Meet the team

Our expert team is dedicated to transforming health care through Research and Innovation to deliver Best Care to all Australians. 

Adjunct Professor Karen Smith OAM

National Director, Research & Evidence 

Karen is an accomplished health care leader and health service researcher with experience in leading large scale research programs, clinical trials, observational studies, and operational improvement programs.

She is highly skilled in attracting funding and translating research outcomes into tangible practice changes. Karen has been a chief investigator on two Centres for Research Excellence examining pre-hospital care and her research has been published in over 360 publications, and high ranking journals including the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Her expertise has been recognised by Monash University, Queensland University of Technology and Curtin University, where she serves as an Adjunct Professor.

Her hard work and dedication have been honoured with several awards, including a Top 50 Public Sector Award from the Institute of Public Administration in 2020 and an Order of Australia Medal in 2023, both of which highlight her exceptional achievements in the health care sector.

Adjunct Professor Tanya Davison

Director, Research Discovery 

Tanya is a research leader and Clinical Psychologist specialising in the mental health and wellbeing of older adults. She has conducted research in depression, anxiety, and dementia in the aged care setting for more than 20 years, leading research that demonstrates sustainable improvements in the way we care for older adults. She holds Adjunct Professor positions at Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology and Federation University, and is a Fellow of the College of Clinical Psychologists. 

Tanya has a substantial academic track record, publishing in high quality publications such as Nature Human Behaviour, Scientific Reports, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and has received significant and sustained external funding to support her research. She is currently leading an MRFF funded clinical trial of EMBED, an innovative model of care to address depression in the in home aged care setting. 

Tanya received the Alastair Heron Award for ‘applied research of exceptional quality in normal ageing or age related dementias’ from the Australian Psychological Society and was awarded the 2023 Hugh DT Williamson Innovation in Ageing International Fellowship.

Kate Symons

Director, Health Innovation

Kate is an innovation leader who develops innovation capability and delivers new health care innovations to market. Over her 15 years of experience, Kate has been responsible for growth strategy, organisational design, service innovation, and talent development in health and aged care. From roles with global consultancies and health care organisations, she has advised on how to develop new or improve existing models of care through technology enablement. She is deeply committed to driving actionable innovation through consumer, employee, partner, and stakeholder co-design and participatory implementation, enabling transformative care improvements that are adopted and sustainable.

Kate has led health care product and service innovations using assistive technologies, wearables, remote monitoring, telehealth, and artificial intelligence to improve client care, quality of life, and streamline operations.

She holds undergraduate degrees in Arts and Science, a graduate certificate in Business Management, and is currently completing a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced).

Professor Keryln Carville

Professor of Primary Health Care and Community Nursing

Keryln has extensive clinical experience in wound care and is committed to advancing best practice within these domains through research and education. Keryln was a lead researcher in the Wound Management Innovation Collaborative Research Centre. She is currently an investigator in the Australian Wound Research Alliance National Wound Care Initiative. Keryln has a joint position at Curtin University where she co-ordinates the Curtin University Postgraduate Program of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Practice in Australia and Singapore. She is the Deputy Lead of the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Wound Care Domain and the lead of the Wound Care stream.

Keryln is the Chair of the Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance and is the Evidence Chair on the International Wound Infection Institute. She was appointed a Fellow of Wounds Australia and a Life Member of the Australian Association of Stomal Therapy Nurses. Keryln has a significant track record of peer reviewed publications and texts including the internationally recognised Wound Care Manual.