Our skilled volunteer board oversees our strategic direction.
Everything about the Timor-Leste Hearts Fund inspires me. The vision and insight of the founders Noel and Ingrid; the enormous dedication and skill of our clinical team; the generosity of our volunteers; and the passion the board brings to the Fund’s work – all in support of a clear and urgent need in Australia’s closest neighbour, Timor-Leste.
I have spent most of my career in higher education and research, working with Universities and charities to bring specialist expertise to bear on the needs of vulnerable communities where the need is greatest. My current work centres around the establishment of a new cancer immunogenomics institute at the University of Adelaide. And I am also Chair of a community public arts NGO based in New York called Artolution Inc, working in refugee camps and conflict zones around the world.
My role as board chair of the Timor-Leste Hearts Fund is to take the reins from our founding former chair Ingrid, and do everything I can to build on her vision and leadership. She and other board colleagues have set a powerful and inspiring example over the first ten years, and led the creation of a firm foundation for the Timor-Leste Hearts Fund with great skill and energy. I’m going to do everything I can to carry that legacy forward.
Beyond my working life I’m an endurance sport tragic, and an enthusiastic if uncompetitive participant at marathon and ironman triathlon events.
My association with Timor-Leste Hearts Fund began in 2016, as an interventional cardiologist performing procedures for patients in Melbourne. Having witnessed first-hand the impact this organisation could make, I was motivated to increase my involvement.
I now travel to Timor-Leste annually as part of the clinical team. I am also a member of board clinical governance committee, and I joined the board in 2019.
My spare time currently is largely devoted to my kids (I have children including a baby!) as well as research (I am undertaking a PhD). Otherwise, I enjoy golf and snow skiing.
I was inspired to offer my services to Timor-Leste Hearts Fund because of my passion for the country and people of Timor-Leste, and because of the opportunity to help improve the health outcomes of the people of Timor-Leste.
After many years’ experience in senior corporate positions within telecommunications and infrastructure sectors and service on several Boards, I hope to bring a broad range of skills and experience, particularly in the areas of finance, governance and strategic planning to help strengthen Timor-Leste Hearts Fund’s ability to reach more Timorese and reduce the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease.
I live in country Victoria and enjoy hiking and mountain biking. I have completed in several Tour de Timor mountain bike races and the Trans-Timor Trek for Timor-Leste Hearts Fund
I have had a long association with Timor-Leste, since living there between 2001- 2003. After returning to Australia I have travelled to Timor-Leste annually, for personal and professional reasons. I am passionate about building the capacity of the health system in Timor-Leste, and contributing to better wellbeing outcomes for Timorese people.
Through work on the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in Indigenous communities, I realised how debilitating heart disease can be, especially in resource poor or remote environments. When an opportunity to join the board came up, I thought it would be a good way to support Timorese people in a very constructive and tangible way.
I joined the board in May 2017 and became the chair of the development committee, where I used my professional experience in business development to support the organisation in achieving its fundraising goals.
I am a Noongar woman from Mount Barker, Western Australia. I am Professor and Dean of Curtin Medical School until the end of 2021. In the new year, I will be Rowden White Professor of Health Equity at the University of Melbourne. My training is in public health and epidemiology with special focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and more broadly health equity. I wanted to join Timor-Leste Hearts Fund to make a positive contribution to the health of one of Australia’s closest neighbours.
Indigenous Australians and Timorese share unacceptably high rates of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in their communities. My aim is to help ETHF grow and develop capability to effectively reduce RHD and work in partnership with the Timorese people to improve treatment of heart disease.
When I can get away from work, I love escaping out of the city and taking our van out camping. I also love relaxing with a good book or movie too!
I joined the Timor-Leste Hearts Fund Board in December 2019.
I am an internationally-recognised Interventional Cardiologist with the Northern and St Vincent’s Hospitals in Victoria and Professor of Medicine with the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences, the University of Melbourne.
After graduating from the University of Melbourne, I completed cardiology training at Austin Health followed by a Master of Public Health with Monash University. In 2006, I secured a fellowship and scholarship at the prestigious Royal Brompton Hospital, London and then completed my PhD at the Thoraxcentre, Erasmus University the Netherlands, on the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in cardiology. OCT harnesses the properties of infrared light to look inside blood vessels in ultra-high resolution. I have since overseen OCT’s uptake across the region with over sixty centres in Australia and New Zealand benefiting.
I am internationally renowned for my interventional and imaging academic output, and early development programs for novel therapies in cardiovascular disease.
And I have maintained connections all over the globe, and continue to attract industry support for my research. I run an active research group in biomedical engineering focused on coronary imaging and computational modeling with an interest in the development of innovative cardiovascular technologies.
I am one of the many Australians who believes that we have an obligation to generously support the nation of Timor-Leste, and directly assist in building its capacity. Also, like many others, I have developed a deep affection and respect for the Timorese people. I have been a regular donor to Timor-Leste Hearts Fund and admired its work and would now like to make a further contribution.
My personal connection to East Timor goes back to 2000 when I worked with the UN Transitionalo Administration (UNTAET) heading the Land and Property department. Since then, I have been back to Timor-Leste a number of times – as an election observer (most recently in 2023), and as a contributor to the regular conferences staged jointly by Victoria University (VU) and the UNTL. I was a member of the inaugural Balibo House Trust Board and have visited Balibo several times. I am an Adjunct Professor with VU and in that capacity was the Patron of VU’s Timor-Leste’s Law Program in 2018. Through various colleagues and events, I stayed in touch with the Timorese diaspora in Melbourne.
My professional background is in law. Since retiring from full time legal work I have been engaged in the work of several organisations: The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project, the Nepean Conservation Group, and the Port Phillip EcoCentre, and served on various boards/management committees over the years.
My interest in medicine is honed by having two children in that field: our son is a consultant paediatrician, and our daughter a mental health nurse.
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