Governance
In 1984, the New South Wales Parliament passed the Garvan Institute of Medical Research Act that incorporated Garvan as an autonomous, non-profit research institute. Garvan's affairs are overseen by two Boards of Directors: the Garvan Institute and the Garvan Research Foundation Boards
The Garvan Institute Board is empowered to determine policy and control the affairs of the Institute as laid down in the NSW Parliament Garvan Institute of Medical Research Act 1984. The Board approves and supervises the delegation of authority to committees. Garvan’s Board meets quarterly and comprises 15 members, nominated by Garvan's various stakeholders and appointed by the Governor of New South Wales and the Executive Director of the Institute, who is also appointed by the Board.
The Garvan Research Foundation Board was established in 1981 to assist and support the newly-formed Garvan Research Foundation. The Foundation provides the Institute with an additional source of research funds by attracting financial support from companies and individuals. Over the years, the Foundation has evolved to become Garvan's marketing and fundraising arm. The Garvan Research Foundation Board is subject to the ultimate direction of the Garvan Institute Board.
Mr Bill Ferris is Executive Chairman of the CHAMP
Private Equity Group, one of Australia’s leading private capital
groups, providing venture capital, expansion capital, and management
buyout funding in Australasia. Mr Ferris is Chair of the Garvan
Institute of Medical Research and Chair of the Health and Hospitals
Fund Advisory Board as part of the Federal Government’s Nation-Building
Funds initiative. Former directorships include: Chairman, Australian
Trade Commission (Austrade), Austar United Communications Limited, and
Bradken Resources Pty Ltd. Mr Ferris is also a Director of the Garvan
Research Foundation. Mr Ferris was made an Officer in the Order of
Australia in 1990 for services to the export industry and in 2008 was
made Companion in the Order of Australia for his philanthropic
activities and his role in the establishment of the private equity
sector in Australia.
Mr Nicholas Curtis has a background in investment
banking and the resources industry. He is Executive Chairman of Lynas
Corporation Limited, an Australian public company specialising in Rare
Earths. Mr Curtis served as Chairman of the Board of St Vincents &
Mater Health Sydney from August 2004 to October 2009 and is a Director
of St Vincent’s Health Australia Ltd and St Vincent’s Healthcare
Ltd.
Mr Geoff Dixon held the position of Managing
Director and Chief Executive of Qantas Airways Limited from 2000-2008.
After joining Qantas in 1994 he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in
1998 and then the Board of Directors in 2000.
Ms Anne Keating is a company director and holds
board positions in a range of industries including advertising,
banking, and property. She is on the boards of the Goodman Group
Limited, Ardent Leisure Group Limited and STW Communications Group
Limited. Ms Keating is also a member of the Advisory Council of RBS
Group (Australia), Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and
Trustee of the Centennial Parklands and Moore Park Trust. Her former
Boards include Insurance Australia Group Limited, NRMA Limited, the
WorkCover Authority of NSW, the Tourism Task Force and an Inaugural
Director at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. Ms Keating was
the General Manager, Australia for United Airlines from
1993-2001.
Dr Lisa McIntyre is a partner with the strategy
consulting firm LEK Consulting and head of LEK’s Asia Pacific Life
Sciences and Health Care practice. She has over 18 years consulting
experience for the biotechnology and healthcare sector and has worked
with over 100 different biotechnology and life sciences and healthcare
clients. Dr McIntyre relocated to Sydney in 2002 after nine years in
the United States co-heading LEK’s Life Sciences practice where she
advised many of the world’s leading biotechnology and speciality
pharmaceutical companies.
Mr Greg Paramor is a founding partner of Equity
Real Estate Partners. Greg has been involved in the real estate and
funds management industry for more than 35 years, and was the
co-founder of Growth Equities Mutual, Paladin Australia and the James
Fielding Group. Greg was the CEO of Mirvac between 2004 and 2008. Greg
is a past president of the Property Council of Australia and past
president of Investment Funds Association, a Fellow of the Australian
Property Institute and The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Greg
is a director of a number of not-for-profit organisations and is also a
board member of the Sydney Swans and LJ Hooker.
Steven Rubic was appointed CEO of St Vincents &
Mater Health Sydney in April 2008. Prior to this he was Executive
Director of St Vincent’s Private Hospital a position he held since
1997. He is currently a Board Member of SV&MHS, the Health Industry
(Superannuation) Plan, the Garvan Research Foundation, a member of
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality Health Care (Private
Hospital Sector Committee) and is a past Chairman of the NSW Private
Hospitals Association. He has completed an MBA and is a fellow of the
Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr Warren Scott is the General Counsel of the
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and a former director and
the General Counsel of Citigroup in Australia. He was formerly the
Chairman of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, as well as a
delegate to the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. He is member
of the Law Society of New South Wales, the American Bar Association,
the New York Bar Association and the California Bar Association. Warren
is admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales and as a lawyer in New
York and California.
Ms Jillian Segal is a Director of the National
Australia Bank and the Australian Securities Exchange Limited. She is
also Deputy Chancellor of the University of NSW and involved with a
number of other community not-for-profit organisations, including the
General Sir John Monash Foundation. Jillian has had a career in law,
regulation, governance and policy development. Formally she was
President of the Administrative Review Council and Chairman of the
Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman Board. From 1997-2002, Jillian
was a Commissioner of the Australian Securities and Investments
Commission (ASIC), being Deputy Chair from 2000-2002. Prior to joining
ASIC, Jillian was a corporate lawyer specialising in corporate and
environmental law, having been a partner at Allen Allen &
Hemsley.
Professor John Shine is Executive Director of the
Garvan Institute of Medical Research and a board member of the Garvan
Research Foundation. He is Professor of Molecular Biology and Professor
of Medicine at the University of NSW, and a director of many
scientific, research and medical bodies throughout Australia, including
the recent ex-Chairman of the National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) and until 2006 a member of the Prime Minister's
Science, Engineering & Innovation Council (PMSEIC).
Professor Peter Smith is Dean, Faculty of Medicine,
University of New South Wales. He specialised in cancer medicine and
research following study in Australia, USA and Germany. He has held
senior hospital management posts in Brisbane and Melbourne, and senior
academic appointments at the Universities of Queensland, Melbourne and
Auckland. He has served in a consulting role to Government, including
as Chair of the recent Inquiry into Vietnam Veterans Cancer Incidence
and Mortality. Professor Smith is currently a Director of St Vincents
& Mater Health Sydney, NewSouth Innovations, and a number of other
research centres and institutes.
Associate Professor Bernadette Tobin is
Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at St Vincent's Hospital,
Sydney, and Reader in Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University.
Dr Tobin is Honorary Ethicist at the Children's Hospital at Westmead,
Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the
University of Sydney, and Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of
Medicine at the University of New South Wales. She served for three
triennia on the Australian Health Ethics Committee, a principal
committee of the NHMRC. She also chaired the drafting group, which
prepared the first Code of Ethics for Catholic Health and Aged Care
Services in Australia.
Jane Allen is the Managing Partner of Egon Zehnder
International's Sydney office, and co-leader of their Australian
Practice, where she focuses on CEO and Board appointments in Australia.
EZI is the world's largest privately held search firm with more than
380 consultants located in 63 wholly owned offices in 38 countries. The
firm specialises in senior level executive search, board consulting and
director search, management appraisals, and talent management. Jane has
been at Egon Zehnder International for 10 years. In addition to her
local role she also holds a global strategy leadership role in one of
the firm's core client practices, after leading the practice group in
Asia Pacific for three years. Prior to joining Egon Zehnder
International Jane worked at Procter & Gamble in sales and then
marketing in both the US and Australia. Jane has an MBA from Harvard
Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College. Ms Allen
joined the Foundation Board in 2007.
Melinda Conrad is former Managing Director and
Founder of the retail store chain, Conrads Warehouse. Prior to her
establishment of Conrads, she held management roles at Harvard Business
School and Colgate-Palmolive. Ms Conrad is also a director of the
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Ms Conrad joined the Foundation
Board in September 2003.
Gabriel Farago is a company director and
consultant advising corporations on litigation management. Prior to
establishing his consultancy, he practised as a solicitor and barrister
for over 30 years, specialising in commercial disputes both in
Australia and overseas. Mr Farago has extensive business interests, and
has been involved in property development for more than 20 years. A
passion for philanthropic and charitable causes also reaches back many
years, and in 1984 he was made a member of the Knightly Order of Vitez.
Mr Farago joined the Foundation Board in 2008.
Lyn Gearing was appointed to the Garvan Foundation
board in 2005 as a representative of the Sisters of Charity. Ms Gearing
was a Director of Stockland Corporation Limited up until December 2008
and is currently a Director of Queensland Investment Corporation
Limited, Hancock Natural Resource Group Australasia Pty Limited, IMB
Limited and two other not for profit organisations. Ms Gearing was the
CEO of the NSW State Superannuation schemes from 1997 to 2002, and has
substantial experience in superannuation, funds management, corporate
finance and management consulting.
Loftus Harris is a non-executive director on
boards in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, a national director of the
Australian Institute of Export, and holds the appointment of Special
Trade Representative to the Middle East and India for the Queensland
government. He previously held chief executive positions in the
NSW and Queensland public sectors with responsibility for
whole-of-government activities including international trade,
investment, innovation, business and regional development. He
also served extensively overseas as an Australian Trade
Commissioner.
Byram Johnston OAM is the Chief Executive
Officer of MainstreamBPO, a company providing back office processing
and administration services to fund managers and superannuation funds.
Prior to establishing this business he spent over 30 years as a
management consultant. He serves on the board of a number of
companies. He joined the Foundation Board in 1997.
Mr Landerer is a Solicitor specialising in
corporate advisory work and is also a professional company
director. He is currently Chairman of Goldsearch Limited and
other private companies. He has served as Chairman of the Home Purchase
Assistance Authority and is on the Board of Life Education Australia
and the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children as well as on the
Boards of various charitable institutions. Mr Landerer was appointed a
Visiting Professor at Macquarie University in Business and Commercial
Law and holds an honorary doctorate from that University. He is also a
Fellow of Sydney University. Mr Landerer is a Member of the Order of
Australia and a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire. He is also a Commander in the Order of the Star of Italian
Solidarity. He joined the Board in 2007.
Sister Paulina has a broad
background in health policy formation, having been a member of the
Hospitals and Health Services Commission (Sax Commission) and Assistant
Director General, Nursing Branch, Federal Department of Health. Sister
Paulina resigned from the Garvan Institute Board in February 2000 and
has been a member of the Foundation Board since 1994. 
Brad Rees is involved in a number of charitable, arts
and educational interests. Until 2007, he was a Managing Director and
equity partner of the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs JBWere.
Brad was with the firm for 23 years and worked in the Melbourne, Sydney
and London offices providing financial and investment banking advice to
corporations and governments in Australia and overseas. He joined the
Foundation board in 2008.
Karim Temsamani manages Google's domestic
business and strategic partnerships in Australia and New Zealand. Karim
joined Google from Fairfax Media, where he was most recently Group
Director, Fairfax General Magazines (responsible for growing the
profile and advertising revenue of Fairfax's suite of inserted
magazines) and Commercial Director for Newspapers (responsible for
agency and group sales, trade marketing and business development).
Prior to this he was the publisher and Vice President of Who Weekly at
Time Inc South Pacific from 1999 to 2002. He has previously served in a
variety of senior capacities with Hachette, including the positions of
regional business publisher in Hong Kong (1995-96), associate publisher
for Korea in Seoul (1996-97), and Managing Director for Hachette in
Sydney (1997-99).