HDA - Staff profiles

Paul Komesaroff is the Chair of the Australian Health and Development Alliance.

He is a physician, researcher and philosopher at Monash University in Melbourne where he is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine. His interests cover health care ethics, clinical and laboratory research, and qualitative and quantitative research into the social and cultural dimensions of health and health care.

Anne-Marie Scully is the Vice Chair of the Australian Health and Development Alliance.  Anne-Marie is a nurse and midwife undertaking a PhD at La Trobe University and working part time in the Emergency Department at Sunshine Hospital, Western Health. She has experience in metropolitan, rural and remote Australia and in international aid. Her policy capabilities have been developed through her work with both the commonwealth and state health bureaucracies. Anne-Marie now undertakes consultancy work in health and has special interests that include ethics, professional conduct, patient safety, health policy development and analysis, and qualitative research into safe clinical practice.

Nic Prince is the Manager of the Australian Health and Development Alliance. He is a Registered Nurse holds a Master in Public Health and is a Research Fellow at the Monash University in Melbourne.

Nic has worked for several years with humanitarian aid worker with organisations such as the International Red Cross, UNICEF, UNHCR and OXFAM in public health, primary health care, nursing, project management and protection roles. He has also been International Health Advisor for the Australian Red Cross and remains involved with training and health risk management and support for aid workers.

His interests are in the ethics of aid, improving the preparation and support for aid workers and bringing back the 'humanitarian' aspect and its core values to the way in which aid work is undertaken.

Suresh Sundram is the Secretary for the Australian Health and Development Alliance.

Suresh Sundram is a psychiatrist who runs the Molecular Psychopharmacology laboratory at the Mental Health Research Institute, the Northern Psychiatry Research Centre and is Clinical Director of the Northern Area Mental Health Service. He is also an Associate Professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. He is on the Executive of the Section on Developing Countries of the World Psychiatric Association, the Indo-Australasian Psychiatric Association and the Australasian chapter of the South Asian Forum International on Psychiatry and Mental Health. In addition to his research interests in psychopharmacology and schizophrenia he has worked in and has a strong interest in both disaster relief and the development of mental health services in a number of environments.

Peter Britton is a member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Health and Development Alliance

Peter has worked in international development for over 25 years managing programs and projects in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, southern Africa and the Middle East. Currently Senior Manager – International Services at Australian Volunteers International, he has a special interest in ensuring respectful and culturally appropriate approaches to organisational strengthening and capacity building.

Laisa Tigarea-Thomson is the Administrative assistant for the Australian Health and Development Alliance