Our Board
Dr Stewart Washer
Executive Chairman
Stewart has over 20 years of CEO and board-level experience in medical technology and biotech companies. He is currently the Chairman of Orthocell Ltd (ASX:OCC) and Cynata Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CYP).
Professor Sir John Tooke
Non-Executive Director
Sir John has 30 years’ experience as a consultant physician. He is Chair of Collaboration for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation (CASMI) UCL and chaired oversight on the Academy of Medical Sciences project ‘How we best use scientific evidence to judge the benefits and harms of medicines’. Sir John is a Non-Executive Director of BUPA Chile and chairs the Medical Advisory Council.
Dr Karen Smith
Executive Director
Dr Smith is a Biotech/Pharmaceutical Executive, Board Director and Clinical/Scientific Advisor in the US, Europe, Canada and Asia. Her breadth of experience covers over 100 clinical trials and 20+ major regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions including FDA (USA), EMA (Europe), TGA (Australia), ANVISA (Brazil), and PMDA (Japan); leading to product launches across diverse therapeutic areas including ares in oncology, rare disease, cardiology, dermatology, neuroscience, and anti-infectives. In addition to R&D and pipeline development, Dr Smith’s successful record of business development includes acquisitions, divestitures, and partnership deals.
Dr Alistair Vickery
Medical Director
Alistair is a specialist medical practitioner with over 30 years’ experience. Prior to Emyria, Alistair was an Associate Professor of Primary Health Care at the University of Western Australia and Deputy Chair of the Postgraduate Medical Council of WA.
Matt Callahan
Non-Executive Director
Matt is co-founder of Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT), Orthocell (ASX:OCC), and iCeutica Inc. He is a serial entrepreneur with extensive pharmaceutical and scheduled substances experience.
Dr Michael Winlo
Managing Director
Michael has extensive experience in leading high-growth teams. Prior to Emyria, he served as CEO of Linear Clinical Research and, before that, lived in Silicon Valley where he worked for Palantir, helping major healthcare institutions in the US and UK solve complex data integration and analysis challenges. Michael is a medical doctor with an MBA from Stanford.
Management Team
Mary-Ann Rennie
Head of Corporate Operations
Mary-Ann has over 14 years’ experience across the Pharmaceutical, Oil and Gas and Professional Services Industries in Australia and Norway. She has worked in both commercial and operational roles, with a strong focus on contract management and negotiation. Prior to starting at Emyria, Mary-Ann was Head of Business Development at a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company. Mary-Ann is passionate about healthcare and working in a company that has a focus on meeting patients unmet needs.
Tracie Ernenwein
Head of Research and Drug Development
Tracie has worked in patient care and research for over 15 years. Starting her career as an oncology registered nurse in Canada, she went on to earn degrees in public health and health management, and has spent the last 10 years managing cancer clinical trials in Australia. She is passionate about designing investigator-driven research that shapes patient care and improves the patient experience.
Joseph Ohayon
Chief Financial Officer
Joseph has over 30 years’ experience in the accounting field, has been a finance director of private companies and CFO, Company Secretary and Director of ASX listed companies. Joseph has over 10 years’ experience in the biotech industry and has an MBA in International Business.
Margaret Somerville
Clinical Systems Manager
Margaret has over 25 years’ experience in the management of medical clinics and professionals in Australia. Margaret was owner and director of a northern suburbs general practice, managing over 20 staff. She is a surveyor with AGPAL for the accreditation of general practice medical centres Australia-wide.
Alana Gooch
Care Development Manager
Alana has worked in administration and customer service for 15 years, first in general practice, then in the construction industry and now at Emyria. She is passionate about healthcare management, with a focus on measuring and improving each patient’s experience.
Dr Sebastian Roth
Data Lead/Behavioural Economist
Being originally from Perth (Australia), Sebastian spent his formative years in Singapore and Zurich (Switzerland) before returning to receive his PhD from the University of Western Australia in 2020. Although he enjoys working in several fields of research, the majority of his work has focused on behavioural economics and economic psychology topics – and in particular, on isolating causal effects when it comes to decision-making, gender differences, and preference formation.
Jessica Kennedy
Clinical Project Manager
Jess has over 10 years’ experience in health and medical research. Her background is in clinical trials, including study start-up and coordination experience for a variety of sponsored and investigator led studies. Specialising in the ethics and governance of research, she has a passion for understanding and improving patient experiences during clinical trials. Jess has completed her Master of Public Health at Curtin University with a focus on health policy and has an eager and committed interest in supporting the health of vulnerable population groups.
Dr Wayne Aston
Project Manager
Wayne has been working in the Medical and Research sectors for 7 years. Wayne has a PhD in cancer immunology. He has successfully completed courses in entrepreneurship and digital health innovation. He is an alumni of the Perth BioDesign program and is passionate about accelerating the use of digital healthcare technologies to improve the circumstances of others.
Adrienne Elks
Project Manager
Adrienne has over a decade’s experience coordinating complex projects and tenders across a range of industries and helping individuals and organisations visualise – and improve – their processes. Prior to joining Emyria, she worked in various process improvement roles at Linear Clinical Research and before that, she worked as a bid manager, travelling around the country to help the likes of PwC, Spotless and G4S win new business.
Claudia Sullivan
CMC Lead
Claudia has devoted most of her career to the Pharma industry. Claudia brings to Emyria 12+ years’ experience in a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company and 8+ years within a Phase I clinical trials unit. She has a strong background in clinical research and a wide range of experience across many facets of pharmaceutical product manufacturing. Claudia has been responsible for the management and administration of Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Quality Systems and Compliance and Training under GMP and GCP regulations. Claudia is excited to be working with a talented team working to find solutions and develop new treatments that could improve the quality of life for many people.
Clinical Ambassadors
Our Clinical Ambassadors, lead by Professor Sir John Tooke, are nationally and internationally recognised as experts in their field. Their expertise includes drug discovery, formulation and registration, clinical trials, psychiatry and treatment of mental health disorders, research, learning health systems, data analysis, pain management and much more.
Our ambassadors play a vital role supporting our vision to accelerate the development and registration of new drugs and care models. The resulting new treatments can transform the lives of millions of people around the world living with conditions for which current therapies are either ineffective, cause unwanted side effects or are yet to be created
Professor Sir John Tooke
Sir John has 30 years’ experience as a consultant physician. He is Chair of Collaboration for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation (CASMI) UCL and chaired oversight on the Academy of Medical Sciences project ‘How we best use scientific evidence to judge the benefits and harms of medicines’. Sir John is a Non-Executive Director of BUPA Chile and chairs the Medical Advisory Council.
Dr Jennifer Morgan
Dr Morgan is an anaesthetist and pain specialist. She established the first private pain services at St John of God Hospital and Hollywood Hospital in Western Australia. Her interests include the prevention of acute pain developing into chronic pain and chronic pain conditions, such as neuropathic pain.
Dr Philip Finch
Dr Finch is an anaesthetist and pain specialist with over 40 years’ experience. He is Medical Director of the Perth Pain Management Centre in WA and has a specialist interest in interventions using nerve blocks and radiofrequency lesioning in a number of spinal and other structures. He is also interested in the field of neuropathic pain, specifically complex regional pain.
Dr Richard Magtengaard
Richard is Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee at Marian Centre Hospital and a member of St John Ambulance Expert Advisory Group. He remains an active member of the Australasian Military Medical Association and has developed lasting affiliations with ADF Joint Health Command, Returned Services League WA, St John Ambulance, West Australian Police, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Australian Federal Police and numerous other Ex-Service Organisations.
Dr Bill Bosch
Dr Bill Bosch is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive with more than 30 years of industry experience. He currently serves as Executive Board Director and CSO with Botanix, a medical dermatology company advancing new treatments for skin disease and infection. Previously Dr. Bosch served as CSO of iCeutica, where he pioneered the development of SoluMatrixâ„¢ drug delivery technology which is used in four FDA approved prescription drug products.
Dr Nik Zeps
Dr Zeps is the inaugural Group Director of Research for Epworth HealthCare in Melbourne, Australia. In 2017, he was the recipient of the biennial Ethics award from the NHMRC. He has served as Director of Research at SJOG HealthCare and as a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee and the Research Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Dr David Putrino
David Putrino is a physical therapist with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The University of Western Australia. David began his career as a clinician in Australia and then moved to the United States to study computational neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, MIT, and NYU. He has served as a faculty member at Weill-Cornell Medicine and Burke Medical Research Institute. David works to develop innovative technology solutions for individuals in need of better healthcare accessibility. He often works with many collaborators including the High-Performance Division at Red Bull, Not Impossible Labs, and Leaders in Sports Performance.
Dr Patty Washer
Research Consultant
Patty's experience in health and biomedical research spans over 20 years. Her background is in the intellectual property and licensing of biomedical technology. A true scientist, she is passionate about understanding and researching new therapeutic options for insomnia, chronic pain and other chronic diseases in order to inform best practice.
