMRC Fellowship, she is or has been a CI on seven NHMRC project grants, as well as attracting funding from other local and international bodies. Professor Middleton is involved in several Aboriginal health partnerships and works with the Cochrane Collaboration in multiple roles, including being an editor with Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group and leading their Australian and New Zealand satellite. She is also an academic editor with PLoSMED, a member of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand’s policy, stillbirth and IMPACT committees, the NHMRC Synthesis and Translation of Research Evidence Committee and the Expert Advisory Committee for NHMRC’s antenatal care guidelines. She has published widely and has over 250 publications.

Southern Cross University, NSW

Professor Myers is a member of the Complementary Medicine Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Government, a statutory expert advisory committee to the Office of Complementary Medicines of Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. He has acted as consultant to industry, government and educational institutions on a broad range of issues involving natural medicine. He is a co-author of Government reviews on the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Australia (1996) and on Naturopathy and Western Herbal Medicine (2005).

JBI, University of Adelaide, SA

Dr Kylie Porritt is the Director of the Transfer Science Division at JBI and the Editor-in-Chief of the JBI EBP Database. She has been an active contributor to the field of evidence-based healthcare for nearly two decades. She leads a team of dedicated, passionate researchers, and together, collaborating with local and international stakeholders, develops rigorous, trustworthy evidence-based resources to inform and guide clinical decision-making and practice. Dr Porritt is an experienced, published researcher having been involved in the conduct of multiple systematic reviews and various health-related research projects. She has a particular interest in advancing the methodology underpinning the development of evidence-based point-of-care resources and has had a critical contribution in developing the methodology for the synthesis of qualitative evidence.
 

Southern Cross University, NSW

Professor Wardle is Professor of Public Health Foundation Director of the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine at Southern Cross University. Professor Wardle holds visiting positions at the University of Oxford, University of Washington, and Boston University. He is also a member of the Public Health Association of Australia's Research Advisory Group, which promotes and advocates for public health research and development on complementary medicine issues. He has clinical backgrounds in naturopathy and nursing and postgraduate training in public health and law. Professor Wardle has worked on complementary medicine and primary healthcare policy in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Latin America and India, and holds editorial positions on a number of journals, including editor-in-chief of Advances in Integrative Medicine.

RMIT University Melbourne, VIC

Professor Zhang's expertise includes acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine clinical trials, Systematic review/meta-analysis and health research methodologies. He has published more than 170 peer-review articles and co-authored more than 20 evidence-based clinical Chinese medicine monographs. He had served as a consultant to the World Health Organization Western Pacific Office and, has regularly reviewed research grants for the Hong Kong Health and Medical Research Fund since 2014. Professor Zhang is a visiting professor to Shanghai University of Health and Medicine and has been an editorial board member of six peer-review journals including the American Journal of Chinese Medicine and BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.