Professor Sandra Eades is Domain Head Aboriginal Health and Disadvantaged Communities at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute with key expertise in Indigenous child and adolescent health, Indigenous tobacco use and randomized controlled trials in Indigenous health. The Aboriginal Health Domain incorporates a national program of research and related activities with hubs in Melbourne, Alice Springs and Sydney. Professor Eades is a medical epidemiologist and completed her undergraduate medical training at the University of Newcastle and her PhD in epidemiology at the University of Western Australia through the Telethon Kids Institute. Professor Eades has previous research appointments with the Menzies School of Health Research and the Sax Institute in Sydney.

Professor Eades awards include in 2011 Centenary of International Women’s day – listed as one of 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have achieved change in their communities by National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance; 2006 New South Wales Woman of the Year – International Women’s Day; 2003 Bulletin Magazine Smart 100 – Named at one of 10 Health section finalists.

Dr Stephen Duckett has made an exceptional contribution to health services research and health care delivery in Australia. He has held senior health care leadership positions in Australia and Canada, with a reputation for creativity, evidence-based innovation and reform in areas as diverse as hospital funding (introduction of activity-based funding for hospitals) and quality (new systems of measurement and accountability for safety of hospital care). Dr Duckett was responsible for the design and implementation of the first application of activity based funding of hospitals in Australia, in Victoria in 1993. Activity based funding as adopted nationally in 2010. This Victorian work provided the basis fo his international reputation.

The Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health has demonstrated global leadership in research, health policy and implementation with over 400 research publications and h-index of 66. He has investigated stroke, its underlying mechanisms and conducted therapeutic trials with clinical translation. As President of the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) and founding Medical Director of the National Stroke Foundation he helped establish stroke as a National Health Priority and the WSO as the WHO lead agency. He has been an external assessor or advisor to international research organizations and the recipient of numerous national and international awards.

As Professor of Anatomy and Medicine and founding Director of the Monash Institute of Medical Research, Professor de Krester’s research led to 494 refereed publications and 170 Chapters. He served as President of the International Society of Andrology. His team isolated inhibin and follistatin as FSH regulators and showed that activin A, an FSH stimulator is also a key proinflammatory cytokine. Follistatin, by blocking activin actions, has anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory therapeutic potential. His research enhanced infertility management and our understanding of the hormonal regulation of reproduction and aspects of inflammation and fibrosis. He initiated community and professional education program called Andrology Australia.

Professor Stephen Davis is an international leader in clinical neurology and clinical neuroscience research. He is the Director of the largest Australian Neurology Department and directs a translational neuroscience research facility, the Melbourne Brain Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital/University of Melbourne. He is the PI of an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Grant. He regarded as an international stroke research leader, particularly in imaging in selection of acute therapy and has held 3 consecutive NMHRC Program Grants. He is the current President of the World Stroke Organization and Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists.

Professor Suzanne Crowe is a physician-scientist who co-founded the first HIV clinic in Melbourne (Fairfield Hospital, 1984). Her internationally-recognized research focusses on two areas of global importance: HIV pathogenesis and HIV care in resource-limited countries. Her findings inform clinical practice and current “cure” research. Her co-developed point-of-care CD4 test, licensed to Omega, UK, will provide access to treatment for millions of HIV-infected individuals in the developing world. She is active in global policy-making. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, recognised for her service to medical research in HIV/AIDS medicine as an academic, clinician and researcher.