Leadership
Garvan Leadership Team
Benjamin Kile
Executive Director
Prof Benjamin Kile brings with him an extensive background in academic and research leadership, most recently serving as the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide, and formerly as Head of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Monash University. He has also held leadership roles at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI).
Prof Kile’s research career has focused on the molecular regulation of blood cell formation and function, with a particular interest in the impact of targeted cancer therapies on cellular survival. His scientific achievements have been recognised by numerous awards and fellowships throughout his career. He has served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of MuriGen Therapeutics and currently serves on the boards of the Australian Genomics Research Facility and the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute.
Peter Croucher
Deputy Director
Prof Peter Croucher joined Garvan in 2011. Prof Croucher is a bone biologist and cancer researcher, with a longstanding fascination for disorders of the skeleton, particularly osteoporosis and cancer-associated bone disease. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge and the University of Sheffield.
Before becoming Executive Director (interim), Prof Croucher was Deputy Director of Garvan, and led Garvan’s Healthy Ageing Research Theme, a multidisciplinary group of over 150 researchers and clinician-scientists who study a range of diseases related to ageing.
Daniel MacArthur
Director of Centre for Population Genomics,
Genomic Science Pillar Director
Prof Daniel MacArthur is the inaugural Director of the Centre for Population Genomics. He was previously Co-Director of the Medical and Population Genetics Program at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, and headed up a team jointly based at the Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.
Prof MacArthur also co-directed the Broad Institute’s Centre for Mendelian Genomics, which has sequenced and analysed genomic data from over 10,000 individuals from rare disease families and contributed to the discovery of more than 300 new rare disease genes. He also led the development of the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), the largest and most widely-used data set of human exome and genome sequence data, which has collated data from nearly 200,000 sequenced individuals.
Sarah Kummerfeld
Data Science Pillar Director
A/Prof Sarah Kummerfeld is the Scientific Head of the Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics. She uses genomics to understand human disease and translate findings into clinical diagnostics and treatments. Sarah completed her PhD in Computational Biology at the University of Cambridge, working on protein structure and function prediction. Her postdoctoral research at Stanford University studied the molecular basis of human ageing.
Sarah has worked both in academia and industry, including 10 years as a Scientist at Genentech, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Genentech, she used large-scale genomics approaches to understand why only some patients respond to treatment and to identify diagnostic biomarkers that predict response to particular drugs. Sarah is dedicated to bringing applying advances in genomics research to benefit patients.
Joseph Powell
Cellular Science Pillar Director
Prof Joseph Powell is the Head of the Garvan-Weizmann Centre for Cellular Genomics, Head of the Computational Genomics Laboratory at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research, and a member of the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales.
He currently holds a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship, with the highest ranked application in his round. He was awarded an NHMRC Research Excellence Award (2015) and the prestigious Commonwealth Health Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Medical Research (2016). His research is focused on understanding the functional mechanisms by which genetic variants contribute to disease susceptibility at a cellular level, and ultimately achieve therapeutic and diagnostic outcomes.
Robert Brink
Translation Science Pillar Director
Prof Robert Brink is Head of the B Cell Biology Laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. Robert completed his PhD at Sydney’s Centenary Institute, where he worked on novel transgenic mouse models of B cell self-tolerance, before taking up a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2006, Robert was recruited to the Garvan Institute to head the B Cell Biology Laboratory. In 2010, he was appointed Head of the Institute’s Immunology Research Division. He was appointed Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of NSW in 2011 and Conjoint Professor in the Faculty of Medicine 2014. Robert developed a number of genetically modified mouse models designed to elucidate in vivo B cell responses and TRAF protein function. These models have been successfully employed within his laboratory and in laboratories around the world to make landmark findings published in journals such as Immunity, J. Exp. Med., Cell and Nature Immunology.
Mara-Jean Tilley
Director of Garvan Research Foundation
Mara-Jean Tilley is the Director of the Garvan Research Foundation, Garvan’s marketing and fundraising arm. Formerly the Director of Philanthropy, Bequests and Campaigns, Mara-Jean commenced working at Garvan in 2011. Prior to joining Garvan, Mara-Jean was the Foundation Executive at the Sydney Theatre Company where she held a variety of positions over more than 8 years with the organisation. Mara-Jean is a member of the Perpetual Foundation and Centenary Foundation Advisory Committee.
Nancy Campisi
General Counsel
Nancy Campisi is General Counsel and Company Secretary to the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Garvan Research Foundation boards and board committees. Nancy joined Garvan as Corporate Counsel in 2016, taking on the role of General Counsel in 2019 and Company Secretary in 2020. Nancy has extensive experience in providing legal advice in private practice law firms and in-house, including at New South Innovations (UNSW) and has significant knowledge in transfer of intellectual property and general commercial law. Nancy worked as an industrial chemist for a leading US global supplier of silicate and derivative products and worked extensively on the implementation of quality management systems prior to retraining as a lawyer. Nancy has also been on the board and held the role of company secretary, of Beyond the Orphanage Foundation.
Samantha Malone
Chief Financial Officer
Samantha Malone is Garvan’s Chief Financial Officer. With over 25 years of expertise in finance leadership in commercial organisations, she joined Garvan in 2017. Samantha has extensive experience in health and medical research, information technology, professional services, legal, compliance and governance. She holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Technology Sydney, is CPA qualified and is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Samantha has a keen focus on the transformation of finance and procurement functions and is passionate about financial sustainability.
Board of Directors
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research is an autonomous, non-profit research institute incorporated by Act of NSW Parliament. Read more about the history of the Garvan Institute.
The Garvan Institute Board determines policy and controls the Institute's affairs. The board meets quarterly and comprises 15 members (including the Executive Director), nominated by Garvan's stakeholders and appointed by the Governor of New South Wales.
John Schubert AO - Chair
Nominated by the Trustees of St Vincent's Hospital
Dr Schubert is Chairman of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and a director of the Garvan Research Foundation Board. He has held positions as Chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, non-executive director of BHP Billiton Limited, BHP Billiton Plc, and Qantas Airways Limited, Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer International Limited, Chairman of WorleyParsons Limited and G2 Therapies Ltd, Chairman and MD of Esso Australia Ltd, and non-executive director of Hanson Plc.
Annabelle Bennett AC SC
Nominated by the Trustees of St Vincent's Hospital
The Hon Dr Bennett was formerly a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia. She is presently Chancellor of Bond University, Arbitrator with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Chair of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Chair of Gardior Pty Ltd, Chair of the Advisory Group of Judges to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and the Trustee of The Infrastructure Fund (TIF). Dr Bennett has extensive knowledge and experience in intellectual property arising from her position as a Judge, as a senior counsel specialising in Intellectual Property and as President of the Copyright Tribunal.
Philip Cunningham OAM
Nominated by the Sisters of Charity
Associate Professor Philip Cunningham OAM is the Chief Operating Officer at the St Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research and Chief Scientist at the NSW State Reference Laboratory for HIV at St Vincent's Hospital. He is the past Vice President of the Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM), co-chair on the National HIV Testing Policy Expert Reference Group and he is a visiting senior research fellow at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
Peter Croucher - Interim Executive Director
Nominated by the Garvan Institute Board of Directors
Prof Peter Croucher was nominated to the role of Interim Executive Director in 2022. Prof Croucher was appointed as Garvan's Deputy Director in 2019 while also holding the role of Healthy Ageing Theme Leader and Senior Principal Fellow.
Stephen Johns
Nominated by the Garvan Research Foundation
Mr Johns is the independent Chairman of the ASX listed Goodman Group and a director of the European Australia Business Council. He is a former chairman and non-executive director of Brambles Limited, Leighton Holdings Limited and Spark Infrastructure Group, and a former senior executive and non-executive director of Westfield Group. He has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Paul Kelly
Nominated by the Trustees of St Vincent's Hospital
Dr Kelly is a founding managing partner of OneVentures, a leading Australian venture capital firm, and serves as Chair of the Investment Committee of its Healthcare fund, and on the Risk Management Committee. An Australian physician, serial entrepreneur and experienced biotechnology and life sciences executive, he currently has over 35 years’ experience in clinical medicine and medical science, and 25 years’ experience in commercialising life science related technologies in Australia, Europe and North America.
Erwin Loh
Nominated by the Sisters of Charity
Prof Loh is the Group Chief Medical Officer, St Vincent’s Health Australia. He is a Board Director & Vice President, Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and Board Director, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. He is a Councillor, Australian Medical Association (Victoria). He is qualified in both medicine and law, with general and specialist registration as a medical practitioner and is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and High Court of Australia. He also has an MBA, Master of Health Service Management, and PhD.
Helen Nugent AC
Nominated by the NSW Minister for Health
Dr Nugent is the Chairman of Ausgrid and The Order of Australia Association Foundation Limited; Senior Independent Director of TPG Telecom; and a Non-Executive Director of Insurance Australia Group. She was previously Chairman of the National Disability Insurance Agency, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Veda Group, Australian Rail Track Corporation, Funds SA, Swiss Re (Australia) and Sydney Airport and a Non-Executive Director of Macquarie Group, among others. She is a Companion of the Order of Australia, a recipient of the Australian Government Centenary Medal and was awarded the Order of Merit by the Australian Olympic Committee. She has also been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Queensland and Bond University.
Vlado Perkovic
Nominated by UNSW Sydney
Professor Perkovic is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Health at UNSW Sydney, a Nephrologist at the Royal North Shore Hospital, and a Non-Executive Director of St Vincents Health Australia as well as several independent Medical Research Institutes. He has previously been the Executive Director of The George Institute, President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes and on the Board of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Roger Reddel AO
Nominated by the Federal Minister for Health
Professor Roger Reddel is a medical oncologist, molecular geneticist and an internationally renowned expert on cancer cell immortalisation. He is Executive Director of Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), Westmead, the Sir Lorimer Dods Professor of the University of Sydney, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Russell Scrimshaw
Nominated by the Federal Minister for Health
Dr Scrimshaw is the Garvan Research Foundation Board Chairman. He is currently also Non-Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Non-Executive Chairman of Tech Project Group P/L, Deputy Chairman of Ignition Advice P/L and the Executive Chairman of Torrus Capital P/L and Scrimshaw Nominees P/L and also Chairman of Australian Philanthropic Fund, the Scrimshaw Foundation. Previously, he held senior executive positions at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG), Commonwealth Bank, Optus and IBM. He was also a Non- Executive Board Chairman at Sirius Minerals plc, and Executive Director for FMG, and Non-Executive Director of Commonwealth Properties Ltd, EDS Australia, Mobilesoft Ltd, Telecom New Zealand Australia P/L, and Athletics Australia.
Jillian Segal AO
Nominated by UNSW Sydney
Ms Segal is the former Deputy Chancellor UNSW Sydney. She is the chairman of AICC (NSW), General Sir John Monash Foundation and the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). She is President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), a Trustee of the Sydney Opera House, a director of the Grattan Institute and of Rabobank Australia Limited. She is a member of the International Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science. She has been a senior regulator, lawyer and a director of other listed and government organisations.
Ronald Trent
Nominated by the NSW Minister for Health
Professor Trent is Head of the Department of Medical Genomics at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Director for the Institute of Precision Medicine & Bioinformatics at the Sydney Local Health District. He is the President of the School Council for the Sydney Boys High School, and past Secretary of the Sydney Girls High School Foundation. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, and of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.
Contact for the Board, Company Secretary and Chief Operating Officer:
Gabriella O'Neil – Manager, Office of the COO
g.oneil@garvan.org.au
tel: +61 (0) 2 9295 8120
