The Turnbull Government has appointed an expert advisory committee for the landmark Genomics Health Futures Mission led by of Professor Ian Frazer AC.
The $500 million Australian Genomics Health Futures Mission is the centrepiece of the Government’s $1.3 billion National Health and Medical Industry Growth Plan announced in the 2018-19 Budget.
The 13–member Genomics Health Futures Mission Steering Committee appointed today brings together experts including eminent researchers and clinicians, legal, ethical, consumer and community, and data experts.
The Steering Committee will develop an operational plan for the Genomics Health Futures Mission.
I thank each of the 13 members of the Genomics Health Futures Mission Expert Advisory Committee for coming on board, under the leadership of Professor Ian Frazer AC.
Australia’s health and medical research sector is first class and the Genomics Health Future Mission will deliver better outcomes for patients.
Genomics is the foundation of precision medicine which means faster diagnosis and targeted treatment to improve health outcomes.
Funded through the Medical Research Future Fund, the Genomics Health Futures Mission will help Australians to live longer and better through genomics technology, which will enable practitioners to tailor treatment for each patient, monitor and manage risk, and potentially cure a wide range of diseases.
The Mission will help save or transform the lives of more than 200,000 Australians through research into better testing, diagnosis and treatment.
The first genomics project will be Mackenzie’s Mission, with $20 million being provided for a pre-conception screening trial for rare and debilitating birth disorders including Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Fragile X and Cystic Fibrosis.
Professor Ian Frazer AC
CHAIR
- Chair, Australian Medical Research Advisory Board
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland
- Chair, Translational Research Institute Foundation Board
- President, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science
- Member of the Commonwealth Science Council.
Professor Brendan Murphy
CO-DEPUTY CHAIR
- Chief Medical Officer
- Australian Member on the International Agency for Research on Cancer Governing Committee and
- Represents Australia at the World Health Assembly.
Professor Kathryn North AM
CO-DEPUTY CHAIR
- Lead, Australian Genomics Health Alliance
- Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Chair of NHMRC’s Research Committee
- Vice Chair of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and Co-Chair of its Clinical Working Group.
Professor Warwick Anderson
- Professor of History and previous (2012-17) ARC Laureate Fellow in the Department of History and the Center for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney.
Associate Professor Christopher Barnett
- Head, Paediatric and Reproductive Genetics Unit, SA Pathology
- Former President, South Australian branch of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ).
Professor Christopher Goodnow
- Soon to be appointed Executive Director, Garvan Institute of Medical Research
- Former President, Australasian Society for Immunology.
Professor Emma Kowal
- Professor of Anthropology at Deakin University
- Previous Deputy Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics at the Australian National University.
Ms Sue MacLeman
- Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MTPConnect.
Ms Anne McKenzie AM
- Head of the WA Consumer and Community Health Research Network
- Consumer representative for Consumers Health Forum of Australia.
Professor Keith McNeil
- Chief Clinical Information Officer, Queensland Health
- Was involved in the 100,000 Genomes Project in the UK prior to relocating to Australia
- Former CEO at Cambridge University Hospitals, which led genomics for rare diseases.
Professor Dianne Nicol
- Director of the Centre for Law and Genetics, University of Tasmania
- Member, National Health and Medical Research Council Embryo Research Licensing Committee
- Member, National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Health Ethics Committee
- Member, Safe Harbor Task Team of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health Regulatory and Ethics Working Group.
Mr Adrian Turner
- CEO, Data61,
- Co-chair, Australia Cyber Security Growth Network (ACSGN) Member, Board of Directors for the Australian eHealth Research Centre (AeHRC).
Professor Robyn Ward AM
- Chair of Medical Services Advisory Committee
- Lead researcher – economics stream, Australian Genomics Health Alliance
- Co-Chair, Global Genomics Medicine Collaborative
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Vice President (Research), University of Queensland.