Professor Lyn Beazley AO

Independent chair

Professor Beazley is an eminent scientific innovator, communicator, educator, and neuroscientist. Her experience enhances the scale and focus of the Centre’s outreach and education activities, and ensures it meets its strategic aims.

Lyn has served as Chief Scientist of Western Australia (2006-2013), and on numerous bodies advising State and Federal Governments, including advisory boards to the Australian Research Council, the Australian Synchrotron, and Western Australia’s Low Emissions Energy Development (LEED) Fund. Lyn is currently the Chair of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network Advisory Board and serves on the National Blood Authority Board.

She was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2009, and made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering later that year.

Lyn is Western Australia’s Australian of the Year 2015. In 2017, she received Honorary Doctorates from Monash University and Edith Cowan University.

@lynbeazley

Dr Amanda Caples

Government and bio-industry advisory member

Dr Amanda Caples advises the Brain Function CoE on opportunities for government engagement and potential links with industry, drawing on her significant experience in this area.

Dr Caples is currently Lead Scientist at the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.

Previously, she had responsibility for Victoria’s science and innovation policy and programs, including research infrastructure such as the Australian Synchrotron; the design and implementation of successive Victorian Biotechnology Strategic Development Plans; and major medical research capital developments across Melbourne, including the Parkville, Monash (Clayton), Austin and Alfred research precincts.

Prior to her appointment to the Department, Dr Caples held executive positions with international and local pharmaceutical companies, specialising in technology transfer and business development.

Professor David Van Essen

International scientific advisory member

Professor Van Essen facilitates cooperation between the Brain Function CoE, the Human Connectome Project, and its successor Lifespan Connectome Development and Aging projects, which are generating maps of healthy brain circuits across the lifespan. The Human Connectome Project was established in 2010 with US$30 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Lifespan Connectome projects were launched in 2016.

David is a Principal Investigator for the Lifespan Connectome Development and Aging projects. He is Alumni Endowed Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St Louis, USA.

He is internationally known for his research on the structure, function, connectivity, development, and evolution of cerebral cortex in humans and non-human primates. In 2017, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Ulf Eysel

International scientific advisory member

Professor Eysel facilitates cooperation between the Brain Function CoE and the European research community, and advises on developing the impact and significance of our research.

Ulf is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences and former President of the German Neuroscience Society.

He is principal investigator and executive board member of the Collaborative Research Centre Integration and representation of sensory processes, and speaker of the International Graduate School of Neuroscience, both at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

Dr Jeanette Pritchard

Cross-sector and multidisciplinary project management advisory member

Dr Jeanette Pritchard is the Executive Officer for the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation, whose mission is to keep Australian otolaryngology, head and neck cancer at the forefront of world clinical and scientific practise.

Jeanette has over 23 years’ experience working on multidisciplinary and cross-sector initiatives, with a focus on healthcare-related technologies. She has managed and led a number of complex medical technology programs from within academic, commercial and government-funded organisations, in all cases working closely with internationally renowned clinical specialists, engineers and biomedical scientists.

Previous to her current role, Jeanette was the Chief Operating Officer of the Monash Vision Group.

Dr Allan Jones

International neurotechnology and scientific advisory member

Dr Jones connects the Brain Function CoE to large-scale research initiatives such as the US BRAIN Initiative, and the EU’s Human Brain Project. He also advises the Centre on data access and neurotechnology.

He is CEO of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, leading an ambitious project to build an open, online, interactive atlas of the human brain. The non-profit Institute was established in 2003 with a $100 million founding donation by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Dr Jones previously worked in the biotechnology industry, including at Merck and Co.

@allen_institute

Professor John Funder AO

National scientific advisory member

Professor Funder is a renowned Australian scientist with significant experience managing large collaborative projects, enriching our ability to coordinate research across the Centre’s nodes.

John is a Distinguished Scientist at Hudson Institute of Medical Research at Monash Medical Centre, and a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne.

He has published over 600 scientific papers.

Dr Stella Clark

Dr Stella Clark has unique expertise and genuine interest in facilitating scientific endeavours across organisations both public and private. She has worked at senior and executive levels and enjoys enabling cooperative, beneficial, innovative ventures.

Dr Clark’s business acumen comes from running a small not-for-profit public company. She is deeply committed to health and biosciences and is keen to promote the development of young scientists and future leaders of science. She excels at fostering connections between senior people and in assisting the development of meaningful relationships.

Her areas of interest cover policy and program development as well as tackling communication and gender challenges. Dr Clark is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.