Kathryn has had the opportunity to contribute in a wide range of leadership positions in public and private companies, government bodies and non-profit organizations. Her current portfolio: Chair – Luminesce Alliance, a consortium of Cancer Research and Treatment centers for Children with Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, University of Sydney and University of NSW. Chair – Pennington Institute, Australia’s pre-eminent harm minimization for Drugs education program. Chair – Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing (MACA), providing advice on issues and concerns of older NSW citizens to the NSW Government. Chair – Lifestart Co-op Ltd, a Disability support service. Director – Paul Ramsay Foundation Board. Director – Relationships Australia (NSW). Kathryn has also participated in or led Inquiries into Education: the Gonski Review and NSW Catholic Funding Review and led the Review into Retirement Villages in NSW. Her corporate board experience has been in media, financial services and services provision. Her professional history has been in Social Work and Early Childhood Services as well as media roles at Radio 2UE and Channel 10. From 1995-2004 Kathryn was an elected Councillor to the Sydney City Council. She is the recipient of an Order of Australia (AO). Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Social Work (UNSW), Certificate in Early Childhood (Macquarie University) and was awarded a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from UNSW.

Maxine is an Aboriginal woman from the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, located on the northern side of Botany Bay. She is a devoted wife and mother to 3 boys and loves spending her spare time with her family and 4 beautiful grandchildren. Maxine has a background in education with many years spent working in the local public schools and in community families who have family members with a disability. She has passed on her passion of Aboriginal arts and crafts to her grandchildren, especially shell-art that she learned from her mother, a craft that has been passed down through generations in her family.

Kim Sutherland leads the Office for Health and Medical Research. Prior to her appointment to OHMR, she held Director roles at the Agency for Clinical Innovation and the Bureau of Health Information. Kim is a health services researcher with experience in performance measurement and reporting, evaluation and assessment of quality, and change management in healthcare organisations. She played a central role in the development of performance measurement frameworks in NSW and the UK and co-authored a series of reports on the English NHS quality agenda. Kim holds a Master of Science from London Hospital Medical College, a Master of Business Administration from Imperial College London and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. In 2022, Kim received the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to NSW Health.

Emma Maly, BSN Nursing. Emma is the proud full-time mother and carer of eight-year-old Grace and her two older brothers. Emma is helping Grace to reach her fullest potential while she navigates life with ADCY5-Related Movement Disorder. Emma is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ADCY5.org foundation and is passionate about raising awareness of the importance of research for improved health outcomes for those living with rare diseases. Emma started her professional career as an acute care nurse and then moved to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, working as a Field Education Specialist in psychiatry for Lundbeck Australia, a Specialist Sales Representative in oncology for Mayne Pharmaceuticals, and an Oncology and Field Education and Product Specialist for Amgen Australia. Until recently, she provided preoperative and postoperative care for an Orthopaedic Specialist

Associate Professor Wendy Gold is head of the Molecular Neurobiology Research group at Kids Research, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the University of Sydney. Her training includes an honors degree in Genetics and a PhD in Genetics and Immunology. Wendy conducts a research program of interdisciplinary translational research where she has contributed to the understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of many neurodevelopmental disorders as well as examining potential novel therapies. By utilising advanced techniques such as transgenic mouse models, brain organoids, and bioinformatics, her team is at the forefront of understanding and addressing these complex conditions. Her work aims to translate these innovative approaches into finding biomarkers and developing effective therapies such as gene therapies, offering hope for those affected by these challenging disorders.