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Board of Directors & Subcommittees

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Board of Directors & Subcommittees

Board

The TSANZ Board consists of highly experienced and knowledgeable leaders in their areas of specialisation.

In consultation with members of the Society, the Board plays a pivotal role in the following key areas:

  • determining the strategic directions for the Society
  • representing the best interests of the Society
  • ensuring compliance to governance best practises
  • guiding the Society to accomplish its mission

The Board holds a Board Meeting once every two months at the TSANZ Office in Sydney where key areas, issues and opportunities are discussed and resolved.

Our current TSANZ Board Members are:

<h4>Professor Anne Holland </br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">PT, BAppSc, PhD</span></h4>

Professor Anne Holland
PT, BAppSc, PhD

President

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Professor Anne Holland is Professor of Physiotherapy and Head of Respiratory Research at Alfred Health and Monash University, Melbourne. She leads a research program investigating non-drug treatments for respiratory disease, with >340 publications cited more than 19 000 times. Anne has led development of clinical practice guidelines for TSANZ, European Respiratory Society and American Thoracic Society. In 2021 Anne was awarded the TSANZ Society Medal for advancing the practice of respiratory medicine.

Anne brings respiratory-specific corporate governance expertise as a recent Board Director for both the TSANZ (2015-2019) and the American Thoracic Society (2019-2021). As TSANZ president, Anne would build on increased community awareness of respiratory health during the COVID-19 pandemic to advocate for best respiratory care, enhanced funding for respiratory research, and support for the professional needs of all our members. Anne believes that the diversity of our membership is a TSANZ strength and has a strong commitment to inclusivity.

<h4>Professor John Upham </br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">MBBS (HONS), PHD</span></h4>

Professor John Upham
MBBS (HONS), PHD

Past President

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John Upham is a clinical scientist and respiratory physician with longstanding research interests in the immunological basis of airway inflammation, and the development of novel approaches to treatment. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, has been cited over 5400 times and has an ‘H index’ of 39. The majority of his publications are in the higher impact journals in the field.

He is a previous recipient of an NHMRC Neil Hamilton Fairley Fellowship, and the Young Investigator Award, Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand (TSANZ). He has been a long term recipient of funding from the NHMRC,inclduing Practitioner Fellowships, Program & Project Grants, a Development Grant and a CRE for Indigenous Lung Health.

After specialist training in Brisbane, John completed a PhD at the University of Western Australia, and spent 2 years in Canada, before moving back to Perth in 1998. In 2007, he moved to Brisbane to take up a position as Professor of Respiratory Medicine. He is based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Translational Research Institute, and is the academic head of the Discipline of Medicine within PA/Southside School of Medicine, University of Queensland, and the Chair of Metro South Research.

<h4>Dr James Fingleton</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">BM, PhD, FRACP</span></h4>

Dr James Fingleton
BM, PhD, FRACP

New Zealand Branch President, Chair of the Registries and Clinical Trials Sub-Committee

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Dr James Fingleton is a respiratory physician at Wellington Hospital, with a sub-specialist interest in asthma. He is current Chief Investigator of the TSANZ NZ National Asthma Audit.
Dr Fingleton also serves as Medical Director of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand and teaches as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Otago, Wellington.
<h4>Associate Professor Cecilia Prele </br><span style="color: #999;font-size: 14px">BSc (Hons), PhD</span></h4>

Associate Professor Cecilia Prele
BSc (Hons), PhD

Chair of the Research Subcommittee

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A/Prof Cecilia Prêle is a Principal Investigator and Head of the Tissue Repair and Fibrosis Group at the Institute for Respiratory Health, UWA. She also holds the position of Associate Professor in Pathology, at Murdoch University. A/Prof Prêle completed her PhD at University College London in the UK and following a postdoctoral position at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital and King College London she moved to Perth in 2002. For the past 20 years her research has focused on understanding the body’s response to damage, specifically on inflammation and the development of fibrosis, and the mechanisms responsible for regulating tissue repair following injury. Her research team, together with their collaborators, have worked to better understand the cell-mediated and molecular drivers of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). They have identified some of the signal transduction pathways that influence how cells within the lung behave. Recently they have shown that immune cells play a role in shaping the local lung environment in IPF, providing the cues and signals that may be responsible for the excessive fibrosis. They are currently investigating the potential benefit of immunotherapy approaches in lung fibrosis.

Over the course of her career A/Prof Prêle has held a number of leadership positions including; Staff-elected Board member for the Institute for Respiratory Health, Steering Committee for the Australian Rare Lung Disease Short Course, Leadership Committee for the International Colloquium on Lung and Airway Fibrosis, Executive committee for the UWA-Helmholtz Zentrum Munich-University College London Research Network. She was Deputy Section Editor for Fibrogenesis and Tissue Repair, Guest Editor for Clinical Translational Immunology and for Biomedicines. A/Prof Prele is Deputy Editor for Respirology and Associate Editor for Frontiers Pharmacoloy; Respiratory Pharmacology. She has previously served the TSANZ community as a member of the TSANZ Education and Training Sub-committee and more recently as a member of TSANZ Research Committee.

<h4>Professor Vanessa McDonald</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">DipHlthScien (Nurs), BNurs, PhD, FThorSoc</span></h4>

Professor Vanessa McDonald
DipHlthScien (Nurs), BNurs, PhD, FThorSoc

Chair of the Education and Training Subcommittee

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Vanessa McDonald is a Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Newcastle, Australia and an honorary clinical nurse consultant in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital. She is Director of the Centres of Excellence in Treatable Traits, and the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Asthma and Breathing Programme.

Her research interests are centred around the development of innovative approaches to the management of chronic airway diseases. She is passionate about the development and implementation of personalised medicine strategies that place the person at the centre of health care delivery.

Over >25 years Vanessa has developed expertise in respiratory clinical nursing practice and education, has contributed extensively to respiratory health advocacy and health policy and, has developed as an internationally recognised respiratory researcher. She is committed to committed to improving the health and quality of life of people with lung disease in our region and internationally, and to the mission of lung health.

<h4>Dr Tracy Leong</br><span style="color: #999;font-size: 14px">MBBS (Hons), FRACP, MPH, PhD, CCPU</span></h4>

Dr Tracy Leong
MBBS (Hons), FRACP, MPH, PhD, CCPU

Australian Branch Director

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Dr Tracy Leong is a clinician scientist as the Director of Interventional Pulmonology at Austin Health and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research. She is the current Victorian branch President and recent past Convenor of the Lung Cancer Special Interest Group. Her specific interests are in the use of bronchoscopic techniques for translational lung cancer research, national lung cancer screening; and national lung cancer data and tissue banking. She currently serves on committees for Lung Foundation Australia and the Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia.
<h4>Associate Professor </br>Natasha Smallwood</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">BMedSci, MBBS, MEpi, PhD, FRACP</span></h4>

Associate Professor
Natasha Smallwood
BMedSci, MBBS, MEpi, PhD, FRACP

Board Secretary

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Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood is a respiratory physician at the Alfred Hospital and clinician-researcher at Monash University. She holds postgraduate qualifications in Respiratory Medicine, Epidemiology, Palliative Care and Leadership. Natasha has been a TSANZ Board Director since 2020, responsible for Australian Branches and Chair of the Registries & Clinical Trials Committee. She is a member of the TSANZ Diversity & Inclusion Working Party; the Safe Levels of Staffing Working Party and convenor for the COPD SIG. She is past president of the Victorian TSANZ branch, having served on the committee for 6 years, and previously convened the TSANZ Symptom Support and Palliative Care SIG. She also currently serves on committees for the Lung Foundation Australia and is a taskforce member for multiple national and international respiratory guidelines.
<h4>Professor Ross Vlahos</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">....</span></h4>

Professor Ross Vlahos
....

Chair of the TSANZSRS Conference Committee

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<h4>ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR</br>YET H KHOR</br><span style="color: #999;font-size: 14px">MBBS, FRACP, PhD</span></h4>

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
YET H KHOR
MBBS, FRACP, PhD

Chair of the Clinical Care and Resources Subcommittee

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Associate Professor Yet Khor is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at Monash University, as well as a respiratory and sleep physician at Austin Health, with keen interests in interstitial lung disease and oxygen therapy. Yet has been involved in TSANZ activities since 2015 as Victoria branch executive and secretary. She co-chairs the TSANZ Clinical Care and Resources Sub-Committee since 2021. In addition, Yet is the Convenor for the OLIV SIG and the co-deputy chair of the Methodologist Working Group. She has also been active in international respiratory societies, as a member of the American Thoracic Society Clinical Problems Assembly Program Committee and the early-career editor for the Interstitial Lung Disease Section of European Respiratory Journal.
<h4>Professor</br>Hubertus PA Jersmann</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">MBBS, MD, PhD, FRACP, FThorSoc, AMA(M)</span></h4>

Professor
Hubertus PA Jersmann
MBBS, MD, PhD, FRACP, FThorSoc, AMA(M)

Chair of the Professional Standards Subcommitee

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Professor Hubertus Jersmann is a Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist. He was born in Germany and after specialist qualification in Australia he completed a PhD and spent many years in laboratory based immune system research. He now practices at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital.

At the University of Adelaide, he lectures across all six years of the undergraduate course and was instrumental in introducing climate change into the medical curriculum. He lectures on the topic at both, Flinders and Adelaide Universities. As a Respiratory Physician Professor Jersmann has a special interest in the effects of air pollution on respiratory health. Improving air quality and Australian fuel standards is one of his keen objectives as one of the Directors of the Board of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ).

<h4>Dr Stuart Jones</br><span style="color: #999;font-size: 14px">MBChB, PhD, FRACP</span></h4>

Dr Stuart Jones
MBChB, PhD, FRACP

Treasurer

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Dr Jones is a full-time clinical respiratory and sleep physician. He works at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, as Clinical Head of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and has a particular interest in home ventilation. Over the years he has been highly involved in physician training and was the Director of Physician Education at Middlemore Hospital for eight years. He is currently also Medical Director of the New Zealand Asthma and Respiratory Foundation. He has a research background with an interest in airways diseases and is currently involved in local research projects in bronchiectasis and asthma.

<h4>Ms. Kerry-Ann Plant</br><span style="font-size:14px;color:#999">MBA(Exec), ACMA, CGMA</span></h4>

Ms. Kerry-Ann Plant
MBA(Exec), ACMA, CGMA

Company Secretary

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Kerry-Ann has over 25 years’ experience in accounting and finance and has worked across a diverse range of industries and roles in both the private and not for profit sectors in both the UK, Europe and Australia.

Bringing her passion for process improvement, technology transformation and keen interest in staff development and mentoring, Kerry-Ann is looking forward to leveraging her experience to help deliver sound governance and financial sustainability practices at TSANZ.

A keen traveller, Kerry-Ann started her career in the UK Government, before moving into the private sector, working in Italy and France as an accountant in the hospitality sector before moving to Australia in 2004. In Australia, she has worked in the IT, Hospitality and Mining sectors in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Kerry-Ann is a Chartered Management Accountant and completed her Executive MBA in 2016. In 2020 she completed the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.

Away from work, Kerry-Ann is passionate about helping others and is training to be a personal development and career coach. In her free time, she volunteers at Greyhound Rescue and has previously volunteered on the planning committee for the Mother’s Day Classic, supporting women and families affected by Breast Cancer.

Subcommittees

The Subcommittees of TSANZ ​consist of highly committed individuals who volunteer their time and expertise. They serve as the subject matter experts on key areas pertaining to the Society.

The Subcommittees report through their Chairperson to the Board.

The Subcommittee activities are governed by Terms of Reference.

Current Members of TSANZ Subcommittees:
education and training
Chair: Sukhwinder Sohal
Members: Isuru Seneviratne, Subash Srikantha, Maitri Munsif, Sandra Chuang, Lauren Ng, Greg Frazer, Hubertus Jersmann, Robert Carroll, Alan Shaw, Patricia Hullah, Jo Harrison, Vikas Goyal
Terms of Reference: Download PDF
CLINICAL CARE AND RESOURCES
Chair: Yet Hong Khor
Members: Paul Leong, Christopher Lim, Ajay Kevat, Annemarie Lee, Josephine McCabe, Arwel Jones
Terms of Reference: Download PDF
Finance, Risk and Governance
Chair: John Upham
Members: Stuart Jones, Anne Holland, James Fingleton, Natasha Smallwood
Terms of Reference: Download PDF
Professional Standards
Chair: Hubertus Jersmann
Members: Christiaan Yu, Pamela Laird, Nathan Ward, Himanshu Gard, Roland Meyer, Catherine Buchan, Monica Hatch, Vikas Goyal, Christopher Chew
Terms of Reference: Download PDF
Research
Chair: Cecilia Prele
Members: Rebecca Disler, Patricia Agudelo-Romero, Maria Sukkar, Shafagh Waters, Conroy Wong, Kimberley Wang, Narelle Cox, Eugene Roscioli, Edward Fysh, Arwel Jones
Terms of Reference: Download PDF
Registries and Clinical Trials
Chairs: Gary Anderson (Co-Chair) and James Fingleton (Co-Chair)
Members: Kristin Carson-Chahhoud, Peter Gibson, Peter Middleton, Hayley See
Terms of Reference: Download PDF

Enquiries

If you would like to get involved or if you wish to send a message to any of the Board Members or Subcommittees please email your inquiry to TSANZOffice@thoracic.org.au. Or,

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