AUSiMED Patrons
Meet some of AUSiMED’s most prominent patrons and discover why they support our work.
The Honourable Steve Bracks AC
Steve Bracks is one of Victoria’s longest and most successful premiers, serving from October 1999 until July 2007. During that time he served as Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.
Since leaving Parliament, Steve Bracks holds six honorary positions and works with organisations including CBus, Jardine Lloyd Thomson Australia, NAB, KPMG and the Australia Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA).
In addition, Steve is an Automotive Envoy for the Australian Government. He has received honorary doctorates from both Ballarat and Deakin Universities and is a leading advocate for multiculturalism and Aboriginal reconciliation.
Professor Suzanne Cory AC
Professor Suzanne Cory is one of Australia’s most distinguished molecular biologists. She is President of the Australian Academy of Science and the former Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, as well as a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow of The University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
She gained her PhD from the University of Cambridge, England and then continued her studies at the University of Geneva, before returning to Melbourne in 1971.
Professor Cory’s research has had a major impact in the fields of immunology and cancer. Her scientific achievements have attracted numerous honours and awards.
Professor David de Kretser AC
Professor David de Kretser was the 28th Governor of Victoria from 2006 until 2011. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Professor de Kretser has been extensively involved with research in reproductive biology, infertility and endocrinology and is highly regarded in the field of male fertility, both in Australia and overseas.
His contributions to medical research have been published in hundreds of national and international journals and learned texts. He was the founding director of the Monash Institute of Medical Research and Andrology Australia and has received a number of honorary titles and awards.
Professor Richard Graeme Larkins AO
Professor Richard Larkins is an Emeritus Professor at Monash University where he was previously Vice-Chancellor and University President from September 2003 to July 2009. He has an extensive list of academic and clinical appointments that he has held at Australia’s leading universities and hospitals.
Richard has also acted as a Chair and President for a variety of medical colleges and councils, including the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. His clinical and research interests are in diabetes, endocrinology and general medicine and he has been awarded numerous honorary fellowships and prizes.
Today he is involved with medical institutions and schools in a number of capacities, including Chair of the Board of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, President of the National Stroke Foundation, President of Australian University Sport and Chair of the Council of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Australia).
Mr James Larsen
James Larsen is Chief Legal Officer at Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and formerly Ambassador to Turkey.
Prior to this he was previously Australian Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues.and Australian Ambassador to Israel from 2006-2010. As a career officer with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade he held a number of overseas postings positions, including in Brussels and Bangkok.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.
Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef
Professor Mor-Yosef was appointed in 2017 as Director General of the Population and Immigration Authority in Israel.
Prior to this, he was the Director-General of the Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute) – Israel’s universal social security network that guarantees the obligation of the State to provide subsistence, welfare and a defense against want and hunger to all its residents.
Previously over a period of more than 30 years at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Prof Mor-Yosef served in a number of capacities including senior physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and for the past 11 years as Director General of the Hospital. He is also Chairman of HadasIT, the publicly listed commercialisation and technology transfer company of Hadassah, and Chairman of the Board of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research.
Prof Mor-Yosef has authored more than 100 scientific publications and has served on the faculty and boards of a number of universities and institutions.
Professor Les White AM
Les was appointed as the inaugural New South Wales Chief Paediatrician from September 2010 until June 2016. He was Executive Director of Sydney Children’s Hospital (1995 – 2010), President of Children’s Hospitals and Paediatric Units Australasia (1999-2004), Convenor of the Greater Eastern and Southern NSW Child Health Network (2001– 2010) and the John Beveridge Professor of Paediatrics (2005-2010).
He was awarded a Doctorate of Science in 1991 for contributions to the international scientific literature pertaining to childhood cancer and also completed his Master of Health Administration in 1995. He has served on numerous state and national boards/committees related to children’s health and community support.
In 2007 he received an Order of Australia award for service to medicine in the field of paediatrics, to medical administration, and to the community through a range of organisations.
Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM
Elizabeth is a one-time biochemist who took up science journalism. She received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Melbourne and spent five years at the University of California, San Francisco, studying the genes that transform a mushy egg into a shapely embryo.
She is one of the founders of Cosmos Magazine and served as Editor in Chief of Cosmos for five years. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from the US journal, Science to The Age as well as on ABC radio’s Science Show. She is the author of Stem Cells: Controversy on the Frontiers of Science, which won a Queensland Premier’s Literary Award in 2005; and of The Genome Generation published in 2012.
AUSiMED people
Meet our board and staff.
Medical Science
Review Board
The MSRB’s decisions consider a range of criteria.