PAUL JURY

Chair and Channel 7 Foundation Member

Paul’s involvement with the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation commenced in 1983, volunteering his time to assist with the annual Christmas Appeal telethon event.

This coincided with the beginning of his career in television, and is ongoing.

Paul formally joined the Board of the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation in 2016 and was elected as Deputy Chair in 2018, also joining the Finance Committee at that time.

His skills and expertise developed as Operations Manager at Channel Seven over many years, provide the Board with a clear corporate strategic input .

Paul’s goal is to continue to build upon this outstanding foundation in collaboration with the Board to provide funds for research to improve the health and wellbeing of children.

STEPHEN WOOLLEY

Deputy Chair and Channel 7 Foundation Member

Stephen joined the Board in 2012 as one of the Foundation members and Board members representing Seven Adelaide and is the current chair of the Nominations committee and current member of the Finance committee.

After graduating from the University of South Australia (Business), Stephen’s background has largely been in the advertising industry having started in 1989 with a business consultancy working on various research projects and production elements. This opened up the opportunity to work in a full service advertising agency environment moving from a production role to media manager for several advertising companies.  In 2004 Stephen was asked join the Seven Network as the Sales Manager before being appointed Sales Director in 2007.

Stephen’s goal is to continue to evolve the Foundation’s contribution within the research and wider community of South Australia.

GREG WARD

Executive Director

Greg took up the position of Executive Director and Board Member of the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation in 2016 following his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Novita Services.

Following a 19 year career in the Royal Australian Navy, Greg has held a number of challenging positions in civil infrastructure, manufacturing, global defence businesses and ICT project management, both in South Australia and overseas.

Greg is a firm advocate for generating new knowledge and building research capability in South Australia to improve the health and wellbeing of children.

JONATHON GRANT

Treasurer

Jonathan joined the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation Board as Treasurer and appointed member of the Finance Committee. As a Certified Practicing Accountant with qualifications in Finance and Commerce, Jonathon is Company Secretary and Director of the Board with Novita Services. He has more than 20 years finance experience having worked in banking, retail, construction, agriculture and the disability services sector with responsibility for delivering financial, accounting and business analysis service. When not working Jonathon is likely to be coaching or enjoying sports.

PROFESSOR KEVIN FORSYTH

Chair Research Committee and Co-opted by the Board

Kevin Forsyth is Presiding Chair of the South Australian Medical Education and Training Advisory Council, a Ministerial appointment. He is President of IPALA, the International Pediatric Academic Leaders’ Association and Chair of the GPI, the Global Pertussis Initiative.

Kevin’s children’s research interests are significant and include airway immunology of infants, in particular disease mechanisms of bronchiolitis, pertussis disease and immunisation policy, mechanisms of peanut allergy, and the vulnerable infant. His education interests include curriculum design and reform, supervision, e-learning and the intersection of pathways between medical school, pre-vocational and vocational training, as well as global child health, leadership development and child health workforce enhancement.

PROFESSOR HELEN MARSHALL AM

Women’s and Children’s Health Network

Helen Marshall AM is a clinician researcher and NHMRC Practitioner Fellow with specialist training in child health, public health and vaccinology and holds various roles, including Clinical Research Director, Women’s and Children’s Health Network; Child and Adolescent Health theme leader and Deputy Director of the Robinson Research Institute; Medical Director of the Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit, VIRTU; Research Leader, Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Group in the Robinson Research Institute; Consultant and Professor in Vaccinology at the Adelaide Medical School 

Helen has previously been a member of the ATAGI and has received multiple accolades for her research.  She is the 2022 SA Australian of the Year, SA Woman of the Year and Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Leader of the Year.

Helen is a Fellow of the Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and has over 250 peer-reviewed publications.

PROFESSOR CAROL MAHER

University of South Australia

Carol Maher is a Research Professor in the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA) at the University of South Australia.

Carol is a Specialty Chief Editor for Frontiers in Digital Health and a Senior Editor for BMC Public Health. She is passionate about improving people’s lifestyle and health using scalable, system-level approaches, designed and delivered in partnership with community and healthcare organisations.

GREG De CURE

Novita

Greg was appointed as Novita’s representative on the CRF Board in 2011.  As a former Senior Planning Officer at the University of Adelaide and Executive Officer of the University’s Planning and Budgeting Committee, Greg brings a significant level of planning and governance expertise to the Board.  In addition to these roles, he has served as Dep.uty Chair of the University of Adelaide Club and Treasurer of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in South Australia, and is an ongoing member of Novita’s Business Development Committee, and the Finance Committees of both Novita and the CRF.

PROFESSOR CLAIRE ROBERTS

Flinders University

Claire Roberts is an inaugural NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Matthew Flinders Professor at Flinders University. She was President of the International Federation of Placenta Associations (2017-2021) and is Co-Convenor of Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA). She is Director of the Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory (PHaB Lab). She is an internationally recognized authority and thought leader in placenta research. Claire is Scientific Director of the Adelaide SCOPE and STOP pregnancy cohorts and has developed algorithms for use as screening tools to predict which women are at risk of developing major pregnancy complications including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Her research shows that pregnancy complications identify young women and their children who are at risk of future chronic disease. She has a particular interest in modifiable risk factors for poor health in pregnancy and for the mother and child in the future. She has over 220 refereed publications.

PROFESSOR AMANDA PAGE

The University of Adelaide

Amanda Page is a leading authority on vagal innervation of the gastrointestinal tract and how this relates to major disease states, including obesity. Her research has involved pioneering studies on the phenotypic specialisation of vagal sensory endings, and a substantial amount of work on how they may be modulated pharmacologically. She graduated with a BSc(Hon) in Pharmacology at Liverpool University before embarking on a PhD within the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College London. In 1995, on completion of her PhD, she moved to Adelaide, South Australia to take up a research position in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital before moving across to the University of Adelaide. Her research group, the Gastrointestinal Vagal Afferent Research Group, forms part of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute’s (SAHMRI) Nutrition, Diabetes and Gut Health Program for which she is Director.

CHANTELLE HUGO

Channel 7

Chantelle joined the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation Board and Finance Committee as a Channel 7 representative in 2019.

LIBBY RAYNER

Channel 7 Foundation Member

Libby joined the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation Board as a Channel 7 representative in December 2012.

Libby commenced working at the Seven Network in 1999 as a researcher and librarian for 7NEWS, before moving into marketing and promotion and then the role of Publicity and Programming Manager for Channel 7 Adelaide.

Libby is now the General Manager of PR, Communications and Community at SkyCity Adelaide.

As the mother of two young girls, she’s passionate about raising awareness and promotion of the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation to help prevent conditions affecting the health of children.

MIKE SMITHSON

Channel 7 

Mike Smithson is News Presenter and Chief Reporter at Channel 7 Adelaide.

He has more than four decades experience in newspaper and television news gathering in Adelaide and internationally, being the Network’s European correspondent for two and a half years.

Mike was chief political reporter for 25 years, where he earned the SA Journalist of the Year award, before turning his attention to full-time news presenting.

He was also a long-standing member of the University of Adelaide Media Advisory Board and has been President of the SA Press Club for the past three years.

Over his journalistic journey, he’s been a weekly radio commentator on ABC Adelaide and FIVEaa and a columnist with the Advertiser and Sunday Mail.

In his various capacities, Mike’s been an ambassador for organisations including Legacy.

He’s a keen mountain hiker and is married to Fiona who has considerable not-for-profit executive experience.

They have two adult children, Matt and Emma, who both work in Communications.