Associate Professor Kirsty Douglas (MBBS, Dip. RACOG, MD, FRACGP) is Acting Director of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute at The Australian National University. After completing her undergraduate training in medicine at the University of Adelaide, Professor Douglas undertook doctoral studies at Oxford, investigating the epidemiology of eclampsia in the United Kingdom. Returning to Australia she completed her GP specialty training and took up practice in Canberra. She later joined the staff of the University of Sydney Canberra Clinical School and then the ANU Medical School where, as initial Acting Associate Dean for Rural and Community, she helped to establish the medical school’s GP and population health curricula and its Rural Clinical School. Professor Douglas’ prime focus during the formative years of the ANU Medical School has been on curriculum development and teaching but she has maintained a research interest in childhood obesity and general practice workforce issues and social epidemiology. Throughout this time she has continued to work in clinical general practice initially in private and over the last 12 months at the local Aboriginal Controlled Medical Service Winnunga Nimmityjah.

Laurann Yen (B.Sc. Psych, M. Psych.) is a consultant to APHCRI and a Visiting Fellow at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy. A clinical psychologist by training, she worked for a number of years in community health practice in Tasmania and South Australia, before moving into health services management. She has held executive positions in health services management and planning in Australia and the UK, most recently as the General Manager of ACT Community Health. In the UK she was involved in national and regional planning and management of the GP fundholding initiative as Assistant Director of Primary Care with Yorkshire Regional Health Authority; and worked extensively in primary care development with the Office for Public Management, where she was a Fellow. Laurann provides leadership and research support to the SCIPPS project as Research Director

Dr Yun-Hee Jeon (RN, BHSc (Nursing), MN, PhD) is a Fellow at APHCRI. A registered nurse, Dr Jeon has had extensive teaching experience in both Australia and Korea . She has supervised post-graduate students and taught nursing research and clinical practice at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr Jeon is also a credentialed mental health nurse. Dr Jeon's research interests include chronic illness management, nursing workforce, dementia care, respite care, and qualitative research methodology. She has been involved in local and international collaborative research projects in the aged care/mental health nursing areas, and received several national competitive grants. She is a member of the Primary Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, and serves on its Advisory Committee. She is an active member of Research Board of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and participates in numerous national and international professional organisations within mental health nursing, gerontology and psychogeriatrics. At APHCRI Dr Jeon will be Research Director (ACT) for the Serious and Continuing Illness: Policy and Practice Study (SCIPPS).

Mr Ian McRae (BSc, Msc, BA) is an APHCRI Research Fellow. He has submitted his PhD which explores the economics of the general practice market in Australia, and has previously worked with APHCRI in evaluating a diabetes program in a GP division. Prior to commencing his PhD Ian spent five years at the Department of Health and Ageing managing a range of programs, including GP financing issues like MBS schedule items and the practice incentives program. After his initial studies in statistics Ian worked in the Australian Bureau of Statistics before moving into the Bureau of Labour Market Research to set up what was then Australia’s largest longitudinal survey of the labour market. He then moved to the Department of Finance where he managed the team whose role was the oversight of health policy, before moving to the Department of Health. Ian’s interests are in health policy and financing, including the economic assessment of new technologies and new approaches to the delivery of health care.

Mr Robert Wells is Executive Director of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at The Australian National University. He has a broad role to work across the ANU in the areas of health research and policy analysis, including a number of projects in the fields of primary health care and workforce policy. He participates in national committees advising governments on research and medical training. Mr Wells is a former a first assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Ageing where he was involved in research policy, Commonwealth/State relations, health workforce, rural health programs, safety and quality and programs for better management of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and mental health. Mr Wells managed the Commonwealth's health workforce programs from the early 1990's. He chaired the Medical Training Review Panel and represented the Commonwealth on the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC), the Australian Health Workforce Officials Committee (AHWOC) and the Australian Medical Council (AMC). He has chaired a number of workforce committees established under the auspices of the Australian Health Ministers Council, including working parties on national medical registration and specialist medical training and has represented Australia internationally on medical workforce matters.

APHCRI's new Institute Manager joins us in mid-March.

Ms Frith Rayner (BA, Post-grad Dip J) is the Program Co-ordinator: Communications and Policy Liaison at the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute. She was a journalist for eight years working in general and sports reporting in New Zealand, before moving to the United Kingdom and specialising in health and medical politics reporting in 2001. She continued her interest in health care after moving to Australia in 2004 and joined the Institute in 2005. In her role with the Institute she works with the Hub and Spokes to increase the profile of the research, increase it's uptake into policy and achieve the strategic goals of the Institute using communication and media tools.

Mrs Rena Irby is an Administrative Support Officer for the Institute. She is the first point of contact for the Institute, receiving APHCRI's incoming mail, email and phone calls and provides secretarial support and administrative assistance to the Director, Deputy Director and Institute Manager. Rena has been a member of ANU since November 2004, but has many years of previous clerical and public relations experience in private enterprise.

Ms Kimberley Brady is an Administrative Support Officer for the Institute. She provides administrative and secretarial assistance for the Institute staff, and is responsible for managing appointments, mail and phones. She is a recent graduate of the Australian National University, where she majored in Politics and International Relations.

Ms Anna Gear (BSc Med) is a research assistant at the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute. Anna is in her second year of the post-graduate medical program at ANU. Anna is working with Professor Glasgow in supporting APHCRI research and consultancy work.