Indigenous Advisory Board

Professor Alex Brown (BMed, MPH, PhD, FRACP (hon.), FCSANZ,  FAAHMS) is the Professor of Indigenous Genomics at Telethon Kids Institute and the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics at ANU. Alex is an internationally leading Aboriginal clinician/researcher who has worked his entire career in Aboriginal health in the provision of public health services, chronic disease care, health care policy and research. He has established four highly regarded research groups over the last 20 years, and much of his work has been at the difficult interface of geographical isolation, complex cultural context, severe socioeconomic disadvantage, inequitable access to and receipt of care and profound health disparities. His transdisciplinary program of research focuses on documenting the burden and contributors to health inequality in Indigenous Australians, with a primary focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer, and exploring the role of genomics in reducing health inequalities.

Tracey Brand is an Eastern Arrernte woman, born and raised in Alice Springs and a decedent of the Stolen Generations. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service; an Aboriginal community-controlled health service in Perth.

Tracey has over thirty years of experience in leading Aboriginal service delivery across Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, especially in the areas of Aboriginal health, housing, early childhood and family services. She holds a strong commitment in addressing the broader social determinants of Aboriginal health.

Tracey holds a Master of Business Leadership, Master of Business Administration and a Masters of Arts in Aboriginal Administration.

Ngiare is a Yuin nation woman from the south coast of NSW. She is a medical practitioner with qualifications in medicine, public health and primary care, has studied bioethics, medical law and human rights. She was the first identified Aboriginal medical graduate from NSW. Ngiare is a founding member of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA); and the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors’ Congress (PRIDoC).

Ngiare is convening a governance council for a biorepository for Indigenous genomic research. She has extensive national and international networks in Indigenous health and social justice, including the UN system.

Ngaire has made extensive contributions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, research process, bioethics, policy, translation and practice. She is dedicated to Aboriginal child and adolescent wellbeing and supporting communities to develop initiatives on cultural education and breaking the intergenerational cycles of disparity.

Allan was the inaugural Institute Director of the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global from 2007 until 2019, working on vaccines for enteric diseases and Group A streptococcus.

Prior to this, Allan worked on the development of malaria vaccines, malaria epidemiology and laboratory-based research in malaria antigen identification. Allan held previous appointments as co-branch chief of the Malaria Vaccine Development Branch, NIH and at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia.

Allan now is active on the advisory boards of multiple international vaccine development and funding programs, especially for diseases of Low- and Middle-Income Countries.