The Speakers

Toby Newton-John is Professor of Clinical Psychology, and Head of School (formerly Deputy Head of School-Research), in the Graduate School of Health.

He is an internationally recognised clinical psychologist who has been treating and researching psychological aspects of chronic physical illnesses for 30 years. He is particularly interested in the psychological processes involved in coping with chronic disease and how couples cope when one of them suffers from a long-term physical health condition.

Most of Toby’s work, as clinician and academic, has involved addressing the challenges for people living with chronic pain, but he has also researched HIV, stroke and diabetes. He is passionate about taking what is known from mental health research and testing to see whether the ideas can be applied to these physical domains. His research has involved examining how the social environment can influence long-term adjustment to chronically painful conditions.

Daniel Avdic is a Professor at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at UTS and an internationally acclaimed leader in the fields of health economics, applied econometrics, and policy evaluation. He holds a PhD from Uppsala University and prior to joining UTS worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Deakin University, and as a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics, Monash University. Daniel's research interests comprise the empirical analysis of topics relating to the production, financing and organisation of health care systems. He has more than 15 years experience in working with register-based administrative and clinical quality data from Sweden, Germany, and Australia and expertise in applying micro-econometric methods for causal analysis for economic research and policy evaluation.

Mike Stephens is Director of Medicines Policy and Programs at the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).

Mike has 25 years’ experience working in a diverse range of roles in the health and medicines sector, both in Australia and overseas, including in community and hospital pharmacy, as a consultant pharmacist, and in education and intern assessment.

Mike has spent the past decade working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector as a consultant, policy and program director and as a practising pharmacist integrated into an Aboriginal health service.

Through his work at NACCHO, Mike has provided policy advice to all levels of government and has worked with a range of national agencies, advisory groups, boards and peak bodies to influence medicines policy to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Mike Stephens BPharm MPH-MBA MPS-AACPA

Giovanni is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Health Economics, Wellbeing, and Society at the Australian National University. He is an applied economist and physician by training, with a focus on health and labor economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from Monash Business School, Monash University, an MSc (with Distinction) in Health Economics from the University of York (UK), and an MD from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.

His research explores the intersection of health, labor, and family economics. One strand examines how organizational features of healthcare systems such as hospital competition and peer influence shape healthcare delivery. A second strand focuses on child and family wellbeing, particularly how parental investments and policy interventions affect human capital formation.

Avdic, D., Lagerqvist, B., Gutacker, N., van Empel, G., & Vikström, J. (2025). Provider responses to market entry under competing health technologies (No. 2025-10).

van Empel, G., Avdic, D., Khalil, U., Kunz, J. S., Lagerqvist, B., & Vikström, J. (2025). Radiating influence? Spillover effects among physicians (No. 2025-01).

van Empel, G., Gravelle, H., & Santos, R. (2023). Does quality affect choice of family physician? Evidence from patients changing general practice without changing address. Economic Modelling, 126, 106395.

Katrina Anderson is currently Clinical Professor, School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University and Director of GP Education for the Office of General Practice and Primary Care, ACT Health and Community Services Directorate. She is also the Medical Education Adviser for the Canberra Region Medical Education Council. She is a practising General Practitioner and has been involved in the eduction of doctors for over 30 years. In 2017 she was awarded an Australian Award for University Teaching for Excellence in Education within Biological and Health Sciences because of demonstrated leadership around educational innovation to improve patient centred medicine.  In 2018 she was awarded the RACGP NSW and ACT GP of the Year for services in education and research. She has been an Investigator for multiple medical education grants, including the development of a Self-care Competency Framework for the World Health Organisation that involved developing a framework and competencies to train health workers to empower patients in self-efficacy around health technologies. She is currently part of a team developing near peer reflection tools to support telehealth consultations.

Maria is an economist and Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University. She completed her PhD at Monash University at the Centre for Health Economics, where her thesis, Essays in the Economics of Health and Innovation, examined how innovations - such as telemedicine, scientific activity, and the emergence of diagnostic technologies - shape health outcomes. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, she served as a Chief Specialist at the Polish Ministry of Health, advising on major infrastructural investments and providing analytical support to strategic policy decisions. Her work is driven by a commitment to integrating rigorous empirical analysis with strategic insight to inform evidence-based policy and improve health system outcomes.

Shona is the Group Medical Director of Medibank and brings a senior clinical lens to thought leadership, strategy and advocacy. She also leads the Medibank Better Health Research Hub and chairs Medibank's Health Research Governance Committee, providing grant funding to multiple universities, translational research facilities and peak professional bodies.

She has a 20+ year understanding of the Australian health ecosystem initially as a Physiotherapist then General Practitioner. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Shona completed her MBA through Imperial College London Business School with an Imperial Excellence Scholarship. She is Sydney native and enjoys running, walking her 2 dogs along Sydney's beautiful harbour and beaches and hanging out with her 2 excellent kids.

Dr Shona Sundaraj MBBS, FRACGP, BAppSc (Phty), MBA

Susan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (University of Melbourne). She is an economist with a special interest in competition policy and the organisation and regulation of healthcare markets. She conducts robust program evaluations by using state-of-the-art empirical tools, combined with confidential and large datasets from survey and administrative sources. 

She is committed to fostering informed discussions on public policy and actively engages with government, private industry, and community groups. She has provided research services to institutions like the World Bank, the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.

Bettina McMahon is the Chief Executive Officer of Healthdirect Australia. She is on the Board of SNOMED International, and former Board Chair of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health.

She has considerable experience in digital transformation in the health sector over the past 15 years, and across the public sector prior to that. Prior to joining Healthdirect, Bettina was the Interim Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency, where she had also held executive roles since 2009. Bettina has postgraduate qualifications in public policy, applied finance, business and technology.