Leadership

Dr Stephen Ayre was appointed to the position of Executive Director Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) and QEII Jubilee Hospital (QEII) Health Network, Metro South Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane on 5 May 2014. Stephen was previously the Executive Director Medical Services – The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH).

Dr Ayre is a graduate of the University of Queensland (UQ) Medical School, has a Masters in Health Administration from the University of NSW and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA). He currently is the Jurisdictional Coordinator of Training for the College of Medical Administrators.

In the past he has worked as a general practitioner on the Sunshine Coast after postgraduate experience in a number of Queensland Hospitals. During his work in general practice he developed an interest in Alcohol and Drug Medicine and Community Medicine and is a member of the Australasian Professional Society for Alcohol and Drugs.

Dr Ayre’s appointments with Queensland Health have included Director of Community Health – Sunshine Coast, Medical Superintendent – Caboolture Hospital, Deputy Executive Director Medical Services – Royal Brisbane Hospital and Medical Superintendent for the Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH). In Tasmania, he was the CEO of the Launceston General Hospital (2004-2008) and acted as the CEO for all three northern Tasmanian Hospitals for a prolonged period.

His interests are in the areas of safety and quality in complex health environments, accelerated process redesign and the hospital community interface.

Professor Scott Bell is Executive Director – Research, MNHHS and a Senior Physician of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre at TPCH (>300 patients) where he has worked since 1996. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. He leads the Lung Bacteria Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane. Scott has over 180 peer reviewed publications and has received grant support in excess of $10 million over the past 10 years.

His research interests include the CF microbiology, acquisition pathways for human infection and has a long history of supporting multi-disciplinary research.

Professor Frank Gannon is the Director and CEO of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. He joined QIMR Berghofer in January 2011, having been Director General and board member of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) since 2007. He obtained his PhD from the University of Leicester, England in 1973 and worked subsequently in the USA, France, Ireland and Germany where he was Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) from 1994–2007.

Dr Kelly commenced in the role of Chief Executive Officer, Mater Health Services in July 2015. Prior to this appointment, Dr Kelly was Chief Executive of the North Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia.

Dr Kelly completed his medical degree at the University of Western Australia, following which he worked at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, a large adult tertiary teaching hospital in Perth. He went on to complete a Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Public Health and took on health service-based senior management roles including as the Chief Executive of the Womens and Childrens Health Service and subsequently the South Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia.

Prior to joining the North Metropolitan Health Service, Dr Kelly spent eight years as the Chief Executive Officer of St John of God Subiaco Hospital, the flagship and largest hospital of the St John of God Health Care group, a Catholic not-for-profit Australian private health care organisation.

Dr Kelly is a Fellow of both the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His main professional interests are in relation to health system performance and accountability, and the provision of safe, high quality evidence based patient care.

Fionnagh has a long and successful history in leading change in complex healthcare environments and a lifelong commitment to improving childrens health. She was appointed Chief Executive of Childrens Health Queensland in January 2015. Prior to this, she had overarching responsibility for all hospital, clinical support and community services, including paediatric and mental health services, in her role as Director of Provider Services, Auckland District Health Board (ADHB). She is also a former General Manager of Aucklands Starship Childrens Hospital and Child Health Services. Fionnagh began her career in nursing at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and has postgraduate qualifications in health management, an honours degree in communication and media, and has held dual registration and experience as both a mental health and a general nurse.

Professor Mountford is co-inventor of the diagnostic protocol to monitor women at high risk for breast cancer identifying metabolic deregulations in their breast tissue that precede tumour growth. The same technology is shown to identify changes to the brain associated with learning, memory, PTSD and injury from blast and impact. Her team is under contract to the USA and Australian military to develop this approach to improve the health of soldiers.

Prior to her appointment at TRI, Professor Mountford was Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Centre for Clinical Spectroscopy at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  She was also Professor of Radiology and Director of the Centre for MR in Health at the University of Newcastle.

Her team has been a worldwide development site for Siemens since 1999. She has led multidisciplinary programs interfacing these teams with industry; translating the technology; and making it available worldwide.

Mr Walsh is the Director-General Queensland Health where he leads a public health and hospital system for a population of 4.7million people.  Prior to this role, Mr Walsh was the inaugural Chief Executive / CIO of eHealth NSW, providing eHealth and ICT services to the NSW Health System.  Michael has also worked as Chief Executive of HealthShare NSW, the NSW Health shared service provider. Michael has extensive experience at the Government Senior Executive level in both NSW and Queensland and has worked in the private sector including for a leading consulting firm.

Mr Walsh has led large organisational strategy and change programs including major departmental integrations; significant ICT programs; and, large hospital infrastructure programs such as the $10 billion Queensland Hospital rebuilding program including the Gold Coast University Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Mr Walsh has a strong background in public sector governance and leadership. He also has strong experience in portfolio, program and project management, business case development and implementation of major government initiatives.

Sue has been a CEO for over 19 years.  She has worked in the areas of primary health care, mental health, homelessness, youth and families and education.  Sue is the CEO of Brisbane South PHN and a board member of the West Moreton Hospital and Health Service.

Sue has held numerous advisory and policy development roles and government appointments in the community services and regional development sectors.

Sue holds degrees in teaching and education and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  She has won multiple awards as a business and community leader including the 2009 Queensland Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award.

In 2002 she moved from Austin Health to the Princess Alexandra Hospital Centres for Health Research to support, facilitate and strengthen health and medical research within the hospital campus. In 2007 she was appointed as the Principal Researcher, working with the Smart State Council to prepare a report to advance Queensland’s health and medical research and development outcomes, which led directly to the establishment of Queensland Health’s Office of Health and Medical Research.

In 2008 Ms Gavrilidis was awarded a Churchill Trust Fellowship to study models facilitating translational research. After visiting over 40 prestigious leading research Academic Health Science organisations in the USA, Canada and the UK and interviewing over 130 key individuals, she has applied this international knowledge to her current position.

In 2008 she was a recipient of an Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS)– International Network of Research Management Societies Scholarship.

She has qualifications in science and applied science, and this scientific background is strengthened by her interest and experience in business management and augmented with a postgraduate degree in Business and a Masters in Business Administration. Over the years she has served on a number of local, national and international committees and boards including the ARMS International Committee.