- Prof Peter O'Leary (Chair)
Prof Peter O'Leary is the Director
of the Office of Population Health Genomics, within the Division of Health Policy and Clinical Reform at the Department of Health,
Western Australia. Prof O'Leary trained as a clinical biochemist and has special interests in population health genomics, strategic
planning, translation of policy into practical heath improvements, national priority setting and the ethics of genetic testing.
His career has focused on the evaluation of new technologies that contribute to early diagnosis of genetic and endocrine diseases.
Prof O'Leary established the Genetics Council of Western Australia in 2001, a health network that provides policy advice to the
Health Department on genetic testing, familial cancer, ethics of genomics, newborn and prenatal screening and diagnosis. He also
set up the Genetic Support Council of Western Australia, an umbrella group for self-help organizations catering for individuals
and families living with genetic conditions.
Prof O'Leary represents the Western Australian Government on the Australian Health Ministers' Clinical, Technical and Ethical
Principal Committee and the Advisory Group on Human Gene Patents and Genetic Testing where he has been active in developing
national policies on newborn screening for congenital conditions, prenatal screening for fetal anomalies and a national approach
to genetic testing services. He has been involved with the work of local and interstate experts to implement mandatory fortification
of food with folic acid in order to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects. Prof O'Leary contributed to drafting the national
policy for prenatal screening for fetal anomies including Down syndrome for the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Prof O'Leary maintains an active role as Biochemist
through PathWest with the antenatal screening program and the state newborn screening program. His clinical research activities
include pediatric and feto-maternal endocrinology, thyroid disease and health policy evaluation.
- Prof Jon Emery (Chair)
Jon Emery is the Head of School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care and Professor of General Practice at
the University of Western Australia. He is also a Senior Clinical Research Associate at the University of Cambridge
and a GP in Perth and the President of the WA Branch of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia. He has previously
worked as an academic general practitioner at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. His research interests include
the evaluation of health technologies in primary care, including genetic tests and novel procedures for screening and
diagnosis of cancer in general practice.
- Dr Gareth Baynam
Dr Gareth Baynam was educated at the University of Western Australia. He is a Clinical Geneticist at Genetic Services
of Western Australia whose major research interests are the interrelationships between genes associated with atopy
and vaccine responses and immune system evolution.
- Professor Matthew Bellgard
- Professor Alan Bittles
Professor Alan Bittles was educated in Trinity College, University of Dublin and Queen's University, Belfast.
He is Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University and Adjunct Professor of Community
Genetics at Edith Cowan University, having previously been Foundation Professor of Human Biology and Director of the
Centre for Human Genetics at ECU. His major scientific interests are in human population genetics, in particular the
impact of consanguineous marriage on health outcomes, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Professor Bittles has published over 150 research papers and book chapters and been a visiting senior researcher in the
universities of Cambridge, LaTrobe, Michigan, Peking, Stanford, Umeå and Washington, the latter as Walker-Ames Professor
in the School of International Studies. He is Senior Editor of the Annals of Human Genetics, and is on the Editorial
Boards of a number of other journals including Genomic Medicine, and Public Health Genomics. Currently he is co-investigator
on research projects in Australia, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Oman and the UK, and is a chair and member of expert committees
of the US-based Global Burden of Disease Project. In 2007 he was elected to Fellowship of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science for his contributions to Community Genetics.
- Professor Jennie Blackwell
- Ms Leslie Colvin-James
- Professor Jack Goldblatt
- Ms Tanya Grumball
Tanya graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology with an honours year of molecular biology from Murdoch
University in 1994 and began at Western Diagnostic Pathology in the cytogenetics department in 1995. Tanya worked
mainly with constitutional cytogenetics samples and was chief scientist for 2 years. She achieved Part 1 certified
cytogeneticist in 1998. She has been at the cytogenetics department at King Edward Memorial Hospital Subiaco WA since
Dec 2006 specialising in oncology cytogenetics. Tanya is the current WA branch representative for ASoC (Australasian
society of cytogeneticists), a position she has held for the past 3 years.
- Professor Nigel Laing
- Dr Cyril Mamote
-
Dr Beverley McNamara
Beverley McNamara is a medical anthropologist and senior lecturer in the School of Social and Cultural Studies at
The University of Western Australia. With a research background in the socio-cultural and ethical issues related
to end-of-life, her more recent interest in genetic technologies has been prompted by the Western Australian scientific
community's development and use of their biobank resources. She co-chaired her university's Institute of Advanced Studies
Genomics, Society and Human Health program of research and outreach (2000-2002) and has conducted qualitative research
in biobank participant's perceptions and public engagement strategies used in developing biobank projects.
- Mr John O'Reilly
- Professor David Ravine
- Prof James Semmens
- Dr Ron Zimmern
Ron has a distinguished career
in medicine and public health and is the pioneer of public health genomics in the UK. He’s especially interested in the relationship
between clinical services and teaching and research, priority setting in the NHS, and the law and ethics of medicine. He concentrates
on strategic development of the Foundation and on international leadership in public health genomics, and leads the Foundation’s
work on the evaluation and regulation of genetic tests and molecular biomarkers.
- Professor Mohamed Karmali
Mohamed A. Karmali is a professor
in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University and Director-General of two programmes in the Public
Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Biotechnology, Genomics, and Population Health, and the Laboratory for Food borne Zoonoses. He is also
the Executive Director of the Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network. He is the former Head of Microbiology
at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Karmali is recognised internationally for his research on Escherichia coli O157:H7 and
other Verotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC). In the early 1980s his group established the causal link between VTEC and
the hemolytic uremic syndrome, a disease, of hitherto unknown cause, that is the commonest cause of acute renal failure in children.
He continues to be active in research on the pathogenesis and comparative genomics of this group of organisms with an emphasis on
public health applications.
- Prof Jon Emery
Jon Emery is the Head of School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care and Professor of General Practice at
the University of Western Australia. He is also a Senior Clinical Research Associate at the University of Cambridge
and a GP in Perth and the President of the WA Branch of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia. He has previously
worked as an academic general practitioner at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. His research interests include
the evaluation of health technologies in primary care, including genetic tests and novel procedures for screening and
diagnosis of cancer in general practice.
- Prof Peter O'Leary
Prof Peter O'Leary is the Director
of the Office of Population Health Genomics, within the Division of Health Policy and Clinical Reform at the Department of Health,
Western Australia. Prof O'Leary trained as a clinical biochemist and has special interests in population health genomics, strategic
planning, translation of policy into practical heath improvements, national priority setting and the ethics of genetic testing.
His career has focused on the evaluation of new technologies that contribute to early diagnosis of genetic and endocrine diseases.
Prof O'Leary established the Genetics Council of Western Australia in 2001, a health network that provides policy advice to the
Health Department on genetic testing, familial cancer, ethics of genomics, newborn and prenatal screening and diagnosis. He also
set up the Genetic Support Council of Western Australia, an umbrella group for self-help organizations catering for individuals
and families living with genetic conditions.
Prof O'Leary represents the Western Australian Government on the Australian Health Ministers' Clinical, Technical and Ethical
Principal Committee and the Advisory Group on Human Gene Patents and Genetic Testing where he has been active in developing
national policies on newborn screening for congenital conditions, prenatal screening for fetal anomalies and a national approach
to genetic testing services. He has been involved with the work of local and interstate experts to implement mandatory fortification
of food with folic acid in order to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects. Prof O'Leary contributed to drafting the national
policy for prenatal screening for fetal anomies including Down syndrome for the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Prof O'Leary maintains an active role as Biochemist
through PathWest with the antenatal screening program and the state newborn screening program. His clinical research activities
include pediatric and feto-maternal endocrinology, thyroid disease and health policy evaluation.
- Professor Alan Bittles
Professor Alan Bittles was educated in Trinity College, University of Dublin and Queen's University, Belfast.
He is Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University and Adjunct Professor of Community
Genetics at Edith Cowan University, having previously been Foundation Professor of Human Biology and Director of the
Centre for Human Genetics at ECU. His major scientific interests are in human population genetics, in particular the
impact of consanguineous marriage on health outcomes, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Professor Bittles has published over 150 research papers and book chapters and been a visiting senior researcher in the
universities of Cambridge, LaTrobe, Michigan, Peking, Stanford, Umeå and Washington, the latter as Walker-Ames Professor
in the School of International Studies. He is Senior Editor of the Annals of Human Genetics, and is on the Editorial
Boards of a number of other journals including Genomic Medicine, and Public Health Genomics. Currently he is co-investigator
on research projects in Australia, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Oman and the UK, and is a chair and member of expert committees
of the US-based Global Burden of Disease Project. In 2007 he was elected to Fellowship of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science for his contributions to Community Genetics.
- Professor Angela Brand
Angela Brand is
a professor for Social Medicine and Public Health at the University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld, Germany, and holds a
joint appointment at the School of Public Health at the University of Bremen, Germany. She is also Director of the German
Center for Public Health Genomics (www.public-health-genetics.org). Dr. Brand has become involved in many research and
administrative projects including disease registries, newborn screening, perinatal quality assurance programmes and surveillance
of child health. She is an associate partner in the Public Health Genetics project within the German National Genome Research
Network, and in the EU-funded project PHGEN (Public Health Genomics European Network (www.phgen.nrw.de). She is an expert for
the European Commission in biobanks, health technology assessment, pharmacogenomics and public health; for the OECD on genetic
testing and for the German Parliament on genomics and public health. She is also a consultant for the European Agency for
Reconstruction. She is president of the Public Health Genomics section at the European Public Health Association (EUPHA),
and speaker of the Public Health Ethics section at the German Academy of Ethics and Medicine.
- Dr Wylie Burke
Professor Wylie Burke is Professor
and Chair of the Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA Dr Wylie Burke is Professor and
Chair of the Department of Medical History and Ethics. She has adjunct appointments in the departments of medicine and epidemiology.
Dr Burke is a faculty member in the Public Health Genetics Program and in the Medical Genetics Training Program. In 1994 she became
the founding director of Women’s Health Care Center at UW Medical Center- Roosevelt and served in that role until 1999. She has also
previously served as associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Burke’s research is focused on clinical and
public health application of genetic information. Her work addresses the social, ethical and policy implications of genetic information,
including the development of practice standards, public and professional education, genetic screening, and the impact of genetic
counselling on risk perception.
- Dr Muin Khoury
Muin J. Khoury is director of
the Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Office was formed in 1997
to assess the impact of advances in human genetics and the Human Genome Project on public health and disease prevention. CDC's
Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention serves as the national focus for integrating genomics into public health research and
programs for disease prevention and health promotion. He serves on several scientific, public health, and health policy national
and international committees. He is an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Emory's School of Public Health and an Associate in
the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
- Dr Bartha Knoppers
Bartha Maria Knoppers
currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine and Chaire d'excellence Pierre Fermat (France). She is a Professor
at the Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Public Law (C.R.D.P.). She was the former
Chair of the International Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO), (1996-2004), and a member of the International
Bioethics Committee of the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which drafted the Universal
Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (1993-1997). She is also Co-Founder of the International Institute of Research
in Ethics and Biomedicine (IIREB) and a member of the Quebec Network of Applied Genetic Medicine (RMGA). From 1999-2002, she was
a member of the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee as well as the Standing Committee on Ethics of the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research. In the year 2000, she was named to the Board of Genome Canada, to the Executive of the Canadian StemCell Network
and in 2003, and Chair of the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum.
- Dr Stephen Lam
- Professor Theresa Marteau
- Dr Carmencita Padilla
- Dr Victor Penchaszadeh
- Professor Fiona Stanley
- Dr Lap-Chee Tsui
- Prof Julian Little
Julian Little, PhD,
moved to Canada in August 2004 to take up a position as Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine,
University of Ottawa. His PhD, from Aberdeen University, was on problems of ascertainment of congenital anomalies. Subsequently,
he worked for the EUROCAT Central Registry in Brussels (Belgium), as a lecturer in epidemiology in Nottingham University, as an
epidemiologist in the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, and as Professor of Epidemiology at Aberdeen University,
during which he spent a sabbatical year at the Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention, CDC, Atlanta. His research interests lie
in human genome epidemiology, particularly in relation to birth defects and cancer.