National Research Infrastructure Roadmap Expert Working Group membership
Dr Alan Finkel AO – Chairman
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Dr Finkel commenced as Australia’s Chief Scientist on 25 January 2016. He is Australia’s eighth Chief Scientist.
Dr Finkel has an extensive science background as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator.
Prior to becoming Chief Scientist, he was the Chancellor of Monash University and President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).
Dr Finkel was awarded his PhD in electrical engineering from Monash University and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in neuroscience at the Australian National University.
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In 1983 he founded Axon Instruments, a California-based, ASX-listed company that made precision scientific instruments used at pharmaceutical companies and universities for the discovery of new medicines. After Axon was sold in 2004, Dr Finkel became a director of the acquiring company, NASDAQ-listed Molecular Devices.
In 2006, he returned to Australia and undertook a wide range of activities. He led the amalgamation that formed the Florey Neuroscience Institutes; he became Chair of the Australian Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) and was a director of the ASX-listed diagnostics company Cogstate Limited. He was Executive Chair of the educational software company Stile Education, Chair of Manhattan Investment Group, Chief Technology Officer of Better Place Australia and Chair of Speedpanel Australia.
Committed to science education, Dr Finkel co-founded Cosmos Magazine, which in addition to magazine publishing operates a secondary schools science education program. At ATSE, he led the development and implementation of the STELR program for secondary school science, which has been adopted in nearly 500 Australian schools. Dr Finkel also established the Australian Course in Advanced Neuroscience to train early career neuroscientists and is patron of the Australian Science Media Centre.
Professor Edwina Cornish AO FTSE – Member – Victoria
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Professor Cornish is inaugural Provost at Monash University. She was appointed to the role of Provost and Senior Vice-President of the University in 2012. Previously, Professor Cornish was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Monash University. In August 2009 she was also appointed Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Prior to that, Professor Cornish was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and concurrently Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Adelaide.
Professor Cornish has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Melbourne. She played a key role in building one of Australia’s first biotechnology companies, Florigene Limited. Under her leadership the company established global R&D and marketing operations and successfully commercialised the world’s first genetically modified flowers.
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In the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Professor Cornish received an Officer of the Order of Australia Award. In July 2015, Professor Cornish was appointed as a member to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Health Innovation Advisory Committee, and also appointed as a member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Advisory Council. In December 2015, Professor Cornish was appointed as a member of the CSIRO Board. Professor Cornish is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
She has contributed to Australian research policy at both state and federal levels.
Dr Andrew Cuthbertson – Member – Victoria
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After completing medical training at the University of Melbourne and PhD in Immunology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Australia, Dr Cuthbertson spent five years doing molecular biology research at the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne and the National Institutes of Health in the United States. He then spent seven years at Genentech Inc in San Francisco, working on anti–VEGF therapy for age related macular degeneration.
Dr Cuthbertson was recruited to CSL Limited in 1997 as Research Director and promoted in 2000 to R&D Director and Chief Scientific Officer.
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Dr Cuthbertson has a keen interest in biopharmaceutical drug development. He currently manages an internal R&D budget of over AU $700 million, and a global R&D organisation of 1100 scientists. He is responsible for crafting the global R&D strategy for CSL Limited.
CSL Limited is a global specialty biotherapeutics company that develops and delivers innovative biotherapies that save lives, and help people with life-threatening medical conditions live full lives. With major facilities in Australia, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the U.S., CSLLimitedemploys over 14,000 employees working in more than 30 countries.
Professor Sandra Harding – Member – Queensland
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Professor Sandra Harding took up her appointment as Vice Chancellor and President of James Cook University Australia in January 2007. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring clear and effective leadership and management of the University across all operating sites, including campuses in Cairns, Singapore and Townsville.
Professor Harding has extensive academic and academic leadership experience. An economic sociologist by training, her areas of enduring academic interest include work, organisation and markets and how they work. She also has a keen interest in public policy in two key areas: education policy and related areas; and the global Tropics, Northern Australia and economic development.
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Professor Harding has undertaken a wide variety of external roles within the business community and the higher education sector.
Current roles include: Project Convener, State of the Tropics project; Director, Australian American Education Leadership Foundation; Director, Westpac Bicentennial Foundation Board; Councillor, Queensland Futures Institute; Member, Trade and Investment Policy Advisory Committee; Member, Australia-China Council Board; Co-Vice Chair, the New Colombo Plan Reference Group; Director, Regional Australia Institute; Council Member, the Australian Institute of Marine Science; Director, North Queensland Cowboys NRL club; Director of Townsville Enterprise and of Advance Cairns (regional economic development bodies); and a Governor of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).
Ms Rosie Hicks – Member – New South Wales
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Ms Hicks is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) established in 2007 under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Ms Hicks oversees a national network of eight nodes across 21 institutions across Australia, including 19 universities and CSIRO, over 500 instruments and projects worth more than $200 million that provide a state-of-the-art platform for innovation in micro and nano fabrication.
Rosie is a member of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 funded Nano Foundry and Fine Analysis Science and Innovation advisory panel. She has recently completed a two-year term as a member of the Horizon 2020 Expert Working Group on Research Infrastructure.
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Ms Hicks has extensive experience in the provision of research infrastructure and operation of mid-sized facilities gained both in the current role and during her time as Chief Operating Officer of the NANO Major National Research Facility, which she joined in late 2002.
Prior to this, Rosie worked in the UK and Australia for Oxford Instruments plc, a world leader in the supply of scientific instrumentation for use in high-technology research and industry. She has a background in electron microscopy and image analysis.
Professor Suzanne Miller – Member – Queensland
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Professor Miller commenced as CEO and Director of the Queensland Museum Network in 2013. Suzanne has previously held positions as Director of the South Australian Museum, Research Fellow at the Universities of Lancaster and Oxford, Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and the Open University and as Geologist with the British Antarctic Survey.
Professor Miller received her PhD from Imperial College, an Honorary Professorship from the University of Queensland and an Honorary D.Univ from
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Griffith University.She is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, Fellow of the Mineralogical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia, Fellow of theAustralian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Fellow of the Geological Society of Australia, and Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists.
Current roles include: Deputy Chair and Australian Representative on the Board of Scientific Collections International (an OECD Global Science Forum initiative) and Chair of the Atlas of Living Australia Management Committee. She also serves on: the National Cultural Heritage Committee, the Griffith University Environmental Futures Research Institute Advisory Committee, the Geological Society of Australia Geoheritage Standing Committee, the Geological Society of Australia Geotourism Standing Committee, the North Ipswich Precinct Development Board, and the Queensland Advisory Committee for the Commemoration of the Anzac centenary.
She has served on the National Research Infrastructure Council, the Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council, the Cooperative Research Centres Committee, the Board of the Australian Citizen Science Association (Chair), the Premier’s Science and Industry Council SA, the National Parks and Wildlife Council, the Premier’s Climate Change Council SA (Deputy Chair), the Advisory Board of the University of Adelaide Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology, the Advisory Board of the UniSA Environmental and Geospatial Discipline, the South Australian Strategic Plan Audit Committee, the Peer Review College of the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) the Scottish Earth Science Education Forum Steering Committee, the British Geological Survey Highlands andIslands Advisory Panel, the British Geological Survey Collections Advisory Board, the Society for Medieval Archaeology National Committee on Carved Stones, and Aberdeen University Industry Liaison Panel.
Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson – Member – New South Wales
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Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson commenced as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) March 2009. In this role, he has oversight and responsibility for ANSTO’s multi-faceted portfolio of activities.
Since his arrival at ANSTO, Dr Paterson has driven a program of positive change and growth. These transformation processes have focused on the interrelation between public spending and practical innovation. ANSTO become the operator of the Australian Synchrotron in 2013. This enabled new synergies for the extensive user community in Australia, New Zealand and overseas in the operation of landmark
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infrastructure includingneutron scattering and accelerator facilities.
Dr Paterson has a wealth of experience in national and international science, innovation and energy policy settings and nuclear fuel cycle issues globally, including his role as General Manager,Business Development and Operations, at the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Company in South Africa.
Dr Paterson was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 2009. In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of Engineers Australia and recognised by the Sydney Division as the 2012 Professional Engineer of the Year. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and the South African Academy of Engineering. He holdsa BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cape Town.
Professor Andy Pitman – Member – New South Wales
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Professor (Andy) Pitman is Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre for Excellence for Climate System Science.
Between 2004 and 2010 he convened the ARC Research Network for Earth System Science, which facilitated interaction between individuals and groups involved in climate system science. He is a member of the Academy of Science’s National Committee for Earth System Science, and the NSW Ministerial Council for Climate Change. In 2007 he was appointed to the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council on Regional Climate Change. He has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has authored 20 book chapters.
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Internationally, Professor Pitman is closely affiliated with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Awards and accolades received by Professor Pitman include: NSW Scientist of the Year Award (2010), the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Medal (2009), the Priestly Medal for Excellence in Atmospheric Science Research (2004) and the Geoff Conolly Memorial Award (2004). He jointly won the International Justice Prize for the Copenhagen Diagnosis (2010) and was among Sydney Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people (2010). He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.
Professor Pitman was a member of the Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council and represented Australia at the International Conference for Research Infrastructures, held in Denmark in 2012.
Professor Aidan Byrne AO – Ex-Officio Member
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Professor Aidan Byrne is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Research Council. He was appointed in July 2012. Professor Byrne is a welcomed force at the ARC to help deliver its key priorities and deliverables.
Previously the Dean of Science and the Director of the Australian National University (ANU) College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Byrne brings with him a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise particularly in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering.
Professor Byrne completed a BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Auckland before commencing a PhD degree at the ANU in 1981. Following the completion ofhis degreeat theDepartment of Nuclear Physics he held positions with the
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University of Melbourne and spent over two years in Bonn,Germany as a von Humboldt fellow. He returned to the ANU in 1989 as a Research Fellow and in 1991 commenced a joint appointment between the Department of Physics, in the Faculty of Science and the Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering. He was Head of the Department of Physics from 2003 to 2007.
His research interests involve the use of gamma-rays as probes to determine the structure of heavy nuclei and the examination of the atomic level structure of materials (especially semiconductors). He has published over 200 papers.
Professor Anne Kelso AO – Ex-Officio Member
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Professor Anne Kelso AO is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Professor Kelso was previously Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, a role she held from 2007 until early 2015. Her earlier research career was spent at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, where she earned her reputation as a leading researcher in the field of immunology. From 2000 until 2006, she was also Director/CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology.
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She has previously served as President of the Australasian Society for Immunology, as Secretary-General of the International Union of Immunological Societies and as a member of several governing boards and advisory groups, including the Council of QUT, the Boards of the Telethon Kids Institute and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, and committees advising the WHO and the Australian Government on influenza. She was appointed Officer in the Order of Australia in June 2007 for service to science.
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