Working with our government partners to deliver Australia’s leading telehealth services draws on Karen’s extensive private and public sector experience.
Prior to joining Healthdirect Australia in 2019, Karen was the inaugural CEO of Jobs for NSW, where she launched the Sydney Start-up Hub. Her multi-sector, market, channel and cross-industry experience including health (Johnson & Johnson, ResMed) honed her expertise in leading organisational transformation and growth in emerging and mature markets in Asia/Pacific, the USA and Europe.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and was a NSW finalist for Telstra Businesswoman of the Year 2017. Karen was also a member of the NSW Export Advisory Council. She is based in Sydney and speaks fluent German.

Karen is an experienced public speaker and has been invited to present at a range of events. Whether delivering plenary keynotes, hosting intimate lunches or facilitating C-suite round table discussions, her style is relatable, adaptable and always tailored to the audience.

Karen is a media commentator on the challenges and benefits of integrating telehealth services into a modern health system, improving access to quality healthcare for all Australians no matter where they live. See recent examples here and here.

Bio coming soon.

Adam Jahnke is the co-founder of Umps Health, which supports people to live safely and independently at home. Umps Health does this using non-intrusive smart plugs that measure patterns in the way people use everyday home appliances, like the TV, kettle, fridge or microwave and raise alerts when behaviour is unusual.

His vision came from his personal experience In 2016 when his grandpa fell at home and was hospitalised. When he came out of hospital, he wanted to stay living in the home he’d been in for more than 60 years, and Adam wanted to support his independence.

Adam looked to technology, but found that he already had the industry standard in incident detection – a pendant worn around the neck. The problem with this is that we only find out about something after it happens, and like most people, even when his grandpa fell he wasn’t wearing it.

So he set out to build something new. Something that worked with his grandpa’s daily habits, was non-intrusive and easy to install and maintain. Adam’s grandpa was the first person to use the technology, who is called Umps, and that’s where the name comes from.

Marie is an internationally experienced entrepreneur recognised within the global digital community as an innovator, trusted advisor, skilful executive and thought provoking commentator. Marie explores radical innovation and questions thinking which doesn’t prepare us for the future.

She operates at the intersection of the human experience and systems thinking where co-design reveals boundless potential. She believes that artificial intelligence is not artificial, but a creative liberating humanising power, that will truly transform the interactions between people.

Across government and internationally, Marie has delivered significant technology, innovation and digital services transformation programs across revenue, business, social services, payments, identity, immigration visa operations and disability services.

Marie is the co-creator of “Nadia” and led the global co-design and co-creation effort with people with disability to deliver “Nadia” the world’s first artificial intelligent digital human for service delivery.

Marie and Allan are now working on their next AI humanitarian effort – bringing to life the AI digital human cardiac coach.

To read more click here.

Hobart-born and Sydney-raised Simon comes to the role with 18 years’ experience working in the healthcare and Health IT industries, most notably 9 years at software giant Microsoft. During his time based in Redmond, USA, he actively drove innovation, emerging trends and new models of care across the globe. Prior to joining Microsoft, Simon worked with Intersystems and Cerner as they implemented some of the largest e-Health initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.

Before entering the world of digital health, Simon practiced medicine in Sydney public hospitals with a focus on critical care. This personal insight into the challenges medical practitioners face every day will prove invaluable for providing ongoing support to practitioners.

Simon has a passion for digital transformation in the health industry and driving patient empowerment.

Bio coming soon.