Meet our Project Advisory Board members

Dr Anthony (Tony) Hobbs  is a former Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the  Commonwealth  Department of Health and currently Senior Medical Advisor for Aged Care at Calvary.  He was a General Practitioner in rural NSW for nearly twenty years, delivering comprehensive coordinated care to the local community, including Obstetric, Paediatric and care to residents in residential aged care facilities. Dr Hobbs has made a significant contribution to Australia’s health system as Chair of the External Reference Group that in 2009 developed Australia’s first national Primary Health Care Strategy.

Professor Donna Waters is the Deputy Executive Dean (Projects) for the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and is also acting as the Director of Diagnostics and Medicine at Sydney Dental School. She is a registered nurse with over 25 years’ experience in nursing education, research, teaching and the management of nursing, medical and health services research. Donna is a Board Member of The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and Chair of its Network Health Care Quality Committee.

Elizabeth Beattie, Professor of Aged and Dementia Care, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, is a psychogeriatric nurse educated in Australia, the UK and the US who has been involved in dementia-focused clinical practice, education and research for 30 years.  She is a Director of the Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration and Dementia Training Australia. Elizabeth has an international nursing leadership profile and a sustained record of competitive research funding and publication. Her research is focused on improving the quality of care and quality of life of people living with dementia and those who support them.

Emeritus Professor Julie Byles AO BMed PhD FAAHMS is Senior Advisor on Ageing and Aged Care with the Hunter Medical Research Institute; and also Senior Advisor with the Sax Institute. She is a Fellow and life member of the Australian Association of Gerontology, Chair of the Hunter Ageing Alliance, Head of the International Longevity Centre – Australia, co-President of the International Longevity Centre Global Alliance, and Chair, Social Research and Planning Sub-comittee International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Asia Oceania). She was a founding investigator and Director of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health with a particular interest in the health of the oldest women who are now turning 100, and the next cohort who are now in their 70s. Her work includes how health and social care can support people throughout later life.

Professor Byles full profile: https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/julie-byles

Guy is a professor and Director of the MBA program at the University of Sydney Business School. He was previously Interim Dean and Deputy Dean at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. Guy’s background is in finance and business model innovation. Guy is also on the Board of the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopters.

Professor Brodaty is a researcher, clinician, policy advisor and strong advocate for people with dementia and their carers. At UNSW Sydney, he is Scientia Professor of Ageing and Mental Health, Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, and Director, Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration. He has over 500 publications in refereed journals, is senior psychogeriatrician and Head of the Memory Clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Kaele Stokes is Executive Director Consumer Engagement, Policy and Research at Dementia Australia. Her portfolios span a range of strategic and policy initiatives, including elevating the voice of people living with dementia, their families and carers through a wide range of consumer engagement activities, undertaking systemic advocacy on key issues for people impacted by dementia and supporting international and national research.

Nicki is a Partner, and the KPMG co-lead for Ageing.  She has extensive experience working with clients within the ageing and community sectors, including Commonwealth and State government jurisdictions, health services and aged care providers. Nicki is a qualified physiotherapist, with extensive clinical, management and project experience, and has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom. With strong strategic and operational focus, she incorporates a clinical focus into her engagements.

Susan Kurrle is a practising geriatrician who holds the Curran Chair in Health Care of Older People and is Director of the Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (CDPC) at the University of Sydney. Professor Kurrle and the CDPC focus on research and implementation research to improve care for people with dementia.

Prof Inacio is an epidemiologist with expertise in population health surveillance systems and utilisation of existing data and informatics to enhance these systems. She is the Director of the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, a Hospital Research Foundation Mid-Career and NHMRC Emerging Leadership 2 Fellow. ROSA is a national platform and SA-based Clinical Quality Registry developed to support the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of ageing and aged care services provided to older Australians.

Professor Harding has over 35 years of experience in senior executive and consulting roles in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. His work relates to policy development, resources, healthcare service delivery and ICT. He is Chair of the Board, Alzheimer’s WA and currently holds a number of positions, including adjunct professorship at Macquarie University and Curtin University, member of the WA Disability Services Commission Board, and member of the National Dementia Expert Reference Group for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.