Our team

Professor Clara Gaff is the Executive Director for Melbourne Genomics. Clara has been involved in the use of genetics and genomics in health care through roles in genetic counselling, management of genetic services, health professional education, and strategic development in Australia and the UK. She has worked in public health, government, academic and not-for-profit sectors.

Clara has a PhD in molecular genetics, certification in genetic counselling and postgraduate qualifications in health service research and evaluation. She is a Member of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Human Genetics Advisory Committee and the Ethics and Social Issues Committee of the Human Genetics Society of Australia.

Naomi is Chief Operating Officer, leading the business development, communications and engagement, strategic planning, compliance and professional services functions. Naomi has extensive experience and expertise securing funding for, and leading the design and delivery of complex health, ICT and commercialisation programs including: the landmark US$250 million venetoclax royalty monetisation; research and clinical services for Victoria’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC); and Victoria’s life sciences supercomputing initiative (VLSCI).

Naomi is a Certified Health Informatician (Australasia) with qualifications in economics, ICT and public policy, and currently a graduate student in the Master of Public Health (health economics and economic evaluation).

Dr Melissa Martyn is a Senior Fellow in the Genomics in Society Group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute with over 20 years of experience in research spanning medical biology, medical education, psychosocial aspects of genetics and health program evaluation. She has expertise in design and conduct of evaluation research to produce evidence to inform the use of genomics in health care, including process and impact evaluation, patient experience, and workforce development.

Amy Nisselle leads the Genomics Workforce stream of Melbourne Genomics, investigating the genomic practice and educational needs of the clinical, diagnostic and data science workforces. She applies research insights to a multifaceted genomics education and training program and determines effective strategies to develop the workforce.

Amy has a doctorate in multimedia genetics education, and experience in medical, science and education research. She is based in the Genomics & Society group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, where she also supervises graduate students researching different aspects of genetics/genomics education and counselling. She has worked in life sciences education and research across varied settings in Australia, the UK and USA.

Natalie Thorne leads the multidisciplinary team behind GenoVic, a clinical platform used by six medical laboratories for accredited genomic tests.

Her expertise spans multiple disciplines: from healthcare, bioinformatics and pathology to software development and data governance.

At a national level, Nat has contributed to Shariant through her leadership within Australian Genomics and online modules used across Australia to train medical scientiists to interpret genomic variants.   

In 2022, Nat was named one of 25 Brilliant Women in Digital Health and one of 25 across Australia for the WILD program for women leaders in STEM.

Zayne’s role is to get new audiences excited about genomics. He’s a specialist in strategic communications, brand identity and copywriting. Most recently, he led the creative team at Australian Red Cross, delivering record-breaking fundraising campaigns and emergency appeals, and supporting a major brand and voice refresh.

He's told stories about humanitarian aid from Mongolia to Vanuatu, managed communications and advocacy campaigns on refugee issues, youth justice and disaster readiness, and crafted public health messaging with communities from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Coming from a commercial background, David has over 30 years of program management experience. Working across varying industries, including state government, police, defence, postal services and banking & finance, he has developed a breadth of experience in the project sphere. Most notably, he managed Colonial Group’s Y2K program across 11 countries and every business within the Colonial Group.  More recently, at Decipha (an Australia Post business) David set up and managed the enterprise project management office. The project portfolio comprised delivery to over 100 independent client organisations.

With this breadth of experience, he brings a pragmatic approach delivering best practice project governance aligned to the specific needs of Melbourne Genomics. David’s passion is to share his knowledge and experience with his peers for the benefit of all team members.

A former MedTech startup founder herself, Michelle Kleynhans is an experienced manager across new technology ventures, investment, and the design and delivery of commercialisation programs for early-stage healthcare startups and scientists. 

With an interdisciplinary background in business and science, Michelle is passionate about supporting early-stage technologies turn into successful businesses, and driving lasting impact in Australia.

After many years of working in the disability field in various capacities, Chriselle completed a Masters in Health Science in Genetic Counselling at The University of Melbourne in 2007. Chriselle then worked at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute as a research assistant and research genetic counsellor. Areas of work included exploring the 'lived experience' and impact of genetic conditions and genetic testing in families (especially in prenatal and carrier screening settings); recruiting families for studies aimed at improving genetic testing methods; exploring families experiences of a family member with an eating disorder; exploring the Australian public’s awareness and use of online DNA testing in a mutli-method study and investigating the needs of health professionals in the genomics era.

Chriselle now brings all of her experience working in diverse roles with people into her role as Community Engagement Coordinator. She works closely with the Community Advisory Group, other community stakeholder groups and program team, to help enable the community voice and health service end-users to advise, participate in and inform projects conducted by Melbourne Genomics.

Amelia works across the Melbourne Genomics program team and its member organisations to create clear, cut-through content on the value of genomics in care. Through her work with Melbourne Genomics, she combines a personal interest in science with her ability to write copy and produce content across a range of mediums.

Amelia graduated from RMIT University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Communication (Public Relations).

Rigan is a Research and Program Evaluation Data Manager. In this role, she is responsible for designing and maintaining data collection systems, and contributes to data cleaning, and analysis. This role combines Rigan’s interest and background in genetics and genomics with an interest and skills in data management. During her time with Melbourne Genomics, Rigan has also contributed to projects evaluating patient perspectives and workforce education programs.

Rigan has completed a Bachelor of Science, majoring in genetics, and a Master of Biomedical Science, both at The University of Melbourne.

Irene is a Project Officer for the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance. With a background in biomedical research, she has more than 15 years’ experience managing and coordinating clinical and pre-clinical research projects, which have included vaccine development, evaluation of a psychological intervention and establishment of a cardiac diseases family-based database. Having worked previously for the Austin Research Institute and The University of Melbourne, Irene has spent the latter part of her career working at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and its subsidiary; the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, where she currently still works part-time in addition to her role with the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance.

Matt has extensive experience managing and directing health IT projects including support, custom development and implementation at a local, national and international level in the USA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. He has consulted on the configuration and implementation of regional electronic medical records, electronic orders and pathology information systems.

Matt has a background as a medical scientist and is currently working on developing GenoVic, Melbourne Genomics' clinical system for genomics. He has worked both in the public sector and for private solution vendors.

Keeley is a Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA) and has formal qualifications and experience in Health, Education and Information Techology. Her skill set spans both business and technical and she has a passion for delivering great solutions that make a tangible difference. Keeley’s career has spanned health care providers, NFP and vendors in various roles that help map and translate clinical needs with digital health solutions.

Kitty engages stakeholders to ensure GenoVic, Melbourne Genomics' clinical system for genomic testing, addresses user needs. She manages prioritisation and delivery of software functionality, including the testing of new functionality, to ensure it aligns with user stories and business requirements. 

Kitty has over five years experience in a software development and delivery environment and a solid background in DNA analysis and interpretation.

Tim is the Development Team Lead for GenoVic and is responsible for developing and enhancing its key features. Tim has extensive experience in software engineering specialising in research and development, software development and product development. He has held many key positions, including General Manager, CTO, Senior R&D Engineer and National Partners Manager. Tim holds a PhD in Software Engineering, a Master of Computing and a Diploma of Applied Science.

Vicki works across Genomic Information Management program team, assisting in day-to-day operations. Vicki has more than three years coordinating projects, mainly in the Education sector.

Vicki graduated from Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in 2016 with a Bachelor of Business Information Systems.

Lauren is involved in the design and development of various systems in GenoVic and specialises in the analysis of genomic data. She engages with stakeholders to develop custom bioinformatics post-processing pipelines that prepare genomic data for interpretation by the users of GenoVic.

Lauren has a background in both genomics and software development which she brought together in the completion of a master’s degree in bioinformatics at the University of Melbourne.

Kellie-Ann has over 30 years’ experience as a leader in public health and health promotion. She has a Masters in Health Sciences and was a senior lecturer in health promotion at LaTrobe University. She has held senior management roles in policy and program development in State Government, VicHealth, community health and the not-for-profit sector and until recently, was the Chief Executive Officer Vic/Tas at the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

Kellie has served on numerous boards, advisory groups, research institutes and Ministerial appointed committees including the Cabrini Research Institute and Dental Health Services Victoria, where she chaired the Community Advisory Committee for 7 years.

In 2008, Kellie co-founded the not-for-profit organisation Victoria Walks and has been the Chair since 2010.

Kellie has a passion to prevent rather than treat disease which has driven most of her career. She has also been a strong advocate for community engagement and the need for organisations and services to actively listen and respond to the ‘voices’ of consumers to ensure quality care and effectiveness.

In her spare time, she works on her mental and physical fitness, catching up with friends and family, going to the theatre and travelling.

Louisa has orchestrated the success of the Genetic Support Network Victoria (GSNV) for a number of years - an organisation committed to the right of people to flourish, through access to the practical and pathways to the possible.

Louisa is an experienced researcher and educator with a particular interest in genetic counselling, testing and diagnosis of genetic and rare conditions, the psychosocial impact of diagnosis on families and individuals, and the delivery of ethical medical services in the genomics era. She teaches and supervises research within the University of Melbourne’s Masters in Genetic Counselling course.

Louisa has been a member of numerous professional boards and advisory groups, including the Chronic Illness Alliance Board and the Human Genetics Society of Australasia's Ethics and Social Issues Committee, and has been a policy advisor to the Consumers Health Forum Australia and the Health Issues Centre.

Louisa is a regular contributor to government policy review and development in the genetics health services area.

Heather Renton is the founder and President of Syndromes Without a Name (SWAN) - Australia, an advocacy group for families with undiagnosed children. Heather is the mother of a 10-year-old who until recently remained undiagnosed.

Heather is a member of the Croxton School Council, and also runs the Croxton parent support group and fundraising group.

Margaret retired in 2016 following a distinguished career of more than 40 years at the forefront of genetic counselling and patient support.

Appointed senior social worker at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services (VCGS) in 1974, Margaret began working with families of children with genetic conditions, principally in the Bone Dysplasia Clinic. Margaret recognised the important role of parent support groups; she facilitated the formation of many and served on various boards. In 1996, together with various genetic support groups, Margaret founded the Genetic Support Network of Victoria (GSNV).

Margaret was a member of the inaugural Board of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia (HGSA), which developed the first guidelines to establish the profession of genetic counselling in Australia, in 1989. She went on to be appointed founding Director of the Master of Genetic Counselling (University of Melbourne).

Margaret was awarded the inaugural University of Melbourne (Department of Paediatrics) prize for excellence in teaching in 2016, and an Order of Australia in 2018. Two awards have been established in Margaret’s name: a GSNV incentive award for new support groups, and an academic excellence award in the Master of Genetic Counselling course.

Dr Janney Wale has a PhD in pharmacology and post-doctoral experience in industry, university and research institute environments. Forced to rethink her priorities because of her own health issues, Janney became an active member of the  Consumer Network for the evidence-based organisation, The Cochrane Collaboration, and a health consumer voice both locally and nationally in Australia.

Janney is particularly interested in empowering consumers with the health information they need to inform their choices for the health of themselves and their families. As a consumer editor at Cochrane, Janney contributes to the development of plain language summaries of systematic reviews of best evidence, published in the Cochrane Library. She is also a member of HTAi and enabling consumers to have a voice in new health technologies and health policy.

Janney is a member of The Royal Melbourne Hospital Community Advisory Committee.

Christine is a board member of the Consumer's Health Forum, a member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee Evaluation Subcommittee and a practising sociologist.

Christine manages a longitudinal survey into the social impact of epilepsy in Australia. Christine has researched and published extensively on self-management in chronic diseases, as well as consumer participation in health services.

Christine is a board member of NPS MedicineWise and of the National Standing Committee on Quality for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Current activities include working with Centre for Stem Cells Systems at the University of Melbourne, the consumer perspective on multiple conditions and a Primary Health Network in Victoria.

Spase has a strong interest in social justice and has over 20 years’ experience concerned with how to improve marginalised communities’ access to, and engagement with, health and community services. He has a particular interest in evaluation.

Spase started in community engagement working for Migrant Resource Centres in Melbourne’s west. He has worked in mental health and community health in ethnic diversity, equity and inclusion roles.

Spase is an experienced project worker and trainer in organisational cultural competence, health literacy and language services at Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health.

Stacey is an experienced management consultant with over 15 years’ experience in both private, public and community sectors.

Stacey leads her own consulting practice - One Red Step - focusing on social policy and social justice. Stacey is a former Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers leading its social policy practice particularly on education, gender equality  and family violence. 

Stacey is a Board member of Safe and Equal and Melbourne City Mission and is a Finance and Risk Subcommittee member of Our Watch. She is an IPAA Women of Colour mentor and was PwC’s inaugural staff lead for its cultural diversity and inclusion network for three years enabling conversations about racism and inclusion with over 8,000 people. 

Dr Kortnye Smith is a Medical Oncologist based at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She began her medical studies in Adelaide, before moving to Melbourne to pursue further training in medical oncology.

Kortnye has published and presented in the areas of genomic medicine, melanoma, and supportive care in cancer patients. She is committed to providing the best individualized and evidence-based care to her patients.

Norelle is an Infectious Diseases Physician & Clinical Microbiologist, co-appointed at Austin Health and The Peter Doherty Institute Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory.

She studied medicine at Monash University, completed physician training at the Alfred Hospital, and went on to specialise in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology before moving into research as a PhD student at University of Melbourne. Her time is now split between research - including the Controlling Superbugs project - and clinical work in infectious diseases at Austin Health. Norelle's research interests include antimicrobial (antibiotic) resistance and translating genomics into clinical and public health practice.

Dr Kushani Jayasinghe is a consultant nephrologist based at Monash Health whilst also undertaking dual training in clinical genetics at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Dr Jayasinghe studied Medicine at Monash University and undertook her physician training in Melbourne. She has a special interest in genetic kidney disease and is the clinical lead for genetic kidney disease at Monash Health. She completed her PhD research at Monash University on the clinical utility and feasibility of genomic sequencing in kidney disease. Her current research continues to focus on the clinical application of genomics in nephrology and improving the diagnostic yield of genomic sequencing in kidney disease through the application of the latest sequencing technologies in undiagnosed patients. Dr Jayasinghe is passionate about improving implementation of genomic medicine in routine nephrology care, which is a focus of her postdoctoral research at Monash University.

Dr Aamira Huq is a consultant clinical geneticist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. She consults in neurogenetics, general genetics as well as familial cancer clinics. Aamira completed her PhD in 2019 through the University of Melbourne, supported by the Yulgilbar Alzheimer Research program and the Commonwealth Research Training Program Scholarships. Through her PhD, she explored various genomic aspects of dementia, including clinically oriented whole genome sequencing in dementia, as well as the utility of polygenic risk scores.

Prof Paul James is a Clinical Geneticist from Melbourne. He is the Director of the Parkville Familial Cancer Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and Head of Clinical Genetics in the Department of Genomic Medicine (RMH). He is the group leader of Familial Cancer Research at Peter MacCallum and leads a program of research involving familial disorders with a focus on translational studies that examine integration of genomic findings into clinical practice.