Board of Governors

The Board of Governors is the body responsible for the institute; it approves and monitors budgets and scientific progress. Chaired Mrs Giselle M Collins, the board comprises nominees from the Cardiologists of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the Central Sydney Area Health Service, the Medical Deans of Australia, the National Heart Foundation, the NSW Ministry of Health, the University of Sydney and the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities in NSW, together with the Director of the institute. The majority of the board positions are available to be filled by election by the members of the incorporated company, The Heart Research Institute Ltd, to represent the corporate and scientific community.

Mrs Giselle M Collins, BEc, CA (Interim Chairman)

Mrs Collins is a chartered accountant who is currently working in Finance on special projects at Independent Print Media Group, which runs Printing, Publishing and Properties operations. Before moving to Switzerland in 1999, Mrs Collins held the Finance Manager role at this company after being the Financial Controller of one of its divisions, NDD Distribution. Over the last few years she has worked for KPMG in Switzerland as Senior Manager, returning to the KPMG network after many years out of the profession. She has also completed the Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment at the Securities Institute of Australia in 1996.

Professor David G Allen, MBBS, PhD, FAA

Professor Allen trained in medicine and physiology at University College, London and was appointed Professor of Physiology at the University of Sydney in 1989. His research interests are in the regulation of ions inside muscle cells. Particular interests are the causes and treatment of ischaemic damage in the heart and the mechanism of fatigue in skeletal muscle. He has served on many Faculty, University and NHMRC committees and has acted as Editor for the Journal of Physiology, Circulation Research and Pflugers Archive.

Professor Philip J Barter, MBBS, PhD, FRACP

Professor Barter graduated in medicine at the University of Adelaide and gained his PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra. He has worked in academic institutions and research institutes in Australia and the United States. Before taking up his current position as Director of The Heart Research Institute, he was Director of the Hanson Institute in Adelaide and Professor of Cardiology at the University of Adelaide.

Professor Barter has a long-standing research interest in the role played by cholesterol and lipoproteins in the development of coronary heart disease. His current research is concerned with the mechanisms by which high-density lipoproteins protect against atherosclerosis and heart disease. He has published more than 150 research papers and has been chairman or a member of the Steering Committees or the Data and Safety Monitoring Committees of several major international long term clinical trials investigating the effects of treatments on the prevention of heart disease. He spent many years as chairman of the Research Committee of the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

Mr Barry Brownjohn, BA Comm

Barry Brownjohn is a non executive Director of Dexus Funds Management Limited, Citigroup Pty Limited, an Advisory Board Member of the South Australian Financing Authority and a Director of Bakers Delight Holdings Pty Limited.

Barry has over 20 years experience in Australia, Asia and North America in international banking. Much of this time was with Bank of America where his responsibilities included heading global risk management for the capital markets business, the Asia capital markets business and Australasian CEO between 1991 and 1996. He has also served in numerous industry positions including Chairing the International Banks and Securities Association in Australia and The Asia Pacific Managed Futures Association.

Following his career with Bank Of America, Barry has been active in advising companies on strategic expansion and capital raising strategies with assignments encompassing a wide range of venture capital, M&A and fund raising activities for companies based in Australia and overseas.

Associate Professor Josette Eris, MBBS, PhD, FRACP

A/Prof. Eris graduated from Sydney University with first class honours and undertook nephrology training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She became a fellow of the RACP in 1989. She undertook research in the field of basic immunology culminating in a PhD from Sydney University for the study of ‘cellular interactions in a transgenic model of self tolerance’. A/Prof Eris was awarded the Don Jacquot Travelling Fellowship and Bicentennial Travelling Fellowship with which she undertook postdoctoral research in the transplant unit of the Nuffield Department of Surgery in Oxford, UK studying the determinants of long-term graft acceptance.

A/Prof Eris was appointed to staff in the Renal Department of the Central Area Health Services in 1994 as Director of Renal Transplantation Services, a unit which, has achieved benchmark national outcomes. In 2003 she was appointed Director of Renal Services for State-wide Renal Servicesat the Central Sydney Area Health Service, which is one of the largest renal units in Australia. Her current research interests include the markers and pathogenesis of chronic allograft nephropathy and the development of anti-rejection modalities and access equity for transplantation. More recent interests include bone disease post transplantation and crossing ABO barriers in transplantation.

A/Prof Eris is the current President of the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) Transplantation and has been on its Council for 7 years. She chaired the Standing Committees of TSANZ for four years. She has previously been Chair of the Dialysis, Nephrology and Transplantation Committee and is a past Chair of the NSW Transplant Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the CARI Steering Committee and the Scientific Sub-committee of the CSAHS Ethics Committee.

Professor Ben Freedman, MBBS, PhD, FRAC, FACC

Ben Freedman is Professor of Cardiology and Pro-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Sydney University. He was previously Head of Department of Cardiology at Sydney’s Concord Hospital and is now Head of the Vascular Biology Laboratory of The Anzac Research Institute. Professor Freedman’s research interests include ischaemia and acute coronary syndromes, basic biology of inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerosis, electrocardiographic manifestations of ischaemia, and effective secondary prevention strategies in coronary artery disease. While on sabbatical at Tufts University Medical School in Boston between 2000 and 2001, he had a research interest in gene therapy for angiogenesis.  He is the author of well over 100 papers, articles and book chapters, is on the editorial board of a number of Cardiology journals, is on the editorial Board of ACCEL (extended learning program of the American College of Cardiology, and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), the European Society of Cardiology (FESC), and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (FCSANZ). He was secretary of the CSANZ in the mid 1990s, and was Scientific Chairman of the successful World Congress of Cardiology held in Sydney in 2002.

Dr Stephen Hollings, PhD

Dr Stephen Hollings was appointed to the role of Director of Sales Strategy at News Limited in April 2009 after having been chief executive of CareerOne for the previous two and a half years.
In early 1997 he joined News Limited as group classified advertising director before becoming strategic development director, advertising, for News Limited in 2004.
 
Dr Hollings, who has a PhD in history is Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a foundation fellow of the Institute of Company Directors, a Honorary Life Fellow of the International Marketing Institute of Australia and sits on the board of the Heart Research Institute.
 

Professor Wendy Jessup, PhD

Professor Wendy Jessup completed her tertiary scientific training at the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield in the United Kingdom. She moved to Australia in 1989 to take up a position at The Heart Research Institute. She was promoted to leader of the Cell Biology Group in 1994, later also becoming Deputy-Director until shortly before her departure in 2002. She was first appointed as a Senior Research Fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 1995 and was promoted to Principal Research Fellow in 1998, a position she still currently holds. She is now a Professor and Principal Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales where she co-leads the Macrophage Biology Group in the Centre for Vascular Research. Within the Centre for Vascular Research, Professor Jessup is also the Deputy Director (Operations). Her research interests are in the cell biology of atherosclerosis.

Professor Len Kritharides, PhD FRACP FCSANZ FAHA

Professor Leonard Kritharides is Head of Department and Director of Cardiology at Concord Repatriation General Hospital (CRGH) Sydney, University of Sydney, member of the ANZAC Research Institute, and co-leader of the Macrophage Biology Group at the Centre for Vascular Research, University of New South Wales. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne, and his Postgraduate Physician Training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In 1994 he completed a PhD in Macrophage biology at the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, after which he completed post-doctoral studies at the Heart Research Institute and in the United States. In 1998 he took up an appointment as Staff Specialist in Cardiology and Director of Echocardiography at Concord Hospital, where he has practiced as a General and Interventional Cardiologist. He was appointed Senior Staff Specialist and Head of Department in 2004. His has clinical and basic research interests in macrophage cholesterol metabolism and protein secretion, reversible myocardial dysfunction related to acute pulmonary embolism, neutrophil activation during coronary artery surgery, the management of hyperlipidemia, and the non-invasive evaluation of coronary disease. He has published numerous papers in basic aspects of atherosclerosis and clinical cardiovascular medicine. In 2006 the Premier of NSW, Mr. Morris Iemma, presented Professor Kritharides with a NSW Government Community Services Award for his contribution to Concord Repatriation General Hospital.

Mrs Joann Lewis, BCom, ACA, Fellow finisia, Honorary Treasurer

Joann Lewis is Director, Financial Sponsors in the Investment Banking team at The Royal Bank of Scotland. Her qualifications include Bachelor of Commerce from University of New South Wales, Chartered Accountant from ICAA and Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from finsia. Joann has previously worked in Investment Banking at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and PricewaterhouseCoopers and prior to that as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Sydney, London and Frankfurt.
Joann is a former Treasurer and President of NSW Lacrosse Inc and is involved with other not-for-profit and charitable organisations. She sits on the Board of Governors of the Heart Research Institute, as the Honorary Treasurer and is Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee.

Mrs Mary V Salteri-Shaw

Ms Mary Salteri-Shaw has been actively involved in promoting the endeavours of several artistic organizations and continues the long-standing involvement of the Salteri family in The Heart Research Institute.

Mr Anthony (Tony) J Stuart, BA Comm

Mr Stuart was appointed as Chief Executive of NRMA Motoring and Services in September, 2003 and joined the HRI board in November of 2003. He had previously been involved in the HRI Corporate Fundraising Committee while he was the CEO of Sydney Airports Corporation Limited. Mr Stuart was responsible for ensuring that Sydney Airport provided Sydney with a successful Olympic gateway, with the airport acknowledged for its part in delivering the "best Games ever". He was also responsible for helping deliver a successful privatisation outcome, when Sydney Airport was sold by the Australian government in June 2002 for $5.6 billion -- a record price for an Australian privatisation program and also the world's largest airport trade sale.

A Bachelor of Commerce graduate of New Zealand's Canterbury University, Mr Stuart joined Shell New Zealand in 1981 before progressing to Shell International in London.

In 1988 he joined British Airways Plc in London. Mr Stuart joined Manchester Airport in 1994 as an executive director overseeing retail, property, aviation marketing, development and construction. In 1996 Manchester was voted world's best airport by IATA, eclipsing Singapore airport for the first time. Under Tony's leadership, this milestone has been achieved by Sydney Airport in 2001.

FOUNDING FELLOWS

Professor Philip J Harris	Mr Ross A Hohnen	A/Professor David Richmond
BSc MBBS DPhil FRACP FACC	AM OBE (deceased)	AM, MB, ChB, MSc, FRACP, FRCP, FACC

HONORARY FELLOWS

Mr Chris A Hadley, BA, ASNA	Professor Geoffrey M Kellerman, AO	Mr Kevin J Kirby AO (deceased)
Mr AG (Geoff) Lee AM, (deceased)	Dr Bruce R. W. Reid, AM, KNO, (deceased)	Dr Carlo Salteri, AC

HONORARY SOLICITOR

	Mr Rod T Halstead, LLB, LLM

The Heart Research Institute UK Trustees

Mr Richard Wylie	Mr Antony Pollitt		Mr Doug Snedden