Ms Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO, a prominent Australian businesswoman and philanthropist, is the inaugural Chair of the Kirby Institute’s newly established External Advisory Committee. Officially launched this month, the committee has been established as part of the Kirby Institute’s 2030 Strategic Plan and will help facilitate better connections between the Institute and external stakeholders in government, industry and philanthropy.
The Kirby Institute’s Director, Professor Anthony Kelleher, said: “This committee is essential to improve the ways the Institute’s research can be translated into policy and practice, and be better supported by the partnerships needed to achieve our purpose.
“Lucy Hughes Turnbull brings an exceptional track record in government, philanthropy and business leadership, and I was deeply honoured when she accepted my invitation to work with us by leading this committee.”
Other committee members include:
- The Hon. Linda Burney, a proud Wiradjuri woman who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to advancing the inclusion of First Nations peoples within Australia’s public institutions, and a highly respected leader, having been the first First Nations woman elected to the NSW Parliament, the Australian House of Representatives and appointed Minister for Indigenous Australians.
- Adjunct Professor Darryl O’Donnell, former CEO of Health Equity Matters and a health leader with over 30 years’ experience in community, government, research and private sector roles.
- The Hon. Jillian Skinner AM, former NSW Health Minister. She was also the first stand-alone Minister for Medical Research in NSW. In those roles Jillian created a more unified health sector by focusing on local decision making, boosting the clinical workforce, investing in infrastructure, and providing record recurrent spending to deliver tens of thousands additional emergency department treatments, hospital admissions and elective surgeries. She championed a range of novel public health interventions that transformed prevention of HIV in NSW.
- Professor Dane McCamey, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UNSW Sydney, who advances the University’s research strategy and champions initiatives that drive excellence and innovation.
- Professor Cheryl Jones, Dean UNSW Faculty of Medicine and Health, a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician and an internationally recognised clinician scientist.
Lucy Hughes Turnbull said she was looking forward to working with the committee to elevate the Kirby Institute’s vision and 2030 Strategy. “The challenges of infectious diseases demand collaboration, urgency and accountability. I’m excited to work with an outstanding group of researchers to provide independent advice, broaden the Kirby Institute’s external engagement, and help advance its vision of a world free from the harms of infectious disease.”