The Public Health and Health Systems Committee provides strategic advice on public health, health and medical research, and the Australian health system.
The NHMRC-MRFF Public Health and Health Systems Committee will advise the NHMRC and NHMRC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and/or the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB) and CEO of the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care’s Health and Medical Research Office (HMRO) on:
- Strategies for improving individual and population health through research and research translation that strengthens:
- prevention and public health, and
- primary care and other health services
- Strategies for embedding research translation in the health system, such as:
- facilitating and embedding an evidence-based culture in the health system
- improving the uptake of evidenced-base health care in the health system
- increasing the linkages between clinical practice and research practice
- Barriers to the uptake of research evidence within the Australian health system
- Any other matter referred to it by the NHMRC CEO and/or HMRO CEO.
Membership
The joint National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC)-Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Public Health and Health Systems Committee is established as a working committee under Section 39 of the NHMRC Act 1992. The committee members for the 2024-2027 triennium are below.
Committee members
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Chair,
Adjunct Professor
Darryl
O'Donnell
Director & Principal of Praxis Insights and Adjunct Professor, UNSW
Adjunct Professor Darryl O’Donnell is a seasoned health leader with over 30 years experience in government, research, and not-for-profit roles. As Principal and Director of Praxis Insights, he works as a management consultant with health and social services organisations on leadership, organisational culture, planning, policy, advocacy, and management.
He has led transformative initiatives in HIV and mental health across government and community sectors. As CEO of Health Equity Matters, he advanced Australia's HIV response, achieving reforms that significantly reduced incidence. At the Mental Health Commission of NSW, he established a new public sector agency and drove major mental health reforms. His experience includes roles on ministerial committees and directorships with not-for-profit organisations.
Adjunct Professor O’Donnell serves on the board of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia and chairs its governance committee. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His academic contributions and research partnerships in public administration and health policy have earned him an adjunct professorship at the University of NSW.
Adjunct Professor
Ginny
Barbour
Editor in Chief, Medical Journal of Australia and Adjunct Professor, QUT
Professor
Tracey
Bucknall
Director of Nursing Research, Alfred Health and Professor, Deakin University
Adjunct Professor
Paul
Burgess
Executive Director Health Statistics and Informatics, NT Health and Public Health Physician and Rural GP, Charles Darwin University
Professor
Karen
Canfell
Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney and Chair of the Cancer Screening Committee, Cancer Council
Mr
Harry
Iles-Mann
Health Consumer Leader & Digital Health Advisor, Australian Digital Health Agency
Professor
Louise
Maple-Brown
Deputy Director (Research), Menzies School of Health Research
Associate Professor
Veronica
Matthews
Leadership Program Fellow at the University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney
Professor
Danielle
Mazza
Professor and Head of Department of General Practice (GP), Monash University
Professor
Caroline
Miller
Director of Health Policy Centre, SAMHRI
Professor
Julie
Redfern
Director of the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Bond University
Professor
Chris
Reid
John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University and Assistant Director of CCRE Therapeutics, Monash University
Professor
Paul
Scuffham
Professor of Health Economics, Griffith University
Professor
Christine
Stirling
Head of School of Nursing, University of Tasmania
Professor
Andrew
Way
Interim Chief Executive Officer, RANZCP and Chair, HealthShare Victoria Board
Emeritus Professor
Paul
Worley
Emeritus Professor in the College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University