Governance

Recipient of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2023, Professor Michelle Leech is Head of the Medical Course Monash University and Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Michelle is the Head of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinic at Monash Health. Michelle has been the chair of the Clinical Examination Committee of the RACP National Exam Panel of the College of Physicians. She is the President of MDANZ and a Board member of the PMCV.

She received her MBBS (Hons) from Monash University, and after residency training in Internal Medicine at Prince Henry’s Hospital, Melbourne, completed her advanced physician training at Monash Health. She undertook a PhD at the Monash University Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, which examined the role of the cytokine MIF in the neuroendocrine regulation of inflammation. Her research interests include cytokine biology, glucocorticoid action and cell cycle proteins in the context of rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis.

Michelle has held many teaching roles in Medicine at Monash Health including Director of Physician Training as well as teaching roles at Monash University. She has received a number of teaching awards including the Australian Medical Students Association National Teaching award in 2014. She was the recipient of Health Workforce Australia funding to develop Health Science Interprofessional Learning (IPL) opportunities across disciplines at Monash University and Monash Health.

Professor Kirsty Forrest is the Dean of Medicine at Bond University, a medical education leader, teacher, researcher and clinician whose career has spanned the United Kingdom and Australia.

Kirsty is frequently invited as a facilitator and speaker on education and leadership at national and international forums.

She has been involved in medical education research for over 15 years, and her research has been translated through co-authoring and editing several best-selling medical textbooks including ‘Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice’ and ‘Healthcare Simulation at a Glance’.

Kirsty’s passion for medical education extends beyond the undergraduate forum into the graduate forum through her roles as member of the Education, Development and Evaluation Committee and a lead facilitator for the educator program of Australian and

New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). She works clinically as a Consultant Anaesthetist at Gold Coast University Hospital and is a Fellow of the ANZCA. Kirsty’s clinical research areas include medical leadership education and patient safety.

Kirsty’s other leadership roles include Executive Member and Treasurer of the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand and Chair of the Medical Education Collaborative committee.

Professor Gary D. Rogers is a health professions educational leader, learning and teaching scholar, public health researcher and medical doctor with a focus on HIV medicine. He is Professor of Medical Education and Dean of the School of Medicine at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia.  Gary is a former President of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) and was a member of the Executive Committee of AMEE, the international association for health professional education, from 2013 to 2019.  Gary’s educational research focuses on the affective learning associated with the acquisition of professional and interprofessional values among health professional students, as well as widening access to health professional education as a health workforce strategy.

Zsuzsoka moved to Sydney in 1994 and completed her training in Neonatology in Brisbane, where she also completed a PhD at the University of Queensland.

She worked as a Neonatologist in Canberra from 2001 to 2022 and has been the Director of the Department from 2007 to 2015.

She was recognised by the Australia Day Council who awarded her as the ACT Australian of the Year 2014 for her work with families to design a safe, family-centred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the implementation of the NICUcam, a web-based design for parents and families to view their baby when they are not able to visit.

From March 2020 Zsuzsoka was the Dean of the ANU Medical School, a time when the COVID pandemic greatly affected world health and higher education.

She became Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong in August 2022.

Professor Ruth Kearon is the Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Tasmania and serves as Deputy Co-Chair of the National Medical Workforce Advisory Collaboration. She graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1997 and has since held diverse roles across the health sector, including general practice, health workforce planning, service design and delivery, and specialist medical leadership.

Prior to her current appointment, Ruth was Acting Chief Medical Officer and Director of Health Workforce Planning at the Tasmanian Department of Health. Her previous roles include serving as an advisor to federal and state health ministers, a specialist advisor for Health Workforce Australia, and a project director within the Tasmanian Health Service. She has worked extensively with the health workforce regulatory system, including the Australian Medical Council and AHPRA, and has contributed to the development of both national and state health workforce plans.

Ruth is a passionate advocate for primary care and currently holds the position of Deputy Chair at Primary Health Tasmania.

Professor Michelle Guppy is the Head of the School of Rural Medicine, University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales. The School of Rural Medicine delivers the undergraduate Joint Medical Program in partnership with the University of Newcastle. Prof Guppy teaches rurally based students about the issues surrounding health equity for rural Australians, and how general practice provides health care in the regional and rural Australian context. Prof Guppy has been practicing as rural GP since 2003. Her research interests include models of care for chronic disease management, particularly with respect to chronic kidney disease and diabetes, and the challenges for patients and their GPs of managing these long- term conditions. She has also been involved in research into innovative uses of technology for managing patients in rural areas, and delivering medical education into rural areas, using electronic methods of delivery.

Prof Guppy is an associate editor for the Cochrane Collaboration Acute Respiratory Infections group and for the Australian Journal of Rural Health. She has also been involved in postgraduate General Practice education through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Prof Guppy is the Chair of the New England GP Research Network- a rural GP research network in the New England region of NSW founded with funding assistance from NSW regional health partners. The research network seeks to find local solutions to rural health problems.

Suzanne is the Dean, University of Otago Medical School.  She is a registered educational psychologist and has been involved in Māori health research  and health professional education for over 20 years. Suzanne is focussed on addressing Māori health inequities through medical education, health research and through previous membership on appropriate committees and boards, including the Health Research Council of New Zealand Board and was a Director on the Australia Medical Council Ltd. Suzanne has received a number of awards for her teaching including the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for tertiary teaching excellence and the Indigenous Leadership Award from the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) community of practice. Suzanne was awarded the Joan Metge Medal for her research within the field of Indigenous medical education.

Suzanne is the Dean, University of Otago Medical School.  She is a registered educational psychologist and has been involved in Māori health research  and health professional education for over 20 years. Suzanne is focussed on addressing Māori health inequities through medical education, health research and through previous membership on appropriate committees and boards, including the Health Research Council of New Zealand Board and was a Director on the Australia Medical Council Ltd. Suzanne has received a number of awards for her teaching including the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for tertiary teaching excellence and the Indigenous Leadership Award from the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) community of practice. Suzanne was awarded the Joan Metge Medal for her research within the field of Indigenous medical education.

Professor Rebecca Anglin is the Dean of the National School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame, including campuses in Sydney, Fremantle and Broome. She is a highly accomplished psychiatrist, academic, leader and award-winning medical educator. She is originally from Canada where she was a clinician investigator at McMaster University with a research interest in gut-brain interactions before relocating permanently to Perth in 2016.

Professor Anglin has a strong record as a clinician scientist and has led national and international translational studies in mental health. Professor Anglin is an experienced clinician with over fifteen years working as a consultant psychiatrist in Canada and Australia. Professor Anglin is passionate about the care and wellbeing of those she works with including her patients, students, and teams.

Anita Hobson-Powell is an accomplished leader with extensive experience across membership organisations and government. Most recently, she served as the Chief Allied Health Officer for the Australian Government, providing strategic leadership and expert advice in the development of health system policy and reform. In this role, she also contributed to the co-development of Australia’s first National Allied Health Workforce Strategy and served as a member of the Medical Workforce Advisory Committee.

Anita was Chief Executive Officer of Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) for 17 years, where she led a significant organisational transformation. During her tenure, she drove cultural and governance reforms that positioned ESSA as a trusted national self-accrediting health professional association.

Anita has also held roles as chair, non-executive director, and company secretary across a range of boards, including the National Alliance of Self-Regulating Health Professions and Allied Health Professions Australia. In these roles, she led governance reviews, modernised constitutions, and strengthened risk management frameworks to support organisational integrity and sustainability.