Anya is co-founder of Syrona Health, a YCombinator-backed women's health platform delivering personalised care across life stages from menstrual health, fertility through menopause. Previously, she served as Head of Illumina for Startups across EMEA, directing the genomics giant's engagement with emerging biotech innovators.

A seasoned venture capital investor, Anya has led numerous strategic investments including industry pioneers Oxford Nanopore, Broken String Biosciences, and Alchemab. Her multifaceted career spans banking at Goldman Sachs, venture capital with a focus on spinouts, and entrepreneurship.

Anya holds an MPhil in Bioscience from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from Oxford University. She brings unique cross-sector expertise to discussions on healthcare innovation, women's health equity, and the future of personalised medicine.

Prof Brett Sutton is a Director at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, leading the Health & Biosecurity Research Unit, comprising over 350 researchers and support staff in areas of digital health, human health and plant, animal and environmental biosecurity.

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A qualified public health physician, he brings extensive experience and clinical expertise in public health and communicable diseases, developed through roles in government, emergency medicine, and international fieldwork.

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Before joining CSIRO, Brett served as Victoria’s Chief Health Officer and Chief Human Biosecurity Officer, heading the Health Protection Branch within the Victorian Department of Health.

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With specialist knowledge in tropical medicine and infectious diseases, Brett has worked extensively in lower-middle-income countries and complex humanitarian settings, including in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Timor-Leste and Fiji.

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Brett’s career reflects his passion and commitment to advancing health outcomes in Australia and globally.

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Professor Sutton is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, a Fellow of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, and a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM). He is also a member of the Faculty of Travel Medicine.

Bronwyn has over 20 years executive experience in health technology commercialisation, venture capital, capital raising and industry advocacy. In 2017 she founded ANDHealth, an organisation that supports digital health companies in Australia by providing education, resources, non-dilutive funding and mentorship to help them navigate the complexities of the healthcare industry.

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ANDHealth is now one of Australia’s leading health technology commercialisation organisations with companies participating in its flagship ANDHealth+ program raising $19.70 in new capital and generating $6.70 in new revenues for every dollar invested. ANDHealth manages over $30M in public and private commitments to digital health commercialisation, and provides specialist support to a further $100M of funding managed by Brandon Capital.

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Bronwyn has been a Member of the Council of the National Health & Medical Research Council since 2021. She is also currently a Non-Executive Director of Lumos Diagnostics Ltd (ASX.LDX) alongside a number of other advisory roles.

Catherine de Fontenay commenced a 5-year term as a full time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in July 2019.
After completing her PhD in 1998 at Stanford University, Catherine has held faculty positions at the University of New South Wales, then University of Melbourne, with a visiting position at New York University. Her research on team in science has been published in Nature Biotechnology.
Catherine leads the Health Productivity stream of research at the PC. She has led work on Measuring Healthcare Productivity, Digital Technologies in Healthcare, Aged Care Employment, and Unpaid Leave for Carers.
Catherine is also currently the President for the Economic Society of Australia.

Dr Catherine Keating is a public health expert and health economist who advises several health start-ups, including MoreGoodDays and Ovum AI. Her work centres on strategy, research partnerships and B2B growth. She is also deeply involved in Australia’s early-stage health-tech ecosystem as a mentor with Startmate and Techstars, and as a Deal Flow Adviser for ANDHealth. Catherine also serves as an Enterprise Fellow at the University of Melbourne, where she focuses on research–industry collaboration.

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Catherine spent almost a decade as an executive at Medibank, where she led the organisation’s preventive health strategy. This included partnering with universities, industry and start-ups to design, test and scale new models of care. Her portfolio also encompassed major research partnerships, health-system reforms and advanced data analytics.

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Earlier in her career, she worked across management consulting, international development and academic research. Catherine holds a PhD in Health Economics, a Master of Public Health, clinical qualifications as an Occupational Therapist, and GAICD credentials.

Prior to joining Brandon Capital, Bob was Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Nucleus Network, Australia’s largest clinical trials unit. He was involved in overseeing and executing over 100 early phase clinical trials, including as Principal Investigator. He was also involved in overseeing Nucleus Network’s clinical operations, business development and expanding its trial capabilities.

During his time at Nucleus Network, he was appointed as the founding executive for Cardiora, a Brandon Capital investee company developing therapies for heart failure. He successfully led Cardiora through multiple phase 2 clinical trials. The program was subsequently licensed to a specialty pharmaceutical company.

Bob obtained his MD from The University of Melbourne and subsequently undertook his surgical residency in some of Australia’s leading academic hospitals, including the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently lectures in the University of Melbourne’s MBA and Biodesign programs. Since joining Brandon, he has led investments both in Australia and in the US across therapeutic areas and also runs Brandon Capital’s training programs.

Dr Craig Rayner AM is Co-Founder and CEO of Oktopi, an AI-supported, human-guided platform transforming how medicines are developed. Oktopi integrates expert knowledge, automation, and portfolio decision support for biotech, pharma, and global health organisations.  

Craig's thesis is simple. The missing layer in drug development is not better prediction. It is better governance. Oktopi is built to close that gap. Craig has spent twenty-five years at the intersection of translational science, clinical pharmacology, global health, and new models for developing medicines.  

At Moderna he built the company's R&D footprint across Asia-Pacific as inaugural Director of the Regional Research Centre for Respiratory Medicines and Tropical Diseases, then led translational medicine programs. At Certara he founded and led Integrated Drug Development, a biosimulation consultancy supporting more than 90 percent of NDAs each year, co-led Certara Global Health, and as President helped take the company through its NASDAQ listed IPO - a unicorn listing at ~US$3.5 billion that peaked above US$7 billion. Earlier he co-founded and led d3 Medicine, and held senior roles at Roche and CSL.  

Craig is a Distinguished Alumnus and Adjunct Professor at Monash University. He has authored more than 120 publications across journals including NEJM, Lancet, Science, and CPT, and has engaged every major global health authority, including multiple FDA advisory committees. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. In 2025 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and added to the Prime Minister's Australian COVID Honour Roll.

Paul is a specialist medical practitioner and the Chief Medical Officer for the Private Health Insurance arm of the Medibank Group, which includes the health delivery subsidiary Amplar Health.

Medibank is Australia’s largest and oldest private insurance provider and is rapidly evolving into one of Australia’s leading health companies as it delivers primary care, preventive health programs, acute care through its hospitals, as well as large virtual, community and aged care services.

Before Medibank, Paul was a Principal at the Nous Group for four years and led their Victorian health practice as well as the digital health practice for the firm.

Paul spent over 11 years in Chief Medical Officer roles at Western Health, Austin Health and Epworth Healthcare and is also a Fellow, examiner and previous Board director at the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.

Paul is a Graduate of AICD, has sat on the MIPS medical indemnity insurance Board since January 2023, is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management and a Research Fellow with the University of Melbourne’s Collaborative Practice Centre.

Dr Simon Kos is an internationally recognised leader in digital health, working in senior executive roles for over twenty years. He is a registered medical practitioner who has practiced critical care medicine in Australia. He holds an MBBS from UNSW, an MBA from AGSM and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Digital Health (FAIDH).

Significant past roles include global chief medical officer of Microsoft based in Seattle, CEO of Next Practice, Physician Executive with Cerner, and the co-chair of the Global Commission to end the Diagnostic Odyssey for Children with a Rare Disease.

He is currently the global chief medical officer at Heidi Health, co-founder of Lumyra AI, an advisor to organisations and an investor in digital health start-ups.

Elizabeth was appointed Managing Director of Telstra Health, Australia’s largest digital health company and a subsidiary of Telstra Group Limited in April 2022 and is passionate about the potential of Digital Health to transform health care delivery.
Prior to this Elizabeth had a long and distinguished career in the NSW health system, with her most significant role being Secretary, NSW Health for six years from 2016 -2022. As Secretary, Elizabeth was responsible for the management of the NSW health system, the largest health system in Australia with a $30 billion budget and 124,000 FTE. In 2020/2021 Elizabeth led the NSW Health system through the COVID-19 pandemic and advised NSW government crisis cabinet on the management of COVID-19 in NSW, and the subsequent vaccination roll out.
Elizabeth has chaired of the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) and its subsequent iteration of Health Chief Executives Forum. She is also a member of Chief Executive Women and is Chair of Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct (RHIP)
Elizabeth was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to healthcare. She has been awarded Honorary doctorates from Western Sydney University, the University of Sydney and the University of NSW.

Professor John Skerritt AM is Enterprise Professor in Health Research Impact at the University of Melbourne, advising academics and the university on commercial and policy translation of their research portfolio.

In April 2023 Prof Skerritt retired as Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, with responsibility for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, regulation of gene technology and industrial chemicals and control of drug import, export and production. In addition, he was part of the Department’s executive team leading policy development and implementation for Australia’s health and aged care system for over 10 years. He has extensive experience in government and working with ministers, having been a Deputy Secretary/Agency head for 24 years.

Prof Skerritt was previously the most senior scientific leader in Australia’s Foreign Affairs portfolio, lading implementation of more than $1 billion in collaborative scientific programs between Australia and regional countries. More recently he helped lead Australia’s COVID-19 response and was one of the public media faces of the response. He also played a major role in advising the Australian government on the establishment of a mRNA vaccines and medicines industry.

Prof Skerritt has a PhD in pharmacology, is author of over 300 publications and 10 patents and has commercialised a dozen IVD and protein fractionation products internationally. He is a Non-executive Director of AusBiotech Limited and Medicines Australia and is currently Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the UK-based Centre for Innovation in Regulatory Science and is a member of the Board of the Singapore-based Centre for Regulatory Excellence.

Katherine (Kate) Merton, PhD, MBA, is executive director of the Health Equity Innovation Partners, bringing more than 20 years’ experience working in healthcare R&D and innovation. Previously, she ran Anthem’s Digital Incubator and was the Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.

Kate received her undergraduate degree in Pharmacology & Toxicology from King’s College London, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology & Toxicology from the University of California, Irvine Medical School, and received her MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Kate Munnings has extensive and diverse experience as a senior executive and non-executive director at health and services companies. Most recently, Kate was MD & CEO of Vitrafy Life Sciences, an early stage ASX listed biotechnology company that has developed a novel cryopreservation technology that doubles the cell survival of cryopreserved biological material.  She was previously MD& CEO of Virtus Health Limited, one of the largest global providers of assisted reproductive services. While at Virtus Health, Kate created Virtus Ventures, which included successful collaborations between Virtus Health and a range of biotech start-ups to undertake translational research, commercialise technology and successfully obtain innovation grants.

Kate is currently Chair of the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre; she is a non-executive director retirement living and aged care provider, Ryman Healthcare, as well as Wesfarmers Limited and Vitrafy Life Sciences.  She also on the Advisory Boards of LEK Consulting, Baza Capital and Melbourne Universities Academy of the Healthcare Leadership.

Kate has deep operational experience, including as Chief Operations Officer at Ramsay Health Care and as Chief Executive Operations at Transfield Services (now Ventia Services Group Limited). Before moving into operations, she was Chief Risk and Legal Officer / Company Secretary for eight years at Transfield Service.

Kate was previously a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Baker McKenzie and she spent 9 years as a registered nurse early in her career.  Kate has a Bachelor of Laws from University of New South Wales; a Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing) from University of Technology Sydney and she has completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.

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Since July 2018, Kate Quirke has been the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Alcidion Group, a company dedicated to providing smart technology to the health sector. Kate leads the business globally with current focus on Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom with a goal of developing mutually beneficial relationships with customers, partners and investors.

Kate has 25+ years of digital health sector experience and has been involved in large procurements and implementations of healthcare information technology across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South-East Asia. Her background includes leading management roles at large healthcare software firms where she has driven strategic product direction. She strongly believes that the astute application of information technology will support the transformation of healthcare delivery worldwide.

Kate is a Non-Executive Director of ANDHealth and previously served on the Board of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation for 16 years. During 2021, Kate was recognised as one of Telstra Health’s inaugural Brilliant Women in Digital Health and named Biotech Daily’s CEO of the Year. In 2020, Kate won the Executive Leader award in the inaugural B&T Women Leading Tech Awards. She received her Bachelor of Applied Science Health Information Management degree from Latrobe University.

Kath is the Chief Executive Officer of OncoRes Medical. Kath joined Brandon Capital Partners in 2012. Prior to this, Kath was an Investment Manager with Perth based Stone Ridge Ventures, a fund manager specialising in seed-to-early-stage technology investment.

In addition to her investment experience, Kath has start up experience in medical apps, diagnostics and fitness devices. Kath still practices as a medical doctor working mainly within the surgical field and has experience as a medical officer monitoring clinical trials.

Before entering the commercial world, Kath spent a few years working in clinical medicine gaining a range of experience across medical and surgical specialities and critical care.

Kath is a Director of the Curtin Commercialisation Advisory Board.  Kath graduated from her medical degree (MBBS) with Honours and has an MBA from the University of Western Australia. Kath is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

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Kenneth Bahk, PhD, is co-founder of the Health Equity Innovation Partners. Ken has more than two decades’ experience in life sciences and healthcare with experiences enabling new technologies from idea to commercialisation as a senior executive, venture and impact investor for family offices, and board member for multiple market-leading exits.

Ken graduated from Northwestern University with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and MS in Neurobiology and Physiology, and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Liesl Yearsley has been developing AI for 20 years. She was founder and CEO of an AI search engine that went public, she then founded an AI platform (Cognea) that was acquired by IBM.

At the time of acquisition, Cognea was serving six Fortune 100 companies and 26,000 developers, and handling 60 million interactions across financial services, insurance, health, social chat, media, metaverse, robotics etc.

Yearsley is now CEO and founder of Akin, a Public Benefit AI company with its own foundation model. Akin AI are designed to be a true companion to humans and help us improve our lives, our society and our ecosystem.

As a technical founder with four patents to her name, Yearsley offers profound and pragmatic expertise in her domain. Her approach goes beyond inducing fear about AI; instead, she provides a comprehensive understanding of AI’s inner workings, its potential applications, and strategies to stay ahead in the forthcoming AI-centric world.

Lisa Suennen stands as one of the most influential figures in digital health and health technology investment, with a career spanning over 35 years at the intersection of healthcare, technology and venture capital. Renowned for her strategic vision, operational expertise and advocacy for innovation, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the digital health landscape globally.

Lisa is currently the Managing Partner at American Heart Association Ventures, where she oversees a platform of four venture funds investing across the healthcare spectrum. Her focus spans digital health, medical devices and solutions for cardiovascular and brain health, as well as broader determinants of health.

Previously, Lisa served as General Partner at Manatt Ventures, Psilos Group and GE Ventures. At GE Ventures, she directed the healthcare venture fund, evaluating thousands of pitches each year and making selective, high-impact investments in digital health, including AI-driven medical imaging, telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. At Psilos Group, she played a key role in early investments in companies such as Definity Health, ActiveHealth Management and Extend Health, all of which achieved significant exits, further establishing her as a leading healthcare investor.

Lisa’s investment philosophy centres on solutions that address real customer needs and navigate the complexities between patients, payers and providers. Named one of Business Insider’s nine digital health power players, she is widely recognised for her ability to bridge startups and large healthcare organisations. She has also been a critical architect in launching and scaling digital health initiatives such as the Go Red for Women Venture Fund and Cardeation Capital, pioneering disease-focused investment in the nonprofit sector.

Lisa chairs the International Investment Committee for Australia’s ANDHealth Digital Health Accelerator Fund, supporting early-stage digital health startups and international growth. She also led the Scientific Advisory Board for NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health, demonstrating her commitment to advancing health innovation globally.

As Co-founder and CEO of CSweetener, Lisa created a mentorship platform for rising healthcare leaders, later acquired by the HLTH Foundation. She is a leading advocate for women in health tech, providing mentorship, writing on industry challenges and hosting podcasts to amplify female entrepreneurs’ voices.

Lisa is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship and teaches healthcare innovation and investment at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She authors the widely read Venture Valkyrie blog and is an internationally recognised speaker and author on digital health and investment trends.

Liz Ashall-Payne is an accomplished healthcare leader and the Founding CEO of ORCHA, a global leader in digital health accreditation and distribution services. With a background as a trained NHS Clinician, Liz has been at the forefront of healthcare transformation programs in the NHS, Europe, and North America, leveraging the potential of digital technology to enhance patient health outcomes and drive economic opportunities.

In 2015, Liz established ORCHA, a groundbreaking venture. Under Liz's guidance, ORCHA has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its digital health assessment and distribution services to twelve countries worldwide. Within the UK, ORCHA serves organisations in 70% of NHS regions, positioning itself as a trusted partner in the digital health landscape.

Recognised for her exceptional contributions, Liz Ashall-Payne and ORCHA have received numerous accolades. Liz herself has been honoured as a Tech Trailblazer by the BIMA 100, acknowledged as a Healthcare IT Leader in the HIMSS Future 50, and named Entrepreneur of the Year by prestigious institutions such as the British Chamber of Commerce, Norther Powerhouse, and EY. Additionally, she has been featured within the LDC top 50, further highlighting her influential role in the healthcare and technology sectors.

In addition to her accomplishments at ORCHA, Liz Ashall-Payne actively contributes to the development of future healthcare leaders as a coach for the NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur program. Furthermore, Liz serves as a member of Tech Uk board representing SMES and is the Vice Chair on the Tech UK Health and Social Care Council, where she helps shape policies and initiatives in the intersection of technology and healthcare.

Liz is also an honorary lecturer in the school of medicine at UCLAN, and is a research executive at The University of Warwick

Liz Ashall-Payne's visionary leadership, extensive expertise in healthcare transformation, and dedication to harnessing the potential of digital health make her a prominent figure in the industry, driving positive change and innovation for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems worldwide.

Professor Peter Steel is an emergency physician, health-system executive and digital health leader focused on advancing clinical artificial intelligence and technology-enabled care to improve patient outcomes, workforce experience and health-system performance.

He serves as the University of Melbourne’s Associate Dean of Digital Health & Informatics and Director of the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health, and is the inaugural Chief Transformation Officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In these roles, he leads work to advance data-driven and AI-enabled healthcare across patient care, medical research, education and health-service transformation.

Professor Steel earned his pre-clinical M.A. (Hons) at the University of Oxford and his medical degree from University College London–Royal Free Medical School. He completed emergency medicine residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and Cornell in New York City, and practised as a board-certified attending emergency physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.

Prior to joining the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, he served as Vice Chair of Clinical Services in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and as Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine. He also led a federally and industry-funded clinical AI research program focused on translating advanced digital intelligence into safer care, improved patient outcomes and stronger health-system performance.

Rachel is a partner at Giant Leap. Giant Leap invests in founders solving our most pressing global problems at scale across climate, health and people and has invested in over 30 companies to date.

Rachel is also on the Advisory Board for the Victorian Government’s Equity Investment Attraction Fund and formerly the Chair of the Startup Network, a non-profit, grassroots organisation supporting founders through their startup journey.

She has a background in management consulting and corporate finance, and previously co-founded a non-profit organisation to raise funds and awareness for MotorNeurone Disease

Rob oversees Medibank’s growing role as a health services provider. He is responsible for the health services we deliver on behalf of our health insurance business as well as to customers in the private and public sector. These include prevention programs, telehealth, in-home care, and our healthcare investments across short stay hospitals and primary care. He has been a member of the executive leadership team since November 2023.

Rob joined Medibank in 2022 as Amplar Health’s Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for evolving its health services strategy including our focus on virtual health and growing our prevention services.

Prior to joining Medibank, Rob held senior roles in Private Equity and at leading pharmaceutical company, GSK PLC. Most recently Rob was CEO and Managing Director at MedAdvisor Ltd, a technology-led medication adherence company operating in Australia, US and the UK.

Prof Robyn Langham is the Chief Medical Adviser of the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia. She is a nephrologist and clinician-researcher, focusing on drug development of novel anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic agents.  

She is also a director of the Australian Medical Council, chairs the Human Research and Ethics Committee at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and is a Director of the Australian Medical Council.

In 2022 she was awarded an Order of Australia for her contributions to renal research and medical education.

Steve is the Managing Director of Tenmile and Chair of the Investment Committee. Tenmile is an Australian life science venture capital company owned by Tattarang, one of Australia’s largest private companies.

Steve’s professional experience spans research, philanthropy, strategy consulting, M&A, and operating global businesses in fields as diverse as ecology, digital health, and precision oncology.  He is relentlessly passionate about the power of new technology to positively impact human health and mitigate our climate impacts.

Prior to his current role, Steve managed a global business, led M&A and established a new informatics and real-world data business for the world’s largest biotech, Roche-Genentech based in the USA.  He remains a senior strategic advisor to Minderoo Foundation where he has led large initiatives focused on COVID-19, Cancer, and Ocean Conservation amongst others. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Biology and a Ph.D. in Population Biology from the University of Sydney.