Professor David Brieger is an interventional cardiologist and head of the coronary care and coronary interventions at Concord Hospital and Professor of Cardiology, University of Sydney. His particular clinical interests include coronary disease and atrial fibrillation and he practices across the full spectrum of cardiac disease. He maintains an active research interest in new antithrombotic drugs for cardiac conditions, and the promotion of high quality care for patients during and following their hospitalization.

Professor Derek Chew is a clinical and interventional cardiologist as well as a clinical trialist and outcomes researcher in cardiovascular medicine. He has completed a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in quantitative methods.

He is a Senior Principal Research Fellow in Cardiovascular Outcomes Research, and is the Regional Head of Cardiology for the Adelaide Health Service (Southern Region). Derek is the Head of the Flinders Clinical Trial Centre, and Chair of the Statewide Cardiology Clinical Network.

His clinical and research career is centred on the translation of current and future therapies and technologies in cardiology to improved patient outcomes in a clinically effective manner.

Dr Andre Pascal Kengne  earned his MD degree from the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon. He did his residency training in internal medicine at the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital. In 2009, he obtained a PhD in Medicine from the University of Sydney, Australia, the major focus of which was cardiovascular epidemiology and prevention.

Dr Kengne is a Fellow of the International Society of Hypertension, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia, The Julius Center for Health Science and Primary Care (Netherlands); member of the American Society of Hypertension, High blood pressure Council of Australia and many other local/regional societies. He is on the editorial board of the Cardiovascular Journal of Africa and Pan-African Medical Journal, and serves as reviewer for several additional medical journals.

He has authored numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic diseases, and clinical decision making, and has lectured in Cameroon and abroad on these topics. He has been involved in many research projects in Cameroon, Europe and in Australia, including the ADVANCE trial and the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration.

He joins the MRC South Africa after five consecutive years at the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, and a brief collaborative visit of six months at the Julius Centre for Health Science and Primary Care in Utrecht.

Dr Trieu is a leading expert in global food policy and sodium reduction, currently serving as the Co-Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction at The George Institute for Global Health. With a distinguished career in public health, Dr Trieu has advanced nutrition policies and programs aimed at reducing diet-related diseases worldwide, particularly among disadvantaged populations.

Dr Trieu holds a PhD in Medicine from The University of Sydney, Australia and has received several prestigious fellowships, including the NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and the National Heart Foundation of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship.

As Program Lead - Nutrition Implementation Research at The George Institute, Dr Trieu plays a pivotal role in shaping effective food policies and innovative nutrition programs. Her work focuses on the practical application and implementation of evidence-based nutrition approaches. This includes leading a program of work to change the world’s salt supply from regular to potassium-enriched salt as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular diseases.  As well as developing and adapting Food is Medicine programs for disadvantaged communities in Australia. Her expertise extends internationally, providing guidance and support to many low- and middle-income countries in implementing evidence-based strategies for better health outcomes.

In addition to her research, Dr Trieu serves as a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, where she contributes to the academic development of future public health leaders.

Dr Trieu continues to make significant impact on improving global nutrition and reducing the burden of diet-related diseases through strategic policy and research.

John joined The George Institute in March 2014 and has since contributed to a variety of academic and business projects in Australia, in China and with George Clinical.  His current work with the Renal and Metabolic Division includes a prospective national cohort study of Dialysis Outcomes in India, and an epidemiological study of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin in Sri Lanka.

In 2015 John convened the Steering Committee and chaired the Judges Panel for the Affordable Dialysis Prize. From 2017-2022 John played a part in the establishment and leadership of Ellen Medical Devices Pty Ltd, a new Australian company founded to build and test a prototype of the winning entry.

After completion of her Masters, Sudha started her career in clinical research at Clinigene International Ltd, sister concerns of Biocon. She has worked in clinical research industry for the past five and a half years and was part of George Clinical for nearly four years.

Sudha has had experience in working on academic trials and seeks to pursue higher education and training in public health research, especially in the areas of non-communicable diseases including mental health and injuries.

She is currently involved in a study where mobile-based technology is being used to provide basic mental health care to scheduled tribe villages in rural Andhra Pradesh. 

Dr Siddhardh Devarapalli works in Public Mental health at The George Institute for Global Health in India. He is trained in population studies with a Master’s Degree from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Mumbai. He also has an MPhil/PhD in Population Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University. His previous work experience includes teaching Medical Humanities at the University of Hyderabad and conducting research in Health Systems at the Institute of Health Systems in Hyderabad, and on the Sociology of Health at the Dr B R Ambedkar Open University. At The George Institute Siddhardh has worked on mental health in rural and Scheduled Tribe areas which includes adolescent mental health in slums.

Dr Julieann Coombes identifies as a Gumbaynggir woman and highly skilled career professional with over 27 years nursing experience working in Aboriginal Community Health. She now focuses on improving health inequalities and outcomes for First Nations people and communities through research using Indigenous Knowledges (knowing, being and doing) and methodologies which empowers First Nations people’s voices in all her work. She has extensive experience in social and cultural determinants of health research, Indigenous methodologies and applies decolonising methods to all her research projects. Julieann has a commitment to ensure that all research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is conducted in an ethical correct way and research integrity should be underpinned by equity, transparency, and self-determination.

Her work in Indigenous research methods, public health knowledge and qualitative research, work which is published, has been cited in policy, media, and academic publications.

Julieann received her PhD at University of Technology, Sydney and is a Senior Research Fellow for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health.

Marino Festa is an Honorary Fellow in the Critical Care and Trauma Division of The George Institute. He is a senior staff specialist and co-lead for Kids Critical Care Research at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) in Sydney.

He is a fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine and has completed a Doctor of Medicine (Research), Imperial College, London 2011. He represents CHW on the paediatric study group of the ANZICS Clinical Trial Group and is principal investigator for the SAFE EPIC global point prevalence study.

He has active research interests in the areas of paediatric fluid resuscitation, microvascular adaptation to shock, and human factors research in critically ill and simulated patients.

With a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and MSc in Biostatistics, Jason received post-doctoral training in nutrition epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a Professor and the Head of the Nutrition Science Program at the George Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales. His research and teaching focuses on reducing diet-related diseases through implementing innovative ‘Food is Medicine’ interventions, modelling the impact of population-level food policies, and determining the role of dietary factors for cardiometabolic diseases prevention and treatment. Jason's research has been published in top medical and nutrition journals including Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, BMJ, Circulation, and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He has over 150 publications and has received many highly competitive awards, fellowships and grants, with total research funding of more than $14million to date.

Namrata Nath Kumar is a Clinical Research Associate for the Renal and Metabolic Division. She has worked in the division since 2013, and is passionate about clinical trials to help improve patients’ quality of life. Her work on the SHARP-ER study introduced her to clinical research operations, where she was involved in coordination of site finance, patient surveys and data linkage processes with MBS and PBS datasets. She currently manages sites across Australia and New Zealand for the PRESERVE study, a double-blinded randomised controlled trial in the Cardiology setting. Through this study Namrata has become familiar with HREC and Governance processes across both countries, in addition to investigational product accountability, central labs and safety processes. In 2016 Namrata commenced on the STARRT-AKI study, which has widened her knowledge base to include Intensive Care clinical research. Her monitoring role on this project takes on responsibilities in site feasibility, start-up, initiation, and data management. While learning and growing in the clinical research field, Namrata sees herself pursuing further studies in public health and managing research projects in the near future.

Dr Xia Wang is a Doctoral Research Fellow at The George Institute who specialises in analyses of large-scale randomised controlled trials and conducting epidemiological study. She has a Master of Medicine in Epidemiology and Statistics from the Peking Union Medical college.

Prior to joining The George Institute, Xia worked at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention where she was involved in national HIV drug resistance surveillance and national epidemiological studies.