Board of directors
Our Board of directors is responsible for the guidance, risk management and strategic direction of Hudson Institute.

Dr Robert (Bob) Edgar AM
BEcon (Hons), PhD (Ohio State), FAICD
Dr Edgar has extensive experience in financial services, including 25 years at ANZ Bank where he retired as Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He is a director of La Trobe Financial Services (Deputy Chairman).
Special Responsibilities: Board Chair

Professor Christina Mitchell AO
MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAHMS
Prof Mitchell is the Academic Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. Prof Mitchell is a physician-scientist, specialising in clinical haematology. In 2011, she was the first woman appointed Dean of Medicine among the group of eight universities in Australia. In 2015, Prof Mitchell was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women for her leadership as the Dean and also received the Lemberg Medal, which is awarded annually to a distinguished Australian biochemist. Prof Mitchell is an Order of Australia award recipient for distinguished service to medicine in the field of haematology, to medical education and research, and to academic leadership. In 2015, Prof Mitchell became a member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She is also a director on the boards of Burnet Institute and The Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Medical Advisory Board.

Professor Warwick Anderson AO
BS (Hons) UNE, PhD (Adelaide), DUniv (Adelaide), FAHA (Int), FRCPA (Hon), FAAHMS, DH (Newcastle)
Prof Anderson was previously Secretary-General of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization. He was previously CEO of the NHMRC and a member of numerous international medical research bodies. Prof Anderson is an Emeritus Professor at Monash University, and Chair of Global Biodata Coalition. He has held academic and research positions at Monash University, The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, The University of Sydney and Harvard Medical School.

Mr Andrew Leyden
BComm
Mr Leyden is Managing Director and CEO of Lazard Australia Pty Ltd, an independent corporate advisory firm. He has worked in the investment banking industry in Australia for over 30 years and has experience across a range of industries, including healthcare, energy, infrastructure, resources and financial services.
Special Responsibilities: Chair, Investment Committee; Hudson Foundation member

Ms Zita Peach
BSc, FAICD, FAMI
Ms Peach is a non-executive director with experience on ASX listed, government and not-for-profit boards. She has also worked in senior leadership roles as Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of Fresenius Kabi, Vice-President of Business Development at CSL Limited and Commercial Director at Merck Sharp Dohme. Ms Peach has extensive experience in commercialising technologies, licensing, mergers and acquisitions. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute. She is also a director on the boards of Starpharma Holdings Limited (Non executive), Monash IVF Group Limited, Visioneering Technologies Inc, and Pacific Smiles Group Ltd (Chair).
Special Responsibilities: Chair, Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Committee

Professor Kim Cornish
BS (Hons), PhD (London)
Prof Cornish is Director of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor. Prior to joining Monash University in 2009, she was a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) at McGill University (Montréal, Canada). In 2017, Prof Cornish was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Over her 30-year career, Prof Cornish has received over $17 million in competitive grant, fellowship and philanthropic funding. Her research has been lauded for advancing knowledge and developing new approaches to treating pervasive cognitive deficits in children with developmental disorders e.g. autism and ADHD. Her work has been the catalyst for the development of novel interactive programs to help detect and train vulnerable cognition in early life, be delivered to scale, and personalised to each child’s strengths and challenges.

Mr Chris Dodd
MBA, FCAANZ
Mr Dodd is a senior partner at PwC and has 32 years of accounting and finance experience. He is married to Bernadette with five lovely teenage daughters. He provides services to clients in the ASX100 across Mining, Infrastructure, Health and many other industries. He spent two years working in the UK and shorter stints in Asia and Africa. He is also a director on the boards of The Good Foundation, Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation, and Loreto Ministries.
Special Responsibilities: Chair, Finance and Audit Committee

Mr George Ou
MBA, CPA
Mr Ou was appointed Executive Director of Financial Resources Management Division at Monash University in 2018 and leads a team responsible for developing and managing Monash’s budget and monitoring the University’s financial performance. He joined Monash in 2001 and has held various middle and senior management roles within the Finance portfolio. He has extensive experience in financial management, is a Certified Practicing Accountant with CPA Australia and holds an MBA from Monash University.
Special Responsibilities: Finance and Audit Committee member
Board Observer

Professor Andrew Stripp
BBSc (Hons), MSc (Clinical Psychology)
Adjunct Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University.
Prof Stripp is the Chief Executive at Monash Health (since 2016), which is comprised of seven hospitals and 46 community-based sites. Prior to Monash Health, he has held a number of executive roles in a variety of hospitals and health care settings; and within the State Government’s Department of Health and Human Services as the Director for the State’s mental health system, as Regional Director for Health, Housing and Community Services and as Director of Strategy. He was the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer at Alfred Health for six years. As Chief Executive, Prof Stripp is responsible for the provision of high quality, safe services in the context of sound financial management and the ongoing development of a leading academic health service.
Company Secretary

Mr Rob Merriel
BA, Grad Dip (Psych), Grad Dip (Accounting), CPA
Mr Merriel is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) with over 40 years of experience working in medical research (Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Baker Institute), large public healthcare services (Melbourne Health and Southern Health) and commercial organisations (Pacific Dunlop and Deloitte Consulting). He has been a Director of two Venture Capital Funds and a Director and Company Secretary of several biotechnology focused medical research institute spin off companies. He is Non-Executive Director of Invion Limited (ASX:IVX).
Special Responsibilities: Finance and Audit Committee Secretary, Investment Committee member, Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Committee Secretary
Board committees
Finance and Audit Committee
This committee assists the board in internal control and compliance, accounting and financial reporting and risk management processes of Hudson Institute.
Members: Mr Chris Dodd (Chair), Mr George Ou, Mr Rob Merriel (Secretary), Professor Elizabeth Hartland and Mr Alan Lahiff (Financial Accountant).
Investment Committee
This committee advises the board and director on the effectiveness of investment policies, and approves the engagement of investment managers and investment transactions.
Members: Mr Andrew Leyden (Chair), Mr Nigel Garrard, Mr Rob Merriel and Mr Alan Lahiff (Secretary).
Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Committee
This committee advises the board and director on statutory requirements for corporate governance and commercialisation of Hudson Institute’s intellectual property and related issues.
Members: Ms Zita Peach (Chair), Dr Andrew Gearing, Dr Alastair Hick, Dr Chris Smith, Dr Tony Eglezos, Mr Rob Merriel (Secretary), Professor Elizabeth Hartland, Professor Claudia Nold, Ms Carmela Monger (Business Development Manager) and Dr Kate Mackin (Business Development Coordinator).