Ben is a doctor from the UK and Advanced Trainee in nephrology who is completing a PhD at the George Institute. The focuses of the PhD is improving the outcomes and economics of treating chronic kidney disease with a particular interest in low-and-middle-income countries. Ben is also involved with the Affordable Dialysis Project – an initiative run by The George Institute to develop a system that can provide low cost dialysis to those who currently cannot afford it. He works as clinical advisor for this project.

Justin joined The George Institute in 2020 as Chief Financial Officer, bringing with him over 25 years of international pharmaceutical experience in both a commercial and financial capacity.  His areas of expertise span investor relations, finance, strategic planning, M&A, corporate governance and marketing. 

Prior to The George Institute, Justin was the CEO of First Pharma, a boutique privately backed pharmaceutical company.  Before this, he held several senior executive positions at AstraZeneca both in Singapore and Australia.  This included the role of Area Finance Director – Asia, Sales & Marketing Director – Australia, and Chief Financial Officer of Australia.

Justin is a member of ASCPA and holds a Commerce degree from Macquarie University.  He has also undertaken various post graduate leadership programmes at the London Business School, INSEAD and most recently MIT.

Dr Karena Conroy is an experienced health researcher and program manager/lead with a PhD in Health and a background in the social sciences. She currently leads two programs of work focussed on the development and implementation of Consumer and Community Involvement in health research, spanning The George Institute for Global Health and Sydney Local Health District. The remit of both Programs is to develop organisational strategies, structures, and processes that facilitate the systematic engagement and meaningful involvement of consumers and community members in health and medical research.

Dr Kate Hunter, PhD, MPH is a senior research fellow with Guunu-maana (Heal), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health program at The George Institute and conjoint senior lecturer at the University of NSW. She is elected chair of Kidsafe NSW (2018-current) and an elected Executive member of the Australasian Injury Prevention Network (2019-current). Working at the knowledge interface – bringing together Indigenous and western knowledges - Dr Hunter’s expertise is in applying an equity lens across the injury prevention spectrum through the conduct and evaluation of complex community and hospital-based programs, ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices are central to her work.

Dr Hunter prioritises translational research. She has a track record in scale-up of successful programs, with her research being cited in policy and national guidelines. Dr Hunter is committed to supporting the next generation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal researchers working in partnership with Aboriginal communities and organisations. She has supervised four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PhD candidates to completion.

Kate is an NHS doctor in psychiatry working in Edinburgh. Her research considers women’s mental and physical health through the life course. Her current work with The George Institute is focused on the co-creation and implementation of sex and gender policies for the UK’s medical research funders. This is part of a wider initiative to recognise diversity among patients, and ensure research practices and outcomes represent everyone in our society. Kate is also a Commissioner on the BMJ Commission on the Future of the NHS.

Kate has a background in Pharmacology and a PhD in the inflammatory system. She began her employment at TGI in March 2018, mainly working within the renal and metabolic division. Kate’s clinical research operations skills developed whilst working on the REDUCCTION study where she managed sites, coordinated event adjudication processes, maintained data trackers, monitored data collection, upheld ethics and research governance approvals, submitted ethics amendments, coordinated site payments, and maintained close communication with participating study sites. Her expertise has also been lent to other studies including TRIDENT (project forecasting and coordinating outcome adjudications), TRACK (unblinded team member), RESOLVE (event verification), and ATHENA (UAT). Experience has also been obtained in start-up, site initiation, site close-out, protocol and other document development, and exposure to data linkage processes.

Kate currently manages the PERFORM-AKI, ACCESS HD, DISCOVER and REVERSE studies.

Dr Katie Harris is a Senior Research Fellow in the Professorial Unit at the George Institute for Global Health. Her areas of expertise include Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, awarded a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Leeds, UK. She also holds a conjoint lecturer at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Katie has extensive experience working with big data, including population-based, linked and non-linked datasets, and clinical trials data. Her current research interests are in sex and gender differences, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, and dementia and cognitive decline.

Dr Kissock is a distinguished researcher and academic specialising in nutrition, dietetics and public health. She currently holds the position of Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and serves as a Conjoint Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.

Dr Kissock holds a PhD in Health Sciences from the University of Wollongong, Australia focusing on how different definitions of whole-grain foods impact health outcomes and promotional strategies. Her research in this area has been influential, with publications in leading journals.

Dr Kissock addresses critical global health issues at The George Institute, notably through her research on the development and implementation of potassium-enriched salt as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease risk and research on sodium reduction in China and Nigeria. Dr Kissock has presented her findings at major international conferences, and her efforts have garnered significant grants and multiple awards, reflecting her impact in the field.

Beyond her research, Dr Kissock is actively involved in academic service. She reviews for scientific journals, co-chairs the Early- and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) group at The George Institute, is an Early-Career Researcher committee member of the Cardiac, Vascular and Metabolic Medicine Theme at the University of New South Wales and is a member of various national and international working groups.

Dr. Kissock continues to make a significant impact on public health by enhancing the understanding and implementation of innovative dietary strategies and making substantial contributions to global health initiatives.

Keerthi joined The George Institute India in 2018 as Research Assistant for urban health project. She has contributed last 5 years in managing the urban health project funded by HCLF in Andhra Pradesh.

She graduated in bachelor’s in dental surgery. She practiced dentistry for a year and completed her post-graduation in Public Health with a specialisation in Epidemiology from Manipal University, Karnataka. Before joining The Institue, she has worked in Divya Disha (a Not-for-profit working in 20 urban slums in Hyderabad) as a Research and Development Officer for 2 years. She designed and led child-centric interventions to improve basic living conditions in vulnerable communities through the lens of child rights.  A co-author of “An Implementation Handbook for functionaries of the National Legal Services Authorities (NALSA) for Child-Friendly Legal Services to Children and Their Protection (CFLSCTP). She has worked with Telangana State Institute of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (TSIPARD) to conduct training sessions on health with state officials.

Yakubu is a Research Fellow with the Guunu-maana (Heal) Aboriginal & Torres Strait Research Program and the Health Systems’ Program on Implementation for Health Equity. He also co-leads The George Institute’s Ubuntu Initiative for Partnerships in Africa.

The Guunu-maana (Heal) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at The George Institute drives meaningful and ethical research and advocacy to transform the health and wellbeing of First Nations peoples and communities. The George Institute’s Health System’s Program on Implementation for Health Equity aims to enhance health and social outcomes in underserved communities by improving knowledge of research methodologies that address health equity through implementation research and embedding process evaluations within applied research. Through the Ubuntu Initiative, The George Institute seeks to expand the scope of its research engagement with researchers and institutions on the Africa continent in a culturally safe, people-centred and sustainable way.

Yakubu’s research interests includes understanding and improving governance at the intersection of health and social systems, improving the health of multi-cultural communities, conducting and evaluating complex interventions aimed at promoting health equity. 

Yakubu is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians as well as the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College in Family Medicine. In addition to his clinical training, he earned an MPhil (Family Medicine) from Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, and an MBA (Health Units Management) from the Cyprus Institute of Marketing. While in Nigeria, his research and professional efforts were focused on understanding and improving the learning experiences of undergraduate and graduate trainees in family medicine, as well as identifying family-centred approaches to improving health service delivery. 

He completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine and Health in Sydney and his PhD Thesis investigated global and domestic governance systems for skilled health worker migration, the extent to which they feature human rights norms, and the opportunities for achieving equitable global health workforce distribution. 

Kerry actively manages all peer-reviewed funding processes and procedure for TGI Australia by providing and coordinating pre-award support to all academics and researchers.

She oversees post-award management of successful research grant applications.

Kylie is Chief of Staff at The George Institute for Global Health. She has 30 years’ experience in senior government, diplomatic and consulting positions. Kylie’s areas of expertise include international business strategy and growth, partnerships and stakeholder management, and business transformation. 

Before joining The George Institute, Kylie was a Deputy Secretary in the NSW State Government, responsible for its trade and investment portfolio, including its international network of trade offices. She was a Director at global advisory firm EY, and earlier worked for the Australian Federal Government for more than 15 years in senior diplomatic roles working in India, Southeast Asia and Europe. 

Kylie holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Sydney and has undertaken various post graduate leadership programmes, including at the Australian Graduate School of Management.