Dean of Sydney Medical School named Chair of NHMRC

Sydney Medical School Dean Professor Bruce Robinson has been named chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia’s leading expert body promoting the development and maintenance of public and individual health standards.

NHMRC brings together within a single national organisation the functions of research funding and development of advice. One of its strengths is that it draws upon the resources of all components of the health system, including governments, medical practitioners, nurses and allied health professionals, researchers, teaching and research institutions, public and private program managers, service administrators, community health organisations, social health researchers and consumers.
NHMRC’s priority actions, as set out in the NHMRC Strategic Plan 2013-15 tabled in the Australian Parliament on 18 January 2013, are to

• create new knowledge through support of discovery research;
• accelerate research translation;
• build Australia’s future capability for research and translation;
• set high standards in ethics in health care and research; and
• work with partners – States and Territories, health bodies, health industries and community and consumer groups.

Professor Robinson is an endocrinologist and dean of the University of Sydney Medical School. He is the current chair of the Group of 8 Deans of Medicine. He has been head of the Cancer Genetics Unit at the Kolling Institute of Medical research, Royal North Shore Hospital, since 1989. Since 2001, he has been Chairman of Hoc Mai Foundation, a major program in medical and health education and exchange with Vietnam. He is a Board Member of the Woolcock Institute, the ANZAC Research Institute and the Centenary Institute for Cancer Research. He is also Board Member of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (South-Eastern Division) and is Chair of RFDS Medical Advisory Committee. Professor Bruce Robinson is also the chair of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Taskforce and member of the Primary Health Care Advisory Group (PHCAG).