Conference Committee
Dr Jen Bichel-Findlay FAIDH CHIA
CO-CHAIR
Niranjan Bidargaddi
CO-CHAIR
Salma Arabi
CO-CHAIR
CO-CHAIR
Jen has been employed in the health service industry for over 50 years in clinical, educative and managerial roles, and has worked on several local, state, national, and international health informatics activities. She has co-authored chapters addressing health informatics in nursing texts and presented at many digital health conferences. Achieving CHIA certification in 2014, she is a Fellow of the AIDH, the Australian College of Nursing, and the Australasian College of Health Service Management, and is in her first term of Vice President, Working and Special Interest Groups for IMIA. Jen was the editor of the HIC 2024 and 2025 Conference Proceedings.
Melissa has supported governance across health, education, and innovation for more than 20 years, with experience spanning the private, public, philanthropic, and not-for-profit sectors. In the health system, she is committed to improving outcomes and experiences for patients, families, and care providers, with a strong focus on safe, high-quality care. Her contributions include service as a board member, health consumer expert, consumer representative and advocate. She currently serves on a range of boards and committees spanning healthcare, regulation, education, philanthropy, governance and innovation. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Systems Development, along with five graduate certificates across technology, business and health disciplines. She is a graduate of the AICD and holds CHIA certification. Living on Kaurna Country, Melissa seeks opportunities to work with and learn from First Nations peoples. On the HIC 2026 Conference Committee, she contributes the consumer perspective in an independent capacity and not on behalf of any organisation.
Dr Katrina Sanders is Group Chief Medical Officer at Aspen Medical and a digital health and clinical governance leader, with senior executive experience spanning military, government, and private healthcare systems. A General Practitioner with a Master’s degree in Public Health, she has led largescale, complex healthcare operations in remote, austere, and highrisk environments globally. Dr Sanders brings deep expertise in translating clinical governance into operational practice, with a strong focus on digitally enabled and hybrid models of care, system integration, and datadriven quality improvement to strengthen safety, access, and outcomes at scale. She is a nonexecutive director with extensive experience advising boards and executives on health system transformation.
Kenneth’s passion is to “Enable, Connect, and Empower Health” – through proactively driving continuous digital health innovation, advocating the adoption of shared care collaboration and clinical decision support technologies, and contributing to industry working groups – to co-design digital health standards and sustainably-scalable solutions that optimise benefits realisation for consumers, providers, funders, industry partners, and the broader community. With over 20 years’ experience, he has led the design and delivery of digital health transformation projects across diverse care settings – transitioning paper-based workflows to digital maturity models adoption; evolving point-to-point messaging to regional and national interoperability; migrating isolated on-premises silos to centralised and distributed cloud architectures; and developing agile, adaptive solutions in response to crises such as COVID-19.
Salma is a digital health academic with a dedicated focus on gender and leadership in the digital health workforce. She completed her PhD at RMIT University where she explored the challenges and opportunities that arose for participants of a cross-border collaboration within the healthcare sector. She used those insights to develop a conceptual framework that can be used to guide future partnerships in healthcare. Through her work as a research and translational scientist, she continues to actively contribute to digital health knowledge advancement. In addition to her academic achievements, Salma is passionate about advocating for gender equity in the digital health field, where women and non-binary people are often underrepresented in leadership roles.
Dr Mustafa Atee is a Research and Practice Lead (Team Leader) at Hammond Innovations with adjunct positions at Curtin Medical School, Edith Cowan’s School of Nursing and Midwifery (Centre for Research in Aged Care) and Sydney Pharmacy School. His PhD led to the development and commercialisation of PainChek®, a world’s first FDA-cleared digital medical device that combines AI-driven facial recognition analysis with user-guided features and cloud computing to identify pain in non-verbal adults, including those living with dementia. The device is currently in use in more than 1,900 aged care homes globally with over 17M digital pain assessments completed to date. He has been awarded with competitive grants, including from Australian Government, CISRO, MRFF and Dementia Australia, totalling over $9.6M. His work has been recognised in multiple awards, such as Innovator of the Year, Incite Awards, iAwards, AMY (Digital + Technology Collective), Curtin Alumni Innovation Award, Premier’s Science Awards and most recently the Research Australia Health and Medical Research Awards-Discovery Award.
Niranjan Bidargaddi, BEng, PhD, FAIDH is Professor of Digital Health, Co‑Director of the Digital Health Centre at Flinders University and Flagship Program Leader at Health Translation SA. A digital health researcher with more than 20 years’ experience across health services, government and industry, he has led major programs that bring practical digital and AI‑enabled tools into everyday use in public health services. He is known for co‑designing systems that fit with existing digital platforms, day‑to‑day clinical workflows and funding models, easing pressure on busy teams while improving access, safety and coordination of care. His work on digitally enabled community mental health care pathways recognised with the SA‑NT iAward, was highlighted by the Productivity Commission as an example of how data and digital tools can support better clinical decision‑making. He currently leads the MRFF‑funded AutoMedic platform with SA Pharmacy, which uses artificial intelligence with electronic medical records and My Health Record data to help pharmacists identify and resolve medication errors more efficiently and accurately in hospitals.
Dr Kim Drever is a practising pediatrician with a background in public health, specializing in developmental and behavioural health within a community practice framework. A pioneer in the adoption and co-design of ambient AI scribes in Australia, she works at the intersection of clinical care and technology, collaborating with clinicians and developers to ensure digital tools amplify, rather than replace, the human elements of healthcare. Dr. Drever is driven by a commitment to elevate the child's voice in every aspect of care and innovation. She believes we are at a unique moment in healthcare’s evolution—collaboration, ethical design, and clinician leadership are essential to shaping technology that enhances safety, supports practice, and strengthens the heart of patient care.
Dr Catherine de Fontenay is a leading economist with extensive academic experience, having held roles at the University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, Stanford University and New York University. She has served as a Commissioner of the Productivity Commission since 2019. While at the Commission, she has led research on Digital Technology in Healthcare, Measuring Healthcare Productivity, using Financial Mechanisms to Improve Hospital Care, and Young People’s Use of Private Health Insurance. She and Karen Dunn authored the Productivity Commission’s submission to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s review of Safe and Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Health Care.
Dr Norman Swan co-hosts RN’s Health Report and the popular What’s That Rash podcast.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-hosted Coronacast, which had monthly downloads in the millions.
Norman is also a reporter and commentator on the ABC Television’s 730 and Midday and has made several Four Corners. He is a past winner of the Gold Walkley - Australia’s top award for journalism and has won other Walkleys, including one with his Coronacast colleagues in 2020.
He created Invisible Enemies, on pandemics and civilisation for Channel 4 UK and SBS which was subsequently broadcast in 27 countries.
Norman has been awarded the medal of the Australian Academy of Science, an honorary MD from the University of Sydney, a Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Medal of the Order of Australia (AM).
He has three best selling books, So You Think You Know What’s Good For You and So You Want To Live Younger Longer and his latest, So you Want To Know What’s Best For Your Kids, a one stop handbook for parents of children from birth to 10 years old.
Norman trained in medicine and paediatrics in Aberdeen, London and Sydney before joining the ABC. In addition to his medical degree, he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (in paediatrics)
Prof Nick Hardiker is an accomplished senior health and social care systems leader, based in the UK, with over 30 years’ experience of applied research and innovation around the development, implementation, use and exploitation of electronic health record systems and standardised terminologies.
Nick is a UK Registered Nurse with a background in general Nursing, and has Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, UK.
Nick previously held senior academic roles as Professor, Associate Dean (Research & Innovation) and Dean, digital health leadership roles at the UK Royal College of Nursing and the International Council of Nurses, and was for 10 years Editor-in-Chief of Informatics for Health and Social Care. He was the recipient of the 2017 Virginia K. Saba Informatics Award and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American College of Medical Informatics and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics.
Now Emeritus Professor at the University of Huddersfield, UK, Nick also acts independently providing advice and guidance to local, national and international organisations both on digital health, and on research performance. Nick is currently Chair of the International Medical Informatics Association Nursing Informatics Working Group, Non-Executive Director of a large healthcare provider organisation, and is a qualified executive-level coach.
Ms Amanda Cattermole PSM is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Digital Health Agency, a role she commenced in September 2020.
Auspiced by the governments of Australia, the Agency is the steward for digital enablement of Australia’s health system, with a lead role in coordinating national engagement, delivery and adoption of digital health to enable person-centred, connected healthcare.
The Agency also builds national health infrastructure and delivers national digital health products and services that make it easier for healthcare providers and Australian healthcare consumers to access, manage and share health information and that support a sustainable health system delivering safe, high-quality health services for all Australians.
Prior to this Amanda held several senior roles at Services Australia, including interim Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, and Deputy Secretary, Health and Aged Care Group, where she was responsible for the delivery of payments and services to Australians under Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme and in the aged care sector.
A/Prof Naomi Dobroff is the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Information Officer at Monash Health. Naomi is a Fellow with the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and the Australasian Institute of Digital Health. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University and has a Master of Public Health. Naomi is nationally and internationally recognised as a nursing informatics leader and she chairs the Chief Nursing Informatics Officers Faculty for the ACN. Naomi has an extensive nursing career and has held many senior leadership roles within Victorian public health services.
Since qualifying as a Speech Pathologist nearly two decades ago, Rafiah has worn many hats, including as a clinician, research fellow, and Chief Clinical Information Officer. Her specialism lies in digital ethics and governance, with a focus on clinical safety, data privacy, and AI transparency. Rafiah’s research covers health and computer science collaborations across the UK, US, and Canada, aiming to align existing evidence, clinician perspectives, and the voice of service users within digital practice. She has published in journals such as SAGE Digital Health, authored national UK guidance on telehealth, and received a Royal Commendation for her contributions to the field.
Tim is the Managing Director of Semantic Consulting, a specialist consulting organisation focused on leading digital change in healthcare. Tim helps healthcare organisations in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with digital health strategy, and is passionate about building and implementing digitally-enabled models of care, enabling engaged patients, measuring digital health maturity, and supporting clinicians to design and meaningfully use digital health solutions.
Tim has formerly held roles as Chief Information Officer of the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services (and member of the Tasmanian Health Executive Team), Director of Rural eHealth Strategy at New South Wales Health and Strategic Advisor at Australia's National eHealth Transition Authority (NEHTA) and the Commonwealth Dept of Health. He also co-authored the previous National Digital Health Strategy for the Australian Digital Health Agency.
As Chief Digital Officer of the Australian Digital Health Agency, Peter is responsible for stewarding the national digital health ecosystem, products and standards. Peter represents Australia as the Australian Delegate to the Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP) and as the Australian Delegate to the SNOMED International General Assembly. Peter is also the Co-Chair of the GDHP Evidence and Evaluation Work Stream.
Peter has been a Chief Information/Digital Officer in the healthcare portfolio in the public service since 2009 and has held senior roles with the National Health & Medical Research Council, the National Blood Authority and ACT Health. Peter was named as Technology Leader of the Year 2024 by itnews.
A Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders, a Senior Member & Certified Professional of the Australian Computer Society and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Peter is never bored and is always up to something.
Rachel Green is one of Australia’s leading innovators in mental health strategy and reform, digital service design, lived experience leadership and large-scale implementation.
As CEO of SANE Australia, Rachel is responsible for the national delivery of digital resources and support services to Australians living with complex mental health needs. In this role, Rachel has led the co-design, development and implementation of Australia’s first digital psychosocial recovery and support platform, incorporating a range of tailored supports that are currently utlised by almost 200,000 Australians each year.
Prior to joining SANE, Rachel held senior executive roles in mental health reform, policy development and program implementation. This included establishment of the National Mental Health Commission, authoring the Contributing Life Framework, developing Australia’s first national consumer paid participation policy and producing the first National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Rachel also directed implementation of the $14m multi-site Black Dog Institute LifeSpan suicide prevention research trial and supported implementation of the Australian National Suicide Prevention Trial across the country.
Rachel designed and implemented an Australian-first trial of a peer-led residential suicide prevention and recovery pilot called ‘SPARC’, opened Sydney’s first peer-led residential Prevention and Recovery Centre and designed and delivered eFriend, an Australian-first virtual peer warm line built to support mental health impacts in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rachel is driven by her passion for lived experience-led design of innovative services to meet the ever-growing need for support for both individuals and families facing mental health issues and suicide.
We don’t just want to reimagine the health sector — we want to help rebuild it.
Around the world, the health sector is being reimagined in the face of aging populations, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, growth in emerging markets and shifting reimbursement models. Health care organisations must address these challenges while mastering the digital innovation that offers both opportunities and threats. Technology empowers patients, real-time analytics improves care and enables a mind shift toward prevention — but also opens the door to new nontraditional competitors.
At EY, we work with you to reposition and optimise your business models, people strategies and operational structures to address cost pressures, while leveraging the potential of analytics and technologies to improve quality of care.
In this way, we help health organisations stay competitive and deliver better patient outcomes.
Contact: Heidi Riddell, Oceania Health and Human Services Leader, [email protected]
Avant Practice Solutions (APS) supports thousands of Australian doctors and healthcare practices to unlock their potential by providing products & services that minimise disruption and enhance operational efficiency. At the forefront of healthcare innovation, APS proudly offers VoiceBox, an AI-powered hands-free clinical documentation tool. Alongside VoiceBox, APS also offers a comprehensive suite of services, from medical bookkeeping, consulting services and billings solutions.
Cgov provides customised, cloud-based solutions designed to meet the unique needs of healthcare organisations. From credentialing and incident reporting, to managing staff health records and medical workforce operations, Cgov streamlines critical processes across the healthcare system. Cgov’s mission is to simplify complex workflows so healthcare teams can focus on delivering better outcomes. With its No-Code Toolkit, healthcare organisations can adapt quickly, meet evolving demands, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
At iMedX, our mission is to provide solutions that give time and money back to care.
What we do
iMedX an Health Information Management partner, are industry leaders in clinical documentation and revenue cycle management solutions. Our solutions leverage AI technology to drive further operational and cost efficiencies.
Driven by our commitment to innovation and quality, iMedX delivers trusted AI capabilities and expertise to the healthcare industry whilst keeping humans-in-the-loop, providing healthcare providers with state-of-the-art tools to streamline their workflows.
Our Solutions
Our end-to-end clinical documentation solutions include AI-assisted tools, professional services, and seamless integration options, all securely hosted on the market leading eSOne platform exclusively through iMedX.
End to end revenue cycle management professional services powered by iMedX HIM Companion Suite, with AI enabled clinical coding accuracy, workflow management and coder educator companion tools.
Prof Peter Steele
The University of Melbourne, Director – Centre for Digital Transformation of Health, and inaugural Chief Transformation Officer – Royal Melbourne Hospital
Clinical AI in Australia: Translational Strategy and the Meso-Level ImperativeProfessor Peter Steel is an emergency physician and digital health leader advancing clinical artificial intelligence and technology-enabled care to improve health system performance and patient outcomes. He serves as Professor at the University of Melbourne, Director of the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health (CDTH), and inaugural Chief Transformation Officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he leads the integration of clinical informatics, AI, and digital innovation into clinical care and health system operations. Prior to joining the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, he held senior clinical and academic leadership roles at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, including Vice Chair for Clinical Services in the Department of Emergency Medicine. His research examines the development and real-world implementation of clinical artificial intelligence, data-driven decision support, and digital innovations to improve health system performance and transitions of care.
Dr Lila Landowski
Bioscience Lead (Hobart), Unit Coordinator, Lecturer, Neuroscientist, University of Tasmania
How neuroscience can help us understand patient engagement in healthcarePatient engagement is often treated as a question of motivation or compliance – but what if I told you it isn’t that simple
Every healthcare interaction is shaped by the brain’s response to stress, trust and cognitive load. When patients feel overwhelmed, unheard, unsafe or unwell, their capacity to process information, make decisions and follow through with care can be significantly reduced.
Neuroscientist Dr Lila Landowski explores what happens in the brain during physical and emotional stressors, and why human connection is not merely a “soft skill,” but an essential part of effective care. Drawing on the neuroscience of stress, learning, trust, communication, and behaviour change, she helps clinicians and healthcare organisations cultivate skills to reduce friction, build empathy, strengthen therapeutic relationships and help patients become more active partners in their health.
Lila has a strong personal focus on community health and wellbeing, making the wonderful world of science more accessible to the community through radio, TV, public talks and in print and digital media. The TEDx speakers’ achievements include receiving the Premier’s Young Achiever of the Year and an AIPS Young Tall Poppy award, as well as being a finalist for an Australian Museum Eureka Award and Young Australian of the Year. She was featured in the documentary “Catching Opportunity,” and has appeared in two episodes of ABC’s new docuseries Secret Science (Brain training and The Senses). Lila was named one of ABC Science Show’s Top 100 Scientists, and was named as one of Australia’s top 20 Scientists by the Herald Sun.
A leading voice in STEM and advocacy, Lila holds honorary titles such as “Superstar of STEM,” and has been an ambassador for public school education, a Patron of Science, and was named a “Science superhero” by Australia’s Chief Scientist.
As a neuroscientist, Lila’s research expertise is in axon guidance, neural repair mechanisms and therapeutic development for nerve damage. In 2014, after completing her PhD at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, Lila trained at the Peripheral Nerve lab at the Mayo Clinic to cement her status as an emerging leader in the field of peripheral nerve injury. She was recruited to teach and coordinate neuroscience units at the Wicking Dementia Centre at the same time. In recent years, her research focus has shifted from peripheral neuropathy to stroke and fatigue. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Professor David Howells. For several months (from August 2016 – April 2017), Lila spent time as a visiting scholar at the Florey Institute’s Melbourne Brain Centre (Austin Hospital, Melbourne), developing surgical skills and a novel model of stroke to bring back to UTAS. With the support of a $450,000 investment from the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation, her foremost research goal is to transform the success of pre-clinical stroke research.
Lila has taught into courses at the University of Tasmania for 15 years, working across various subjects for Medicine, Medical Research, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Science, Nursing, Dementia Care and Paramedicine She has been awarded two of the university’s highest honours; a Vice Chancellors citation for early career teaching, and a Vice Chancellors citation for community engagement.
Lila has a strong personal focus on the importance of science communication, public outreach, and community health and well-being.
Jonas Petersen
Chief Digital Officer, Department of the Premier and Cabinet WA
Learnings from Digital Health in DenmarkJonas Petersen is the Chief Digital Officer at the Office of Digital Government in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. The Office leads, supports and coordinates the digital transformation of the public sector in our State. It helps agencies change the way they work and reorientates their services and processes around the needs of people and businesses, rather than the structures of government.
Jonas started his role in January 2020 after arriving from Denmark, one of the world’s leading countries in the delivery of digital health and digital services. He now oversees the WA Government’s Digital Strategy, the administration of the more than $1 billion Digital Capability Fund, the Government’s work to address the digital divide, and the State’s participation in Australian Data and Digital Ministers’ meetings.
Dr Osama Elhassan
Chairman and Co-Founder ZIMAM
Lessons on Health Information Exchanges from the UAEDr Osama Elhassan is a Software Engineer by training with more than 20 years of extensive digital health experience and qualifications. He is recognized as a leading figure in digital health committed to enhancing healthcare services at local, regional and international levels.
After many years in academia, he joined Dubai Health Authority since 2012 to shape and drive its ambitious digital health strategy which includes several transformative initiatives and regulatory frameworks.
Currently at the helm of a prominent NGO namely the International Digital Health Workforce Development Collaborative (ZIMAM) which is dedicated to empower digital health workforce and professionalize the digital health domain across the MENA region. Dr Elhassan has extensive exposure to a number of health professional organizations’ board appointments such as the International Committee of HL7, the International Society of Telemedicine and eHealth (ISfTeH) and the UAE Health Informatics Society.
Dr Elhassan has been awarded a lifetime fellowship of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) and the HMSS Changemakers Award for 2025 as a recognition of his achievements. He holds a Master degree in Advanced Computing from Imperial College (UK) and a PhD in Software Architecture from University of Leicester (UK). He is propelled by his fervent dedication to advancing the digital health domain through innovation, collaboration and strategic leadership.
Tracey Duffy
First Assistant Secretary, Medical Devices and Product Quality Division. Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
TBATracey Duffy is the First Assistant Secretary of the Medical Devices and Product Quality Division in Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Her current responsibilities include the regulation of Medical Devices including software medical devices and artificial intelligence when its intended purpose is therapeutic and meets the definition of a medical device. Tracey has held several leadership roles within the Department of Health, Ageing and Disability and has private sector experience including consultant advisory roles.
Prof Alastair Denniston (via Zoom)
Professor of Regulatory Science and Innovation, University of Birmingham
SESSION:Professor Alastair Denniston is Chair of the UK’s National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, an NIHR Senior Investigator, Professor in Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham, and a clinician at University Hospitals Birmingham NHSFT. He is Director of the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation in AI & Digital Health (CERSI-AI), is a Member of the UK Government’s Regulatory Horizons Council and is Non-Executive Director to the UK’s Health Research Authority. He is passionate about supporting innovation in advanced digital and AI health technologies to accelerate the development of products that are effective, safe, and equitable, and that make a difference to people in the ‘real world’.
