Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Leadership, management and guidance

The Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI) is a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001. We are also registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Our founding partners and key stakeholders, the University of Wollongong (UOW) and the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD), engage us to provide clinical research support and philanthropic funding. In addition both partners provide in-kind support to us to advance the shared vision of improving the health of Illawarra residents through research excellence. Our patron is renowned scientist Dame Bridget Ogilvie (AC, DBE, ScD, FRS, FAA).

Our people

Board of Directors

Professor Nicholas Glasgow, Chair

Emeritus Professor, College of Health & Medicine, ANU

Nicholas Glasgow is a retired general practitioner and palliative medicine specialist. A graduate of the University of Auckland he has held academic appointments at the University of the United Arab Emirates, the University of Sydney, the University of Wollongong, and The Australian National University. His doctoral thesis examined the interface between primary and secondary care in a rapidly developing country. He has wide experience in all aspects of curriculum development, approaches to teaching, assessment and evaluation of educational programs across the vertical continuum of medical education. He has twice been a Harvard Macy Scholar. He has served on high level university committees including the Senior Management Group of the university, and as Chair of the Academic Board. He undertakes high level service on various professional and health service committees of organisations. He was a Ministerial Appointee to the National Lead Clinicians Group (acting Chair of the NLCG during the first half of 2014), was Chair of the ACT Clinical Senate and a Ministerial Appointee to ACT Health Directorate Local Hospital Network. He was President of Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand 2015 – 2016. He makes regular contributions to the work of the Australian Medical Council serving on medical school and college accreditation committees (including as Chair), and in respect of applications for recognition as a medical speciality.

Margot Mains

Chief Executive, ISLHD Margot Mains has extensive health executive leadership and management experience at both hospital and Local Health Network level. Her previous roles include Chief Executive Officer, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, and prior to that she held senior leadership roles in the New Zealand Health system, as Chief Executive Officer, Capital and Coast District Health Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mid Central Health. Ms Mains is a registered nurse, and holds the following qualifications: Certificate in Community Health (Christchurch Polytechnic); Graduate Diploma of Nursing (Massey University); Bachelor of Laws (University of Otago) and a diploma in Dispute Resolution at Massey University. Ms Mains has completed the New Zealand Institute of Company Directors’ course.

Dr Steven Craig

Head of Department of Surgery, Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, ISLHD

Dr Steven Craig is a respected specialist surgeon, committed to providing the highest standards of surgical care in regional Australia. He develops strong patient relationships and is approachable, empathetic and easily accessible. Dr Craig completed his specialist training in General Surgery before moving to Canada to undertake further sub-specialist training in Endocrine Surgery and Surgical Oncology. He provides a wide range of sub-specialty and general surgery procedures, as well as on-call emergency services to hospitals throughout the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region. Dr Craig understands the significant stress and difficulties faced by those in our region who are newly diagnosed with cancer, and endeavours to see all new cancer referrals as promptly as possible.

Professor Denis King OAM

Former Chair, ISLHD Board For more than forty years, Denis King has provided extraordinary service to medicine as a leading consultant and specialist surgeon, and his career has seen him practice, teach and consult in Australia and overseas. Graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Sydney in 1966, Denis was a member of the first group of medical students to intern at St George Hospital, and in 1969, the first Surgical Registrar to train at St George. He went on to be appointed as its first Director of the Division of Surgery in 1989, and served as the Director of the hospital’s Division of Critical Care and Surgery between 2000 and 2003. Alongside his heavy clinical load, Denis has been a prodigious contributor to academic research in his field of surgery, publishing 65 original articles in prestigious international journals, including The Lancet. He has delivered 78 presentations at scientific conferences both nationally and internationally, and a further 28 as a special invitee. He has also won four National Health & Medical Research Council grants and supervised doctorate-level students. Professor King is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and has been highly sought-after for his expertise in clinical management and clinical services, serving on many Boards, advisory and taskforce groups over the course of his career, including the Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute. Additionally, he was Senior Clinical Advisor to NSW Health (2010 to 2011), Executive Clinical Director, South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Area Health Service (2006-2009), and Chaired the Surgical Stream of the South East and Illawarra Health Service (2003-2005) and the NSW Health Ministerial Advisory Committee (2011-2015). Professor King’s exceptional service to medicine, medical education and to professional organisations was recognised in 2010 with the award of a Medal for the Order of Australia.

Professor David Currow

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Sustainable Futures), UOW Professor David Currow FAHMS is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Sustainable Futures) at the University of Wollongong. He is also currently Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation). He is the former Chief Cancer Officer, New South Wales and the Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Institute, NSW, the state’s cancer control agency. The agency responsible for prevention, screening, improved cancer services, and funding of research infrastructure. Before this, David was the foundation Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian Government’s cancer control agency. He is a previous president of Palliative Care Australia and, separately, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia. In 2015, David received the Tom Reeve National Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Care from the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia. David is a widely published academic with research in symptom control, population burden of symptoms and health services research. He held the chair of Supportive and Palliative Care at Flinders University and more recently of Palliative Medicine at the University of Technology Sydney. David co-founded the Australian National Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (the first point-of-care national data collection for quality improvement in palliative care in the world) and the principle investigator of the national Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (the world’s largest phase II and III clinical trials team in palliative care globally).

Professor Eileen McLaughlin

Executive Dean, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, UOW Professor McLaughlin’s academic career as postgraduate and postdoctoral scientist was initiated at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at the University of Bristol UK. She moved to Australia for a postdoctoral position at CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Australia. Professor McLaughlin has expertise in cell and molecular biology, and is internationally recognised for her work in assisted reproduction, environmental toxicology and developmental biology. She has published over 170 research articles, been cited >8000 times with H index 50 and has obtained more than AU$36 million in competitive grant funding since migrating to Australia in 2001. Professor McLaughlin has held several positions at the University of Newcastle NSW, and was the Director of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland New Zealand, Executive Dean of Science and Technology at the University of Canberra and the inaugural Dean of Science at Western Sydney University, Australia (2020).

Senior Professor Sue Bennett

Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities

Senior Professor Sue Bennett’s area of expertise is in information and communication technologies in education. Her research investigates how people engage with technology in their everyday lives and in educational settings. She has extensive experience in the design, development and evaluation of multimedia and on-line instructional materials developed for both university and commercial clients.

Sue has published over 135 publications. As of March 2018, her Google Scholar profile lists more than 7000 citations and a h-index of 30, and her SCOPUS h-index is 15.

Prior to joining the University of Wollongong, she managed the Interactive Multimedia Unit at Central Queensland University. She previously held positions at Griffith University, the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.

Executive Staff

Kara Lamond

Chief Operating Officer

Ms Lamond was appointed as Chief Operating Officer in August 2016 and is responsible for the general management of IHMRI’s governance, communications, planning, finances and infrastructure. With senior-level experience in both the public and private sectors, Ms Lamond has led major reforms and initiatives in service delivery and infrastructure management. Her most recent positions include Executive Manager of Strategy, Planning and Innovation at the NSW State Emergency Services, and Executive Director at Migration Law Australia. Ms Lamond also gained extensive experience leading health and justice projects as Senior Manager for the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wollongong. She also has a Graduate Law degree from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New England.

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Governance and structure