Governance Committee

Michael Nugent is Chairman of the Governance Committee of the Kolling Institute. He was previously Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director of Goodman Fielder Limited, Australia’s largest food company and was prior to that, the Managing Director of Elders Agribusiness the major commodity trading, agricultural processing and services group. Additionally, he has held many director and managerial roles across a broad range of industries, including food, agriculture, services, transport and infrastructure. These roles have afforded the development of strong experiences and skills in, strategy formulation, the marketing of consumer and industrial products and services, R&D, manufacturing, human resources, corporate governance and risk management. 

Adjunct Professor Anthony Schembri is an accredited social worker and the Chief Executive of Northern Sydney Local Health District overseeing a $2.4 billion budget and a workforce of 17,000 people. His career spans leadership in healthcare, board appointments, hospital social work roles and includes adjunct professorial roles at University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University and University of Sydney. Previously, he led St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney for nearly a decade and served in diverse community roles. Anthony was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UNSW Sydney in 2023. He holds multiple qualifications and is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Managers and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Associate Professor Naomi Hammond is the Executive Director, Research for Northern Sydney Local Health District. She is also the Critical Care and Sepsis Australia Program Head at The George Institute for Global Health. Naomi holds several other appointments including NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow; Conjoint Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales; Treasurer of the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, and Chair of the Australian Critical Care Nurses Research Advisory Panel. Naomi’s research interests include fluid resuscitation, sepsis, fever management, knowledge translation and implementation research, health economics, and long-term outcomes post critical illness. 

Professor John Prins is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He is a respected endocrinologist and an accomplished senior leader with extensive experience in health, medical research, and higher education. John has held senior roles across clinical, academic and commercial organisations, including as Head of Melbourne Medical School, Director and CEO of the Mater Research Institute, and most recently as CEO of Health Translation Queensland and Chair of the Australian Health Research Alliance. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. He is an active clinician-scientist with a strong track record in commercialisation and is a highly respected voice in health research translation.

Professor Mary Collins is the Head of School, School of Medical Science at the University of Sydney. She is an accomplished academic leader whose expertise spans research strategy, academic development, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Throughout her leadership, she has championed major initiatives, including the development of the Faculty’s minimum academic standards, supported the establishment of the Bachelor of Biomedicine and Health at Westmead, contributed to the expansion of the School’s research income to $40–50 million, and played a key role in advancing the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator. With a strong commitment to fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture, Professor Collins is dedicated to empowering research staff, strengthening strategic partnerships, and creating environments where research excellence can thrive and deliver meaningful impact.

Dr Helen Zorbas was Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian government’s national agency in cancer control from 2010-2019, and previous to this was CEO of National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre for seven years. Helen has been responsible for directing a number of national cancer control initiatives to improve evidence-based practice, policy and health service delivery. She has been an author on over 66 peer reviewed publications. Her clinical experience spans almost 40 years as a GP and a specialist breast physician in both public and private healthcare settings. Helen has chaired and held positions on a number of key national government, cancer and health committees including Chair and Board Member Cancer Institute NSW (2006-2009); Chair, BreastScreen Australia Evaluation Advisory Committee (2007-2009); and Member of the Health Care Committee, National Health and Medical Research Council (2009-2015). 

Irina White commenced as Committee Secretary, Kolling Institute Governance Committee in October 2019. Before joining Kolling Institute Irina was employed in a number of the state’s largest industry sectors: electricity, rail and education. She has served as Company Secretary to the Boards of Endeavour Energy, Integral Energy, Rail Corp, Rail Infrastructure Corporation, State Rail Authority, and Rail Services Australia. Her past experience has also included membership of executive leadership teams and holding a variety of senior executive positions such as General Manager Corporate Services, Group Manager Corporate Governance, General Manager Human Resources and Director Communications and Marketing. She is a Fellow of Governance Institute of Australia, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Member, Australian Institute of Company Directors.