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:

Professor John Upham MBBS (HONS), PHD
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.

Professor Anne Holland PT, BAppSc, PhD
President Elect
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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.

Profesor Gary Anderson BSC(HONS), MCA, MFA, PHD, FTHORSOC, FERS, ATSF
Co-Chair of the Registries and Clinical Trials Subcommittee
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Professor Anderson is Director of the Lung Health Research Centre and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics School of Biomedical Sciences in Faculty Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences at The University of Melbourne. His research specialises in combining molecular genetic disease models with clinical translations studies to find new modes of treatment for serious lung diseases, mostly severe asthma, COPD and its comorbidities, IPF and lung cancer. He is widely published and originated the endotype concept of asthma. He is a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society (FERS), American Thoracic Society (ATSF) and TSANZ (FThorSoc) and the 2006 recipient of the TSANZ Research Medal.

Dr James FingletonBM, PhD, FRACP
New Zealand Branch President, Co-Chair of the Registries and Clinical Trials Sub-Committee
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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.

Associate Professor Kristin Carson-ChahhoudPHD, MSPPM
Chair of the Research Subcommittee
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Dr Tracy LeongMBBS (Hons), FRACP, MPH, PhD, CCPU
Australian Branch Director
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Associate Professor Natasha SmallwoodBMedSci, MBBS, MEpi, PhD, FRACP
Board Secretary
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Dr Sukhwinder SohalBSc, MSc, MS, PhD, FAPSR
Chair of the Education and Training Subcommittee
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Dr Sohal is Head of the Respiratory Translational Research Group and Senior Lecturer at School of Health Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston. His research group investigates cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying chronic lung diseases such as COPD, lung cancer, AsthmaCOPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS), asthma, pulmonary hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). His lab is also home to investigations looking at effects of electronic smoking devices on lung health such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn devices. Dr Sohal has served in different roles such as convenor for the COPD SIG, member of the TSANZ Education and Training SubCommittee and Research Sub-Committee. He also serves on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel of LAM Australia Research Alliance. He is a member of the Clinical Problems Programme Committee for the American Thoracic Society. Dr Sohal serves on the European Board for Accreditation in Pneumology. In 2016, for his contributions to chronic lung disease, he was elected Fellow of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (FAPSR).

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORYET H KHORMBBS, FRACP, PhD
Chair of the Clinical Care and Resources Subcommittee
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Associate Professor Shannon Simpson
Chair of the TSANZSRS Organising Committee
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Associate Professor Shannon Simpson is co-head of the Children’s Lung Health team at Telethon Kids Institute and an academic at Curtin University. She leads a multi-faceted research program spanning from clinical cohort studies and interventional clinical trials to laboratory-based exploratory science, with the broad aim of improving the lung health for survivors of preterm
birth. A/Prof Simpson is supported in this endeavour by strong community
engagement and involvement, as well as wide reaching collaborative research and clinical networks into the future.

Professor Hubertus PA JersmannMBBS, 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).

Dr Stuart JonesMBChB, 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.

Dr Graham HallBAppSci, PhD, CRFS, FANZSRS, FERS
Company Secretary
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Dr Graham Hall is an internationally recognised respiratory physiologist and was a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University and held an adjunct position at the Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia. Graham completed his PhD at the Telethon Kids Institute in late 1999 before working in the University Children’s Hospitals in Zurich and Bern in Switzerland.
Graham brings great experience and knowledge, including an impressive 20 years working in lung health. He has worked as the Deputy Director and Co-Head of Children’s Lung Health at one of the largest and most successful medical research institutes in Australia, Telethon Kids Institute. Over the course of his career, Graham has established an international reputation in paediatric respiratory science and has contributed to both research and policy development.
With his passion for making a difference in the respiratory health space, Graham inspires colleagues and is a natural leader. His ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people and his commitment to supporting the professional development of all those engaged in respiratory health ensure that under Graham’s leadership, TSANZ will continue to be responsive to servicing the educational, professional community, advocacy and other needs of its members.
Subcommittees
The Subcommittees report through their Chairperson to the Board.
The Subcommittee activities are governed by Terms of Reference.
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: | Kristin Carson-Chahhoud |
Members: | Rebecca Disler, Ross Vlahos, Patricia Agudelo-Romero, Maria Sukkar, Shafagh Waters, Conroy Wong, Nia Luxton, Kimberley Wang, Narelle Cox, Eugene Roscioli, Edward Fysh, Arwel Jones, Bajee Krishna Sriram, Cecilia Prele |
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,