Consumer and Community Advisory Committee

Consumer and Community Advisory Committee

The George Institute for Global Health, Australia is proud to announce the establishment of its Consumer and Community Advisory Committee (CCAC).

The CCAC provides consumer leadership at The George Institute Australia. It functions at the organisational level and works with Institute leaders.

The objective of the CCAC is to ensure the research The George Institute does is relevant, important and makes the biggest difference to the Australian population.

    • Inform the Institute’s programs of work including identifying areas of need within the community
    • Inform CCI strategies and support functions to facilitate partnerships between researchers, consumers, and community members
    • Promote the Institute’s work, ensuring that relevant communications are appropriate for consumers and the wider community
    • Encourage others to participate in the Institute’s consumer and community network

    The first meeting of the CCAC was December 2021 and the committee meets bi-monthly.

    1. Develop key documents that outline the strategy, approaches and policies regarding Consumer and Community Involvement at the Institute.
    2. Work with research leaders to build relationships and develop CCI plans for research programs.
    3. Develop and implement strategies for growing the Institute’s Consumer and Community Network in Australia and how to keep the Network engaged.
    4. Develop and action communication strategies that align with the above – for both internal and external audiences.

    Brian A. Beh

    Brian a beh

    Inaugural Chair, CCAC

    Brian is a stroke survivor, who sustained a stroke in 2016. Since this time, he has been involved in stroke advocacy and clinical research projects, as an investigator and a consumer with lived experience. He shares blogs on social media about various aspects of stroke and stroke rehabilitation. In 2021 he received the Stroke Foundation of Australia’s ‘Improving Life After Stroke’ Award in recognition of his efforts in this area. Brian retired in 2012 after a career spanning 3 decades in corporate communications in the Australian Financial Services Industry. Late in his career he became involved in Organisational/Workplace Cultural Programs, Management Consulting, Project Management and Change Management and would regularly speak at conferences in Australia and abroad. Since having his stroke, he now regularly shares his stroke story with stroke clinicians and students and incorporates his broad corporate experience to share his insights on service delivery.

    Brian says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to develop and nurture the integration of ‘lived experience’ into The George Institute’s mission and strategic vison.

    Fiona Clay

    Former Chair, CCAC, 2023

    Fiona has lived experience of a vascular condition affecting the spinal cord, and carer experience with family members diagnosed with cancer. Over many years, she has contributed the consumer and carer perspective, initially to medical workforce committees and more recently with the Transport Accident Commission and Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. Fiona is a member of the Health Issues Centre and Cochrane Consumer Network and has been a Consumer Buddy at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. She is a former health and biomedical researcher who worked for the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (1987-2003). She has a PhD in Injury Epidemiology and currently works part-time in policy coordination. She brings her knowledge of the research process, together with experience managing research committees and lived experience of healthcare in Melbourne.

    Fiona says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to foster research informed by the lived experience and contribute to better health systems.

    Fiona clay

    John Clements

    John Clements

    Member of the CCAC

    John is a carer advocate whose first exposure to the health sector was in palliative care in 2016 when his late wife reached the end stage of her illness (pancreatic cancer). Since that time, he has become involved in a range of activities with institutions covering the areas of medical research, clinical trials, general medicine, palliative care, and voluntary assisted dying. John is a member of many health committees and advisory groups at the local, state, and national levels – the Consumer Health Forum among them – including the Safety and Quality in Health and Digital Health Special Interest groups. He takes part in local and national patient, carer and consumer registers and gets involved with research studies of interest. John also brings more than 30 years of IT experience, including over 20 years of applications testing.

    John says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to provide input to facilitate improvements in clinical trials.

    Lynda (Lyn) Whiteway

    Member of the CCAC

    Lyn is a sepsis survivor who advocates strongly for all clinicians to ask themselves the question, “could it be sepsis?” when faced with a deteriorating patient. Lyn is a consumer advocate involved in state, national and international committees. She is a member of the Health Consumer Advocacy Network (South Australia), Consumer Health Forum, COTA For older Australians and the Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health’s Community of Consumers. Lyn has been involved in research as a consumer advisor and co-designer for several years and believes consumers should be involved in research from the start of the project. She is passionate about consumer-centred care in every part of the health system, both public and private, and from primary through to tertiary care. Lyn works with her peers to ensure safety and quality within the consumer health journey.

    Lyn says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to enable consumers to become co-designers in research.

    Lyn Whiteway

    Mary Steele

    Mary Steele

    Current Chair, CCAC

    Mary is a bilateral breast cancer survivor who underwent chemotherapy and had a double mastectomy (2018-19). In 2003, she lost her son Preston, aged years, to sepsis, though sepsis was not communicated as the cause at the time – he had been suffering from viral pneumonia. Mary consequently collaborated with the Mater Foundation to establish the Preston James Fund which enabled significant advancements in respiratory research and practice for children. Ten major areas of research were supported over eight years. Mary is a member of several health committees (local, state, and national) and has been guest speaker at numerous forums on sepsis. She shares her experience to raise awareness and help improve diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for patients who develop sepsis. Mary is a professional business communication practitioner and consultant with over 30 years of experience.  She has worked as an Executive Director for the Queensland Government and is currently the director of her own company. 

    Mary says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to contribute to effective consumer engagement strategies and to specific George Institute research projects resulting in improved research process and outcomes and an increase in research funding.

    Prabir Majumdar

    Member of the CCAC

    Prabir lives in Melbourne and runs a charitable foundation that works with street and tribal children in the eastern states of India. He advocates for the primary and secondary education, health, and well-being of under-privileged and displaced populations, with a current focus on young and elderly people. He has over 20 years of experience assisting a range of government and non-government organisations to undertake evidence-based decision-making. He brings a deep understanding of consumer and community involvement principles and experience in public health, national health program design and monitoring, evaluation methodologies, impact assessments, research, training and facilitation, organisational strategy, business plan and operational plan development in a range of international and domestic contexts. He has been involved in demand-driven, multi-year National Health programs and frameworks, Participatory Action Research, and is experienced in providing input into, and review of, research grants in Australia.

    Prabir says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to contribute to the voice of the community and consumers in their health seeking behaviour.

    Prabir Majumdar

    Sam Brhaspati Stott

    Sam Brhaspati Stott

    Current Deputy Chair, CCAC

    Sam brings a service-user perspective and social justice approach to mental health research, education, and service design. She brings lived expertise to mental health research governance. Applying the tenet of 'nothing about us without us', Sam advocates for meaningful participation at all levels of study design; academic tenure by people with a lived experience of mental distress; and sharing power between researchers, academic clinicians and people who use mental health services to increase the effectiveness of research processes and outcomes. Sam is a lived experience educator and facilitator with extensive experience in consumer advocacy, peer education and consultancy roles in NSW and nationally. She completed the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation & Development program and is a member of the Independent Advisory Board for the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation.

    Sam says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to embed research partnerships with the people most affected by the research and ensure that mental health research agendas are shaped by people with a lived experience of mental distress and recovery.

    Shyamsundar (Shyam) Muthuramalingam

    Member of the CCAC

    Shyam has a PhD in chemistry. He was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2011 and underwent haemodialysis. Shyam received a transplant in 2016 and has since devoted his time and effort to advancing consumer participation in kidney research. He is the Coordinator of the National Kidney Consumer Research Network, a hub established to foster ‘research-ready’ kidney consumers across Australia and New Zealand. Shyam is the Chair of the Consumer and Community Working Group responsible for the coordination, implementation, and evaluation of a consumer engagement strategy for Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, based at SAHMRI in Adelaide. He coordinates a community of practice in consumer engagement in partnership with Health Translation SA, to develop the consumer engagement capabilities of the local health networks, universities, and research institutes in South Australia. Shyam is a consumer member of the Australian Medical Council and a consumer representative of the Clinical Advisory Committee of Kidney Health Australia.

    Shyam says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to embed consumers across all stages of research at The George Institute.

    Shyamsundar (Shyam) Muthuramalingam

    Sue Murray

    Sue Murray

    Member of the CCAC

    Sue is a health promotion advocate dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of all people. She has experience in leading organisations that fund research, design research strategy, and communicate about research to consumers. Throughout her career Sue has focused on health for the community and has expertise in communications, education, and organisational development. She currently leads the Zero Suicide Institute of Australasia which aims to support the healthcare system understand and more effectively manage those who are vulnerable to suicidal behaviour. Sue is a Director of Good2Give and ShareGift Australia, a member of Chief Executive Women and the Centre for Social Impact Sydney Advisory Council. She is formerly the CEO of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (10 years) and Suicide Prevention Australia, a director of Research Australia and Chair of Macquarie Community College.

    Sue says: “As a member of the CCAC, I hope to ensure the inclusion of service users in research processes to better match services to consumer needs.