Professor Sunil Badve is a senior staff specialist nephrologist at St. George Hospital, Sydney and Conjoint Professor at UNSW Medicine and Health. His medical education has been at the University of Mumbai and the University of Ottawa. He also has a PhD from the University of Queensland. He is a fellow of the American Society of Nephrology.

Professor Badve’s primary research focus is in clinical trials, meta-analyses and epidemiology, particularly in progression of chronic kidney disease, anticoagulation and treatment of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease. He has received more than $12 million NHMRC research funding as a chief investigator.

Professor Badve is the Nephrology Subspecialty Editor for the Internal Medicine Journal and serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Dr Suparna is a nutritionist by training and has more than 26 years of experience as a clinical, academic and research nutritionist. At The George Institute, she is actively engaged in research projects on food systems, its drivers, food security, food and nutrition policy, dietary diversity and nutritional status of women and children in vulnerable communities.

Before joining The George Institute, she has worked at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) as a Professor and Head, Community Nutrition, a faculty at Delhi University, a research dietitian at The Children‘s Hospital at Westmead, Australia, a consultant at the Planning Commission of India and a senior clinical nutritionist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.

Her research interests include developing innovative tools for nutritional assessment, evaluation of nutrition-specific programs, developing low-cost food-based solutions to address malnutrition and food policies to address non -communicable diseases in India. In clinical nutrition, she has a special interest in medical nutrition therapy for children with inborn errors of metabolism. She is an expert member of the steering committee for Public Health and Nutrition under the department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. She is also a member of the taskforce formed by the Government of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, to reduce MMR, NMR, IMR and malnutrition in the state.

Surekha Garimella is a Senior Research Fellow at the George Institute, working on the ARISE Hub – a project aimed at strengthening accountability mechanisms for improving equitable health and well-being for people living and working in informal urban spaces. Surekha holds a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition, a Master of Science in Nutrition & Food science, a Master of Philosophy in Applied economics, and a PhD in Public Health, Gender and Work.

Her research interests are in gender, women, work and political economy; Gendered health systems and accountability; feminist theory and practice and ethics of research practice. She has worked in implementation and research in gender, nutrition, health and wellbeing among women, children and adolescents in informal urban settlements in Delhi and Tamil Nadu as well as researched on the health and wellbeing experiences of women workers in urban informal settlements in Delhi.

Dr Susmita Chatterjee works at The George Institute for Global Health India as a Program Head of Health Economics. She has a PhD from the University of Calcutta, and is interested in investigating costing of health services, health financing, and economic evaluations. 

She has worked on several health economics projects in the areas of mental health, diabetes, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis and immunization. She was the recipient of Asia Fellows Award in 2008; Indo-US public health fellowship in 2013 and Wellcome Trust / DBT India Alliance Intermediate fellowship in Clinical and Public Health in 2017. She was the Core Costing Working Group member for preparing the costing manual on provider payment mechanism – an initiative by the Joint Learning Network (JLN), USA and the economics group member of TB MAC (Tuberculosis Modelling and Analysis Consortium).

Before joining The George Institute India, she worked as Associate Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi.

Associate Professor Tamara Mackean (MBBS, MPH, FAFPHM) is a Waljen woman of the north-east Goldfields region of Western Australia and a Public Health Medicine Physician. She is the Discipline Lead for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University and holds a conjoint appointment as a Senior Research Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health and Associate Professor at UNSW. Dr Mackean conducts a broad range of public health research with a focus on equity and quality in health services and systems, social and emotional wellbeing, and food and nutrition. She applies multiple methods and research designs including indigenous research methodologies and decolonising approaches to implementation science to inform governments, health services, community organisations and health practitioners. Associate Professor Mackean’s keen interest to positively influence the health and well-being of all Australians extends to supervising higher research degree students working in the field of Public Health.

Dr Tim Fountaine is a Senior Partner with McKinsey & Company based in Sydney. He is also Chair of The Digital Sciences Initiative, University of Sydney.

Tim is a medical doctor/PhD and has more than 15 years’ experience working with governments on health policy and program implementation. He established McKinsey’s AI capability, QuantumBlack, in Asia and works with private and public sector organisations to help adapt AI and digital technologies.

Tim joined the Board in November 2023 and is a Member of the Risk Committee.

Timothy Longstaff is a Non-Executive Director of Aurizon, Channel Nine, Ingham and Perenti Global. He is also a Member of the Australian Treasury’s Takeovers Panel.

Tim spent most of his career in global investment banking, leading mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and strategic transformation assignments for organisations including Managing Director of Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank. He also acted as a Senior Advisor to the Australian Minister for Trade and Investment, Simon Birmingham from 2018 to 2021.

Tim joined the Board in January 2022 and is Chair of the Risk Committee and Member of the Audit Committee.

Tina joined The George Institute in June 2011, initially starting as a Clinical Trials Assistant within the Neurological and Mental Health Division. She is now a Project Support Officer and is currently working on the SAVE clinical trial. She has also previously worked on the INTERACT2 trial, which has now been completed. Tina holds a double degree in Exercise and Sport Science and Nutrition (Honours).

Tina leads The George Institute Australia’s media efforts but also oversees and coordinates The Institute’s Sydney events, internal communications, and digital outreach - all critical to achieving the organisation’s Strategy 2025 goals.  

She has over twenty years’ experience in diverse marketing communications roles across pharmaceutical, FMCG and not-for-profit sectors both in Australia and overseas.

Prior to joining The Institute in 2019, Tina held a variety of Sydney-based senior communications and media roles, including as Media and Communications Manager at the National Heart Foundation and as Senior Global Marketing Communications Manager at Cochlear, Ltd.

She holds a BSC (Hons) in Physiology and Biochemistry with Nutrition and a Masters degree in Human Nutrition.

Associate Professor Tom Briffa is an allied health practitioner and advocate who has devoted some 25 years to examining trends and models of care in cardiovascular disease treatment and management in Australia. His research targets the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and its translation into practice.

Tom works with a network of dynamic health professionals globally from his base at the University of Western Australia. He was a founding member of state, national and international associations for cardiac rehabilitation and has held a variety of honorary positions with the peak health agencies.

Ty Madden is a proud Gadigal man from the Eora Nation of the Sydney metropolitan area. Ty works on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health. With over a decade working on Aboriginal research projects across NSW, Ty brings valuable community engagement experience to his research.

Over the last 15 years he has gained extensive knowledge and experience working within several Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in NSW including Education, Health, Children, Family and Community Services and the Public Service sector at both State and Commonwealth levels. Ty has also been involved in research projects with the University of NSW and has worked on projects such as the Buckle Up Safely - Safe travel for Aboriginal children project. He applies Indigenous Research Methods to improve health outcomes by working in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

Ty sees community engagement as essential and rewarding and as a key to build strong relationships for the research undertaken at The George Institute. His role focuses on bridging the gaps between community awareness and healthcare to inform on policy and care models for better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Wennie joined the Injury Division of The George Institute for Global Health in February 2017 as a research assistant.

Her main roles are to recruit participants and conduct 12-month follow-up assessments for the PlaTFORM Study – a trial of an individualised exercise program to increase physical function and reduce falls in older adults with vision impairment. Previously, Wennie has delivered exercise programs and provided dietary advice and counselling to older adults in her dual role as a clinical dietitian and trainer. Wennie has an undergraduate in Exercise and Sport Science, and has completed her Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Sydney.