Annette was appointed CEO of the Digital Health CRC in March 2022, having been a Senior Adviser to the DHCRC since its establishment in 2018.

She is a well-respected leader within Australia’s health and aged care sector, having held leadership and governance roles that include public and private healthcare, industry, universities and research entities.

She has recently retired from her role as Executive Leader of the Bupa Health Foundation and completed her term as Deputy Chair of the Northern Sydney Local Health District after 10 years.

She recently stepped down as Chair of Research Australia (December 2023), however, remains on the Research Australia Board as a Board Member. Annette is also a Senate member of the Australian Catholic University. Her research interests include aged care, mental health and health system reform. Annette is an economics graduate and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health University of Sydney.

Clare is a PhD-qualified research scientist with extensive experience in project and stakeholder management and the commercialisation of academic research.

Most recently a senior business development manager at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), Clare has direct experience in the commercialisation of personalised medicine, bioinformatics and computational biology research projects.

Previously, Clare led an extensive collaborative alliance between WEHI and a commercial partner, overseeing large-scale research projects encompassing up to 30 scientist and three organisations (both academic and industry).

Clare has a Bachelor of Science (Hons – First Class) and PhD from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Entrepreneurship (Dean’s Honours List) from the University of Melbourne. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Based in our Melbourne office, Clare works collaboratively with the Chief Innovation Officer and DHCRC project management team on the ideation, planning and execution of DHCRC research projects.

Outside of work, Clare likes weekend walks with her partner and young daughter and bike packing along gravel roads in regional Victoria.

Alessandro (Alex) Luongo is a healthcare professional with over ten years’ experience working on private and public projects across digital health, quality improvement and chronic disease management.

Holding a masters in Public Health, a masters in Health Management and double Bachelors in Science (Nutrition)(Hons I)/Bachelor in Applied Science (Sport & Exercise), Alex has spent the past decade leading and consulting on a wide variety of digital health initiatives, including as Operations Manager at the Australian Digital Health Agency.

He has also worked on the Department of Health PIP QI Incentive program; NSW Ministry of Health’s Lumos project, and upscaling an Australian-first real-time interoperability solution, iRAD.

Based in our Sydney office, Alex oversees the delivery of projects across the Digital Health CRC’s pipeline and ensures alignment with Commonwealth reporting.

Alex also loves playing basketball with mates, and checking out new eateries across the Harbour City.

Isobel is a strategic advisor in digital health, data, and information governance. She trained as a head and spinal injury clinical nurse specialist at the University of Edinburgh and Pennsylvania and went on to work in acute and rehabilitation settings in the UK, USA, and Australia in the early part of her career.

An interest in health prevention and health policy led to a career in the Australian public sector, which provided the opportunity to be part of the shaping of national reforms in health prevention and disability services.  These experiences opened doors that over the past few decades have included leadership roles in private and public health and aged care sectors in the UK and Australia.

Isobel received an ARC Industry Grant to undertake a PhD in health informatics at the University of Wollongong, focusing on HL7 interoperability standards.  She has been a volunteer for HL7 in the UK and Australia for the past twenty years, including as the publishing facilitator for the HL7 V3 Clinical Statement specification.

The exposure to data standards and the fickle world of standards use, uptake, and promulgation has provided her with a unique skills base combining healthcare governance, policy and advocacy and the application of information communications and technologies to health and social care markets. Isobel has worked with the DHCRC as a consultant since 2019. In December 2023 she was employed as Director of Digital Health Integration.

Dr Melanie Haines is an education specialist and researcher.

At the DHCRC, she co-creates educational opportunities in digital healthcare to develop digital literacy, support digital transformation and build digital leadership capacity and capability.

Melanie has been based in Canberra for the past 15 years working in roles for the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Australian National University, Science and Technology Australia and the University of Canberra.

Melanie holds a PhD in Entomology from Lincoln University in New Zealand. In 2018, she was inducted as a Fellow of the UC Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Scholarship, and in 2017, was recognised by UC with a Teaching Excellence Award for her contributions to postgraduate research education.

Melanie is also kept busy running @WriteThatPhD via social media and has over 300,000 followers.

Hui Mathews is our Commercialisation Manager, leading the translation of our research program into practice. Hui was previously at Deloitte Digital as a Senior Manager in Digital Health. In this role, she collaborated with prominent healthcare organisations and agencies across Australia to develop human-centric business models, innovative digital experiences, and cutting-edge technology to drive digital transformation initiatives.

Prior to her tenure at Deloitte Digital, Hui served as the Digital Product and Service Design Lead at NSW Health, where she played a pivotal role in developing digital solutions such as the digital front door and COVID-19 vaccination solutions for the Sydney Local Health District.

Outside of work Hui enjoys exploring trails and national parks across Sydney, sometimes with her two primary-aged children in tow.

Judith has over 15 years’ experience in consumer-driven healthcare, health promotion, and healthcare design.

Judith is an experienced community pharmacist and also previously worked at a large, national health insurer in a clinical team leveraging health insights to design and create person-centred, evidence-based solutions connecting the right people to the right information at the right time.

Her passion is to see health knowledge effectively used in digital tools to support better health and care outcomes, which has led her to join the Digital Health CRC as the Research Translation Manager.

Judith has a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Sydney and additional qualifications in Media and Cultural studies from Macquarie University.

Meagan has over 20 years’ experience in IT industry and in program and project management. Working at IBM for 14 years, she headed up two business units within cloud and cognitive software, using operational intelligence to drive business change.

Meagan spent much of her time at IBM on international assignment in places such as Brazil and Singapore working on large scale transformation programs spanning health and human services, finance and government industries.

With extensive experience delivery in agile and SCRUM methodology and a business analyst by trade, Meagan has a track record of successfully defined programs of work, and successfully delivered projects.

Meagan is a team builder and brings a diverse set of business and technology skills coupled with the ability to and bring the best out of people and leverage networks.

When she gets the chance, Meagan will attest to being a foodie and has a dream of one day owning a vineyard or working in the wine industry.

Joycelyn comes from a clinical, research, service development, and project management background. Joycelyn is an AHPRA registered clinical psychologist, having gained her Clinical Doctorate and Research Masters degrees from the University of Sydney, and PhD from UNE. Joycelyn has worked in public and private health services in a wide range of settings, gaining a depth of knowledge and experience across various health fields. Joycelyn is a strong advocate for the development and adoption of digital health solutions to improve health outcomes, healthcare delivery, and consumer experiences.

Prior to joining Digital Health CRC, Joycelyn was involved in developing and evaluating digital health tools and programs, project managing the implementation of telehealth and online mental health services, and collaborating on therapeutic services digitalisation projects. In her spare time, Joycelyn enjoys exploring artisan and farmers markets, and trying to cobble together Book Week and school concert costumes the night before.

Win Yee is a project manager with experience in delivering health initiatives at a regional, state-wide, and national level.

She specialises in the implementation and coordination of complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Win Yee comes from a diverse public health background and has worked in community settings, primary health, and federal agencies.

With an honours degree in Medical Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Health Communications, Win Yee is particularly interested in sociological thinking on the consumption and experience of healthcare.

She is motivated to use nuanced understanding in these areas to deliver healthcare services that provide sustainable and efficacious outcomes to the Australian population.

Win Yee has a wide variety of interests, and loves applying her project management skills on an ever-growing list of dreams.

A scholar of Biomedical Engineering, Shiva attained her PhD from Curtin University. Her studies looked at the application of wearable devices data for early identification of walking gait pattern abnormalities.

Before joining the DHCRC team she was busy working on national level digital health projects at the Australian Digital Health Agency. And prior to that was part of the R&D team at Siemens.

Shiva is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health and is deeply interested in digital health technologies, healthcare applications of artificial intelligence, machine learning and wearable devices. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to podcasts, walking, and playing the piano.

Neil’s involvement in learning and digital started in the late '90s when he joined an elearning start-up in the UK as a designer and animator. Before long the company expanded, and Neil’s role evolved into a production team lead.

In 2006, Neil moved on to tackle more formal project management roles at digital agencies in the UK and Australia until 2017, when a move to the public sector enabled him to work on a range of exciting projects aiming to help the public sector tackle some of today’s universal challenges including the future of work, leadership development, and digital transformation.

Based in our Sydney office, Neil’s focus is to operationalise and support the DHCRC’s unique education program.

Off duty, Neil enjoys nothing more than exploring Sydney’s ocean pools and diverse food scene.

Keren is a Public Health professional with extensive experience leading healthcare improvements and influencing healthcare policy and research. Keren’s healthcare improvement journey began after navigating the health system with her youngest daughter, which inspired her to complete her Master of Public Health. Her strategic insight and lived experience drive her commitment to positive system change, particularly for vulnerable populations. Keren is a strong advocate for digital health and the enabler it can be for health literacy and democratisation of healthcare.

Keren’s public health career includes work with the Queensland Department of Health, Children’s Health Queensland, Mater Children’s Hospital, Brisbane South Primary Health Network, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, Health Consumers Queensland, Queenslanders with Disability Network and the University of Queensland, Queensland Digital Health Centre.

Beyond her public health work, Keren is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) with extensive experience in senior corporate roles. She also loves hosting friends for dinner, is a netball Mum and avid theatre goer.

Keren’s multifaceted expertise spans public health, consumer engagement, and corporate leadership, making her a valuable asset in driving positive change within the health system.

Paul leads the marketing communication activity for DHCRC.

He has over two decades communication experience working with a broad range of corporate and financial clients across brand positioning and messaging; strategy development; issues and crisis management; stakeholder management; social and digital; content creation and change communications.

Sam is our Communications and Events Coordinator working alongside our Communication Director, Paul Cheal, and leading DHCRC's events. Sam has completed a Bachelor of Communications Media and Commerce at the University of Wollongong (2018), and has recently completed a Bachelor of Nursing at Western Sydney University (2023).

Sam has five years of experience in PR, communications, and events across a range of sectors. This role brings together her passion for healthcare and creating effective communication strategies for impactful outcomes.

Outside of work, you'll find Sam escaping to the countryside, around the netball courts, spending time with her dog, or exploring the culinary delights of town.

With over a decade of experience as a Legal Executive in New Zealand, Hunsha has excelled in various industries, including property law, banking, social housing, child safety and injury prevention, and aged care. Driven by a passion for enhancing health and wellbeing, especially for vulnerable populations, she transitioned into administrative roles aimed at advancing positive health outcomes in aged care. Hunsha has played a pivotal role in vaccination and telehealth rollouts and has supported practitioners in several residential aged care homes. Currently, she is embracing the exciting world of digital health.

Outside of work, Hunsha completed a Diploma in Dementia Care at the University of Tasmania last year. She enjoys outdoor activities such as long walks and spending quality time with her family.