Annual Forum 2021
Watch the recording from our Annual Forum, held in the Julie Wu Theatre, Susan Wakil Health Buildling at the University of Sydney on 8 June 2021.

Program
Session 1: 1:00 – 2:35pm
Follow the Evidence: How Research is Driving Policy and Clinical Practice
Opening Remarks: Professor Don Nutbeam, Executive Director, Sydney Health Partners
Welcome: Professor Mary O’Kane AC, Board Chair, Sydney Health Partners
Keynote Speech: Generating and Using Research to Inform Health Policy and Practice in NSW
Elizabeth Koff, Secretary, NSW Health
Video: How Research has Driven COVID-19 Messaging
Discussion Panel: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Demonstrated the Need for Rapid Research Translation
Chair: Professor Don Nutbeam, Executive Director, Sydney Health Partners
Panel Members:
- Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque, Chief Executive, Agency for Clinical Innovation
- Dr Antonio Penna, Executive Director, Office for Health and Medical Research
- Professor Mark McLean, Director of Research, Western Sydney Local Health District
- Professor Julie Leask, the University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery
2:35 – 3:00pm: Break
Session 2: 3:00 – 3:50pm
Session 2: Trials and Tribulations: Maximising the Benefits of Clinical Trials to Health Services
Chair: Dr Teresa Anderson AM, Chief Executive, Sydney Local Health District
Video: Five Years of Facilitating Clinical Trials
Discussion Panel:
- Professor Meg Jardine, Director, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre
- Professor Craig Munns, Professor of Paediatric Bone and Mineral Medicine, the University of Sydney and Clinical Trials Lead, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (at Westmead)
- Anita van der Meer, Manager, clinicaltrialsNSW, Office for Health and Medical Research
- Professor Gemma Figtree, Professor of Medicine, Northern Clinical School and the Kolling Institute
- Tony Maxwell, Consumer Advocate
Session 3: 3:50 - 5:05
Five Years On: Future Priorities for Sydney Health Partners
Discussion Panel
Chair: Deb Willcox, Chief Executive, Northern Sydney Local Health District
Video: Five Years of Impact
Panel Members:
- Professor Carol Armour AM, Executive Director, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research
- Professor Anna DeFazio, Sydney West Chair in Translational Cancer Research
- Professor Andrew Baillie, Professor of Allied Health, the University of Sydney and Sydney Local
- Health District and Chair, Sydney Health Partners’ Implementation Science Academic Network
- Sharon Lee, Clinical Trials Manager, Western Sydney Local Health District
- Professor Robyn Ward AM, Executive Dean and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney
Strategy Update: Professor Don Nutbeam, Executive Director, Sydney Health Partners
Video: Five Years of Research Translation
Closing Remarks: Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson AC, the University of Sydney
5:05pm: Livestream End
Speaker Bios
Read more about our speakers and panel members.
Professor O’Kane is the Board Chair, Sydney Health Partners, and has an exceptional breadth and depth of experience in innovation, research and public policy. As a computer engineer Professor O’Kane undertook pioneering work in artificial intelligence and was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1996-2001. Between 2008-18 Professor O’Kane served as New South Wales’ first Chief Scientist and Engineer, during which she was instrumental in establishing the NSW Medical Devices Fund.