Professor Of Politics And Public Policy

University of Stirling

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling, UK.  His research interests are in comparative public policy. His research spans comparisons of policy theories (Understanding Public Policy, 2020), and co-authored accounts of methods associated with key theories (Handbook of Complexity and Public Policy, 2015), international policy processes (Global Tobacco Control, 2012), and comparisons of UK and devolved policymaking (Why Isn’t Government More Preventive?, 2020). '

He uses these insights to explain the use of evidence in policy and policymaking, in one book (The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making, 2016), several articles, and many, many blog posts: paulcairney.wordpress.com/ebpm/

Deputy Head Cancer Surveillance Branch

International Agency for Research on Cancer

Isabelle Soerjomataram is deputy head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch and a medical epidemiologist with a special interest in causes, and prevention of cancer. She took a position at IARC in 2011 where she is currently assessing international variation of the cancer burden and survival using mainly population-based datasets and how policy can mitigate the rising burden of cancer and rising gap of cancer burden between sub-populations. 

In addition to her research activities, she (co)coordinates several large projects funded by various institutions. She leads national, regional, and global estimation of attributable fraction for cancers related various risk factors. Other projects that she leads are cancer survival projects, in high-income and also low-and middle-income settings assessing the effectiveness of the local health system as well as influence of major risk factors such as tobacco smoking, obesity and alcohol. She also co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer. Finally she coordinate the IARC Initiative of Resilience in Cancer Control assessing the impact of crises on cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and outcome.

Former federal Senator and leader of the Australian Greens and current General Practitioner in community health

Richard Di Natale is a former Australian Senator and leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Prior to entering the Senate, Dr Di Natale was a general practitioner and public health specialist having worked in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, on HIV prevention in India and in the drug and alcohol sector. He now works as a drug and alcohol clinician in community health and continues to advocate for evidence based health policy.

Cofounder and executive director

ACT Health Promotion​

Paula Johns was born and grew up in Brazil. She obtained a Master of Arts Degree in English and International Development Studies in Denmark, at Roskilde University Center. She is the co-founder and director of ACT Health Promotion (former Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use), a Brazilian coalition of over a thousand members, created in 2003 to support the implementation of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control treaty in Brazil. Since 2013, ACT has expanded its scope of work to include the agenda of the NCDs.

Distinguished Professor of Public Health and founding Director of the Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University

Dr Steven Allender is Professor of Public Health and founding Director of the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at Deakin University, a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre since 2003. Steve has an ongoing program of research on solving complex problems with a focus on the burden of chronic disease and obesity prevention. Recent work has seen a particular interest in the burden of chronic disease, malnutrition and climate change in developed and developing countries and the possibilities for using complex systems approaches for community-based intervention.

Prof Allender leads NHMRC Partnership grants and is a lead investigator on the Centre of Research Excellence in Food Retail Environments for Health, MRFF Rapid Translation grants and has received lead investigator funding from bodies including the US National Institutes of Health, National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Heart Foundation, VicHealth, the British Heart Foundation, the Western Alliance, European Heart Foundation and the European Union.

The GLOBE team support efforts to improve health in over 30 countries world-wide and work directly with the WHO to achieve these aims.Steve holds a number of ronorary appointments including:

• Research Associate, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, University of Oxford

• Foundation Member World Heart Federation's Global Working Group (WG) on Policy/Advocacy

• Consultant, Prevention, Health Policy and Epidemiology Section, European Association for Cardiac Prevention and Care . Honorary Membership Faculty of Public Health. Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom

Head of the Physical Activity Unit in the Department of Health Promotion

World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr Fiona Bull is Head of the Physical Activity Unit in the Department of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Bull leads a team working on supporting countries to increase participation in physical activity through active transport, sport and every-day activities through advancing science, policy and practice. Dr Bull led the development of the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030: More active people for a healthier world, the new Global guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviors 2020 and the recent 1st Global Status Report on Physical Activity 2022.

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Prior to joining WHO in 2017, Dr Bull was Professor of Public Health and Director of Research Centre on Built Environment and Health at the University of Western Australia, and between 2004-2012 Professor of Physical Activity and Director of the National Centre of Physical Activity in the UK.

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Dr Bull is a Visiting Professor at University of Edinburgh and Member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission and Sustainability and IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission. Dr Bull was President of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health from 2014-2016 and has co-authored over 240 scientific publications. Fiona remains actively involved in scientific research and in 2020, 2021 and 2023 received recognition as highly cited academic by Clarivate in various fields. Fiona continues to contribute to applications of innovative technologies and advancement of science, policy and practice of enabling more people to be more active and healthier. To stay active, she is a keen swimmer, cyclist, hiker and dog walker.

Professor and NHMRC Investigator Fellow, School of Medicine and Public Health

University of Newcastle

Luke Wolfenden is Director of the ‘National Centre of Implementation Science’ and of the WHO Evidence Informed Policy Network at the University of Newcastle and co-Director of Cochranes Thematic Group ‘People, health systems and Public Health'. He is passionate about the use of evidence to improve public health decision making and ensuring that evidence-based policies are well implemented so they can benefit those for whom they are intended.

Professor of Public Health

Drexel University

Mariana Chilton is a professor of Health Management and Policy at Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. She founded the Center for Hunger-Free Communities in 2004. Dr. Chilton served as the Co-Chair of the Bi-partisan National Commission on Hunger.  The commission was tasked with advising Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture about how to end hunger in America. She has testified before the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives and has served as an advisor to Sesame Street and to the Institute of Medicine.

She is author of The Painful Truth about Hunger in America (The MIT Press). She has informed and appeared in documentaries such as the feature-length Place at the Table about hunger in the US. and Crowd and the Cloud citizen science with Members of Witnesses to document water quality in Philadelphia.  Her awards include the 40 under 40 award in Philadelphia, Manna, unsung hero award from Women’s Way, and the Hod Ogden award for public health practice.

National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking

Contractor to the Department of Health and Aged Care

Professor Tom Calma AO is Aboriginal and a member of the Kungarakan, Iwaidja and Woolwonga tribal groups in the NT.  

He is the National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking (2010-present), Patron of the five national Poche Centres for Indigenous Health (2010 to present), a Fellow of The University of Sydney Senate and Patron of Indigenous Allied Health Australian and Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia.  He is an inaugural member of Cancer Australia’s Indigenous Cancers Leadership Group (2016 to present) and a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (2021 to present).

Professor Calma was a former senior diplomat to India and Vietnam (1995-2002),  Chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2004-2010) and Race Discrimination Commissioner (2004-2009) with the Australian Human Rights Commission, and a member of Australian Genomics Independent Advisory Board (2021 – 2025). 

Professor Calma has a special interest in Indigenous and non Indigenous health, mental health, SEWB and suicide prevention, education, aged care, economic development and social justice.  His 2005 Social Justice Report on First Australian’s health inequality led to the creation of the Close the Gap Campaign and governments’ Closing the Gap response that is still the predominant Indigenous Health policy today.

Professor Tom Calma was awarded the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal in 2015 and was the 2023 Senior Australian of the Year.

AFHEA, MAICD, BMgt, MMgt (Merit)

​Head of Yardhura Walani Centre, ANU

Fiona is of the Wuthathi peoples of the far north-east cape of Queensland with Maluligal nation family roots of Zenadth Kes also. She has gained experience and perspectives in education, leadership, governance and business development at home and globally and in all spaces, shares a message of celebration and gratitude for the greatness of ancestors, Elders, and the ontology and authority that holds individuals, families and nations.

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Fiona has held, and currently holds a number of senior leadership roles of community and of governments and applies management degrees and higher education teaching and learning accreditation to lead values driven teams and organisations, and to understand the opportunities for systems to change, knowing the impacts of intergenerational trauma as well as the power and strengths of First Nations peoples’ cultures to lead that change.  She has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Deputy CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation, a national organisation leading the movement on survivor-led intergenerational healing. To further pursue change in matters closest to her heart she is also the inaugural Director of the Yardhura Walani Centre of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University, a founding board director of the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, and an appointed member of the Ministerial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council for Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Chief Executive Officer, Torres Health Indigenous Corporation

MPH, AssDeg BusAdmin (ATSI Studies), AdvDip CommSectMgmt, Cert IV IndigLeadership

Ms Renee Williams is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Torres Health Indigenous Corporation. She is also the Chair of the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service and the Chair of AFL Cape York. In addition, she serves as an Independent Board Member for the Queensland Public Health and Scientific Services Advisory Board.
Renee has more than 20 years of experience working to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She is an experienced health leader with a strong focus on empowering communities through health, research, and the not-for-profit sector.
In her role, Renee leads programs that support healthy lifestyles and deliver important health education to the Torres Strait community.
Renee holds a Master of Public Health (MPH), an Associate Degree in Business Administration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies), and an Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management.
Renee is a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman. She has cultural connections to the Bindal and Juru peoples of North Queensland, with maternal ties to the Wakka Wakka people and the Torres Strait Islands of Mer and Erub.

Head of Gambling & Social Determinants, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine
Monash University

Dr Charles Livingstone is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia, and head of the Gambling and Social Determinants Unit. He teaches health policy and health politics into undergraduate and post graduate programs.

Charles has research degrees in economics and social theory. His research priorities focus on critical gambling studies, including gambling policy reform and the politics, regulation and social impacts of gambling. He is a Commissioner for the Lancet Public Health Commission on Gambling, and a member of the WHO expert advisory group on gambling. More information and publication details, etc., are available at: research.monash.edu/en/persons/charles-livingstone

Menzies Centre for Health Policy, School of Public Health

The University of Sydney

Anne Marie Thow is Professor in Public Policy and Health at the University of Sydney, where she leads policy analysis research on health, food systems and economic policy. Her current research projects span Australia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. She also acts as advisor to international policy agencies, including the WHO, FAO and UN Tax Committee. Prior to undertaking her PhD she worked for the Governments of Australia and Fiji on nutrition policy issues.

Professor And Co-director, Global Centre For Preventive Health And Nutrition, Institute For Health Transformation, Deakin University

Kathryn Backholer is a Professor of public health policy and Co-Director of the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, within the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University.  She holds a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship and is a Fellow and Vice President of the Public Health Association of Australia.

Her research is focused on building the evidence to support the design, adoption and implementation of healthy and equitable policies that address the social, cultural and commercial determinants of health, with a particular interest in food policy and online harms.

Chief Executive Officer

Health and Wellbeing Queensland

Dr Robyn Littlewood is the CEO of Health and Wellbeing Queensland, the state’s prevention agency committed to fostering a healthier and more equitable Queensland. 
With over 25 years of experience in clinical care, research and education, Dr Littlewood has made significant contributions to paediatric healthcare. Dr Littlewood is a published author with over 100 publications and has recently released her first book on health and wellbeing for Queensland. She has trained hundreds of students over two decades of frontline service. 
Leveraging a systems-based and collaborative approach, Dr Littlewood continues to drive research and data outcomes in the area of health and wellbeing. Dr Littlewood leads a dedicated team focused on making healthy happen for all Queenslanders, with a particular focus on improving health outcomes for our next generation. 
Dr Littlewood holds a raft of formal qualifications including a Bachelor of Science and Postgraduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics, a Master of Medical Science, a Masters of Business Administration and a PhD. Dr Littlewood has also completed a number of postgraduate qualifications in executive leadership and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dr Littlewood holds Adjunct Professor appointments from UQ, QUT and Griffith universities, has been awarded Fellow of Dietitians Australia, the Barbara Chester Award and QUT Health Alumni of the year in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the dietetics profession.

Executive Director

Healthway

Carina has more than 30 years of experience as a lawyer, journalist, communications strategist, government advisor, and commercial executive. With a strong background in delivering positive strategic outcomes for listed and unlisted companies, not-for-profit organisations and government departments and agencies, many in the health sector, she  brings a strong understanding of the roles played by the wide range of stakeholders participating in health promotion across Australia.

Chief Executive

Preventive Health SA

Marina has built a reputation for delivering and influencing public health outcomes through effective integrated responses.
Throughout her career she has led and collaborated on national and state health policy, strategy, and programs. This has included leading legislative change; implementing statewide and community based programs, including social marketing programs; developing, implementing and evaluating whole of government strategies at the state and national levels; partnering with government, non-government, and Aboriginal community controlled agencies to implement evidence-based prevention and harm reduction approaches; developing specific programs for disadvantaged and marginalised populations; and implementing business systems to support effective governance and the achievement of measurable outcomes. 

Her current work includes: developing and implementing the new Preventive Health SA Act 2024 to established the agency; implementation of the SA government policy to restrict junk food advertising on public transport assets; legislative and policy reforms to strengthen the licensing and enforcement of tobacco and e-cigarettes; and leading implementation of South Australia’s Suicide Prevention, Tobacco Control, Anti-Racism, and Alcohol and Other Drug strategies.
Marina is the Co-Chair of the National Tobacco Officials Group, Presiding Member of South Australia’s Controlled Substances Advisory Council, a member of the Suicide Prevention Council, and works collaboratively across Australia with a range of research, policy, and service organisations.

Chief Executive Officer

VicHealth

Professor Anna Peeters AM, PhD, is a globally recognised public health expert and advocate for health equity. Appointed CEO of VicHealth in 2025, she brings decades of experience in collaboration, epidemiology, health system transformation, and policy-driven research. 

Previously, she was Director of the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University and a Distinguished Professor of Public Health. 

A former VicHealth Board Member, she has led groundbreaking initiatives, including the RE-FRESH Centre for healthier food environments. Committed to evidence-based health promotion, she champions equity and collaboration to improve health outcomes for all Victorians.