The Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute Leadership Advisory Board (ARMILAB)

ARMILAB enhances the reputation and positioning of the Institute by liaising with key stakeholders including business, government, media and the broader community.

ARMILAB works closely with senior management to promote the vision, role and accomplishments of the Institute. It helps ARMI achieve its goals through:

• advocacy
• contributing experience and insight
• supporting and mentoring the Institute’s Director and its leadership
• supporting the Institute’s fundraising objectives by assisting the Institute and Monash Advancement to build key philanthropic, donor and funding relationships.

ARMILAB members

Professor Andrew Dyer (Chair)
Professor Kim Cornish AM (Deputy Chair)
Professor Katie Allen
Emeritus Professor Claude Bernard AM
Professor Peter Currie
Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM
Dr Patrick Hughes
Dr Meroula Richardson
Dr Peter Rogers AM
Dr Duncan Thomson
Sonya Walker

Professor Andrew Dyer (Chair)

Andrew is a company director and serves on a number of boards. He recently retired from the role of Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner for the Federal Government.

Andrew’s professional career includes executive and operational roles in the utilities, telecommunications, information technology and professional services industries. He continues to advise a number of organisations in the private and public sectors and specialises in governance and operational performance.

In addition to his board and government roles, Andrew is a Professorial Fellow at Monash University, where he assists with the University’s industry engagement programs.  He is a member of the Monash University Industry Council of Advisors (MICA), the Monash Energy Institute Advisory Council (Chair) and serves on advisory boards for the Monash Sustainability & Development Institute and the Engineering Faculty.

Immediately prior to his board career, Andrew was the Victorian Government Commissioner to the Americas, based in San Francisco, where he facilitated a number of significant trade and investment outcomes for Victoria and Australia.

A former McKinsey & Co. consultant, Andrew holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with first class honours from Monash University and an MBA from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Professor Kim Cornish AM PhD FASSA (Deputy Chair)

Professor Kim Cornish is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia. She is the current the Head of the School of Psychological Sciences and the Director for the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience (MICCN). In 2019, MICCN will transition into the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health- the first named institute at Monash resulting from the generosity of the late David Winston Turner, who has presented Monash University with Australia’s largest single gift to mental health. Kim will become the founding Director of the Turner Institute.

Prior to joining Monash University Kim held the prestigious Canada Research Chair in developmental cognitive neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal. She is a pioneer in the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience having defined attention pathways and their trajectories across development in children with differing brain disorders such as Autism and fragile X syndrome. This work has resulted in a ground-breaking translational suite of interactive cognitive tools known as TALI^TM – the world’s first interactive attention training program for children with severe attention deficits. In partnership with industry, TALI is now used in clinics all over Australia and is NDIS approved as a medical device.

Professor Cornish is an Executive Board Member of the Australian Brain Alliance (ABA) and a Board member of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research (HIMR).

Professor Katie Allen

Emeritus Professor Claude Bernard AM

Professor Bernard is internationally recognized for his leading research on the pathogenesis and regulation of autoimmune diseases, more specifically Multiple Sclerosis (MS). His discoveries have significantly enhanced our understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the cause of MS, which have led to the development of novel therapies to treat MS. He has published over 300 journal articles, reviews, conference proceedings and book chapters.

Among Professor Claude Bernard many seminal contributions, is the establishment of the first multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model, the elucidation of the role of immune cells (T and B cells) in the pathogeny of MS, the discovery that a minor component of the central nervous system (the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein) is a critical target antigen in MS, and was together with his research team, the first in establishing human cell lines from people with MS. These human cell lines have become invaluable research tools to investigate MS and develop new therapies.

After graduating from La Sorbonne, in Paris (1968), Professor Bernard undertook a Master of Sciences in Microbiology and Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine, Montreal and then completed a PhD in the same area of research (1973). He furthered his studies by completing a “Doctorat es Sciences d’Etat” at the University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France in 1978.

His extensive research and teaching career includes working at the Hospital Saint Antoine in Paris, the Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene of the University of Montreal, Canada, the Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia, the Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland, La Trobe University, Australia, the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University.

Professor Bernard’s sabbaticals encompass stints at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel (1985), the Department of Neurology & Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, USA (1991); the San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milano, Italy (1998) and the Immunology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Nancy, France (1998), the Department of Neurology, UCSF, San Francisco, USA (2004).

He was a Fulbright Scholar within the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (1999), a Distinguish Visiting Professor, Department of Neurology, UCSF, San Francisco (2004) and held the title of Guest Professor at Kunming Medical University (2011-2023), China and the Bayi Brain Hospital, General Hospital of Beijing Military Command, China (2011–2014), and a Senior Visiting Fellow from The Australian Academy of Science, AMRITA Hospital, Kochi, India (2013).

Professor Bernard was the Interim Deputy Director of ARMI between May 2016 and April 2018.

Professor Peter Currie

Peter Currie received his PhD in Drosophila genetics from Syracuse University, New York, USA.  He undertook postdoctoral training in zebrafish development at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) in London, UK.  He has worked as an independent laboratory head at the UK Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, UK and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, Australia where he headed a research programme focused on skeletal muscle development and regeneration.

His work is centered on understanding how the small freshwater zebrafish is able to build and regenerate skeletal muscle.

In 2016 he was appointed Director of Research of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  He is a recipient of a European Molecular Biology Organization Young Investigators Award and a Wellcome Trust International Research Fellowship and currently is a Principal Research Fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia.

Prof Currie, along with Dr Georgina Hollway, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and Dr Phong Nguyen of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, won the UNSW 2015 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research. They were awarded the prize in recognition of their groundbreaking research into stem cell generation.

Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM

Elizabeth Finkel is a former biochemist who switched to journalism.

She co-founded Cosmos Magazine, serving as Editor in Chief from 2013 to 2018 and is now Editor at Large.

She has published two books: “Stem Cells” in 2005, which won the Queensland premier’s Literary award and “The Genome Generation” in 2012.

Her journalism has earned her numerous awards including being named the National Press Club’s 2011 ‘Higher Education Journalist of the Year’ and in 2015, the winner of the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism.

In 2016 she was made a member of the order of Australia (AM). In May 2019 she was made a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Monash University and in June 2019 received the medal of the Australian Society for Medical Research.

Besides journalism, she now serves as a Vice Chancellor’s fellow at La Trobe University and on advisory boards for Latrobe University Press,  Zoos Victoria and Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Dr Patrick Hughes

Patrick graduated from Monash Medical School in 1977 and after an early exposure to rural general practice has enjoyed a long career as a specialist anaesthetist with a practice ranging from paediatrics to major reconstructive and complex airway surgery.

In addition to having served on the board of directors of the Victorian Anaesthetic Group, Patrick has served on the medical advisory panel of MIGA (Medical Insurance Group Australia) and on the advisory panel and board of directors of indemnity insurer Invivo Medical Pty Ltd. In addition he has served on the Victorian Executive Committee of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and over ten years as a member of the Victorian Consultative Council on Anaesthetic Mortality and Morbidity.

Throughout his career he has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and clinical research. Growing up in a family of doctors he has been able to witness first hand the growth of innovation and research in the medical sciences, its effect on the delivery of health care and its remarkable impact on people’s lives.

Dr Meroula Richardson

Dr Meroula Richardson graduated in Medicine from the University of Western Australia and specialised in cardiology. Her interest in transplantation led to two years at Harefield Hospital (London, UK) training in cardiac transplantation under the guidance of Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, a pioneer in the field.

She returned to Australia in 1994 to an appointment as cardiologist with the Heart and Lung Replacement service at The Alfred Hospital (Melbourne) and in 1997 became a founding member of The Alfred’s Heart Failure Unit. On sabbatical leave in 2001, she returned to Harefield Hospital for training in the implantation of cardiac implantable electronic devices (pacemakers and defibrillators), specifically those capable of delivering cardiac resynchronisation therapy for selected patients with heart failure.

In 2005, as well as holding a part-time position at The Alfred, Dr Richardson established a private practice at Cabrini Hospital with an emphasis on delivering specialised care for heart failure patients in the private setting. Until 2015, she was also involved in rural outreach clinics providing cardiology consultation at Bairnsdale Hospital.

Dr Richardson has throughout her career been a committed teacher of, and mentor to, medical students and junior doctors.

She has also served on Medical Panels and the Medtronic Advisory Board.

Dr Peter Rogers AM

Dr Peter Rogers is a member of Rotary’s Regional Board for Oceania covering sixteen countries, and Emeritus Chairman of the Monash University Engineering and Information Technology Foundation. He is a former Councillor of the Graduate Union at University of Melbourne, former Chairman of the Australian Rotary Health District D9800 Committee and a past President of the Rotary Club of Melbourne.

Peter graduated in chemical engineering from Monash, M App Sc from University of Melbourne, and received his PhD degree from Monash University in 1974. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Early in his career, Peter worked at ICI Australia (now AstraZeneca and Orica) in their agricultural chemicals and plastics businesses and at their production facilities in Victoria and NSW. In 1980, he was appointed Staff Manager at ICI Australia.

In 1984, he was appointed to ICI PLC headquarters in London. He was a Director of ICI’s subsidiary and associated companies, including ICI Bangladesh and ICI Bangladesh Trading Company. Between 1985 and 2000, Peter was a Director of the London-based board of Employment Conditions Abroad Ltd. He later established the International Consultants Centre, a consulting company he led for more than 25 years. In 2015, the company was transferred to staff.

In 2009, Peter was appointed Chairman of Monash University Engineering and Information Technology Foundation Board. During his eight years in this role, the Leadership Program, the Monash Industry Team Initiative (MITI) and three Research Institutes were established, including the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering. Peter was elected to the Board of Hepburn Wind in 2011 – Australia’s first community owned wind farm located at Daylesford, Victoria. During his tenure, $10m capital fundraising, construction and commissioning was carried out. The project received many awards including the Victorian Premier’s Award, World Wind Energy Award and Banksia Award. Peter was also awarded a Monash Distinguished Service Medal in 2008, Rotary Paul Harris Fellow 2008 and the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering medal in 2013. Peter was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Monash University in 2014, and was awarded AM at Kings Birthday 2023.

Dr Duncan Thomson

Sonya Walker

Please feel welcome to contact Sonya via https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonyawalker1