Annual Report 2015–2016

Executive Director, Evidence,
Advice and Governance
Samantha Robertson
Ms Robertson is the Executive
Director of Evidence, Advice and
Governance. She is responsible
for assisting the CEO deliver her
key statutory responsibilities
to develop and approve ethical,
clinical and public health
guidelines, and provide advice
to the community on health
issues of significance, such as
the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
She is also responsible for
strategic planning, corporate
governance and the NHMRC
work on streamlining clinical trial
ethics and governance processes.
Ms Robertson has over 25 years
of experience in health sector
administration with the Australian
Commonwealth Government.
She is a former advisor for a
health minister, has been a senior
advisor in the Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet, and
was an Assistant Secretary in
the Department of Health and
Ageing for over six years, before
commencing in her current
position in 2011.
Executive Director, Research
Policy and Translation
Alan Singh
Mr Singh is the Executive
Director, Research Policy and
Translation. He has responsibility
for developing and leading a
range of research policy and
translation activities, including the
strategy for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander health research,
a review of the structure of
NHMRC’s grant program,
Advanced Health Research and
Translation Centres, Partnership
Centres and leadership in
the development of clinical
practice guidelines.
Mr Singh has worked on issues
in the health portfolio for
20 years, including three years
at Prime Minister and Cabinet.
He led the policy taskforce at the
Department of Health for Health
Reform Mark 1 (under Prime
Minister Rudd), and also steered
through a $1.5 billion package
for mental health reform in the
2011–12 budget.
Executive Director, Research
Programs
Dr Tony Willis
Dr Willis is the Executive Director,
Research Programs Branch. This
includes responsibility for delivering
NHMRC’s funding schemes,
including managing the peer
review process and supporting
strategic research activities and
international collaborations.
Dr Willis, who joined NHMRC in
March 2010, completed a PhD in
biology at the Australian National
University in 1994, before moving
to Imperial College, London,
to continue research as a postdoctoral
fellow. On returning to
Australia in 1997, he worked as a
research scientist at CSIRO for five
years, before joining the Office of
the Gene Technology Regulator to
develop and provide policy advice
relating to biotechnology and
biosecurity.
Dr Willis joined the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
in 2005, where he had policy
responsibility for the Biological
Weapons Convention and related
biosecurity/bioterrorism issues. He
played a leading role in establishing
DFAT’s chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear (CBRN)
counter-terrorism program, which
he headed for most of 2008 before
transferring to the Department of
the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
where he continued to develop,
and provide strategic policy advice
on CBRN threats.
PART 6 APPENDICES
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