Board Chair and Non-Executive Director

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  Sue MacLeman has more than 30 years’ experience as a pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology executive having held senior roles in health administration, corporate, medical, commercial, and business development.

  Sue has also served as CEO and Board member of several ASX, AIM and NASDAQ listed companies in the health tech sector. She is a Non-Executive Director on public, private and not for profit boards and is appointed to several academic , industry and government advisory boards and committees.

  Her broad commercial and technical experience is underpinned by a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland, a Master of Laws from Deakin University and a Master of Marketing from Melbourne Business School . She is also a member of the Commonwealth Government National Research Infrastructure Advisory Group, NSW Government Innovation and Productivity Council, Fellow and Non-Executive Director of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and Fellow/Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Non-Executive Director, Chair of Remuneration & Nomination Committee

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  Jane Ryan is a technically qualified Non-Executive Director with a strong international career and experience at Board and Executive level in business development, capital raising, M&A, partnering, ASX and NASDAQ reporting. Additionally, Jane has strong governance experience in listed, not-for-profit, government statuary bodies and unlisted companies. Jane has held executive roles at Sementis, Biota (now Vaxart), and Peptech.

  In addition to her role with VVMF, Jane is also currently:

  • Non-Executive Director – IDT Australia (ASX: IDT)
  • Non-Executive Director – Bionomics Ltd (NASDAQ: BNOX)

   

  Jane has previously held roles as a Board Member of Diabetes Australia, Victoria; TechInSA, Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation (VESKI) and Anatara Lifesciences. Jane has a PhD in Immunology / Biochemistry and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Pharmaceuticals at Columbia University.

Non-Executive Director, Chair of Risk and Audit Committee

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  Trevor Danos is a highly respected company director and adviser for a range of government and private organisations, with a focus on areas of finance, infrastructure, regulated businesses, health, procurement reform and science / innovation.

  Trevor was a senior lawyer with tertiary qualifications in Law, Economics and Science. He is chair of Northern Sydney Local Health District and sits on the boards of Endeavour Energy and the privatised NSW Land Registry Office. He is an Adjunct Professor at UNSW and previous Chair of the Dean of Science Advisory Council. Previously Trevor was a senior member of the Commonwealth Treasury Reference Group for the establishment of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.

  Trevor is a published author: “Pursuit of Excellence: A History of the Professor Harry Messel International Science School”, and is a “Male Champion of Change” (“Champions of Change Coalition”).

Non-Executive Director

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  Robyn Kruk brings a wealth of relevant senior executive experience at a state and national level, that includes health care policy and broader regulatory settings. Robyn has led state and Australian Government agencies, including as Secretary of NSW Health and NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, and the inaugural CEO of the National Mental Health Commission.

  She has chaired and served on statutory boards and advisory entities relating to health care quality and safety, food standards, eating disorders, disability, emergency management and environmental protection and resource management.

  Robyn has led a range of independent reviews such as the 2023 Independent Review of Overseas Health Practitioner Regulatory Settings and in 2022 the New South Wales Health COVID-19 System Response Debrief. In 2021, Robyn led the Second Year Review of the National Redress Scheme and the Ministerial Taskforce into Public Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents in Western Australia, and in 2019, the Western Australian Government’s Sustainable Health Review.

Chief Executive Officer

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  Stephen Thompson brings extensive leadership and management experience to VVMF with a strong global track record in Enterprise Leadership, Manufacturing and Operations, Commercial, Business development and alliance partnerships, in market leading multinational companies including Baxter International Inc, Icon Group, Nestlé, Pacific Dunlop, and Proctor & Gamble.

  Having obtained a 1st class Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) (Hons) degree from UNSW, Sydney, Australia and working across both multinationals and the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Stephen is very well equipped to lead the VVMF as the first CEO.

  Stephen is a trusted and authentic leader, with recognised skills in mentoring and developing people and enhancing employee engagement. He has a passion for developing high performing teams to ensure organisations deliver successfully through empowering people to challenge the status quo, embrace change with positive resilience, and have a thirst for innovation and continuous improvement. Achieving sustained business success by leveraging agile strategic thinking, superior organisational and communication skills and strong interpersonal connections both internally and externally at all levels.

Chief Medical Officer

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  Ian Alexander is a Professor in Paediatrics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Sydney, Senior Staff Specialist in Genetic Medicine at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and Head of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network and Children’s Medical Research Institute Gene Therapy Research Unit.

  As a clinician-scientist he has dedicated his career to the development of novel therapies for infants and children with devastating genetic disease and is internationally renowned for his leadership in pioneering the gene therapy field in Australia. He has made ground-breaking contributions along the entire translational pathway, from the basic science of viral vector-mediated gene transfer to the implementation of globally significant paediatric gene therapy clinical trials.

  Peer recognition includes election as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science in 2015, the National Health and Medical Research Council Marshall and Warren Award in 2020 and the Research Australia Peter Wills Medal in 2022.

Chief Technology Officer

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  Leszek [pronounced: Leshek] Lisowski, is a world vectorology expert with over 20 years of experience in developing, manufacturing, functional validation and translation of viral vectors for human gene therapies.

  In 2015, Leszek was recruited by Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) / The University of Sydney to establish and run the Vector and Genome Engineering Facility (VGEF) and to establish his independent research program, the Translational Vectorology Research Unit (TVRU).

  In addition to being Unit Head at CMRI, Leszek is a conjoint Professor at The University of Sydney, holds the title of Honorary Faculty at University College London (UCL), London, UK and the title of Visiting Professor at the Military Institute of Medicine-National Research Institute in Warsaw, Poland.

  He serves as a reviewer for a number of leading journals in the field of gene therapy, a reviewer for national and international funding agencies and serves on a number of academic, government and commercial advisory and scientific review boards.