Governance Committee

The Kolling Institute is an unincorporated joint venture between the Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney. Governance is provided by the Kolling Institute Governance Committee that meets on a monthly basis and provides guidance and oversight with respect to strategy and operations of the Kolling Institute, including the Work Health and Safety of all who work in the Institute.​

Governance Committee Members

Michael Nugent, FCPA FAICD. Chair

Michael Nugent is Chairman of the Governance Committee of the Kolling Institute. He was previously Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director of Goodman Fielder Limited, Australia’s largest food company and was prior to that, the Managing Director of Elders Agribusiness the major commodity trading, agricultural processing and services group. Additionally, he has held many director and managerial roles across a broad range of industries, including food, agriculture, services, transport and infrastructure. These roles have afforded the development of strong experiences and skills in, strategy formulation, the marketing of consumer and industrial products and services, R&D, manufacturing, human resources, corporate governance and risk management. 

Robyn Ward AM

Professor Robyn Ward AM FAHMS joined the University of Sydney in July 2018 as the inaugural Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health. She was the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Executive Dean (Acting) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Queensland. Professor Ward is an academic leader, cancer researcher and medical oncologist. She chairs the Commonwealth Medical Services Advisory Committee and serves on the Council and Executive of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2013 she was made Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medical research and patient care in the field of oncology.

Anthony Schembri AM

Adjunct Professor Anthony Schembri is the Chief Executive of the Northern Sydney Local Health District overseeing a $2 billion budget and a workforce of 12,000 people. His career spans leadership in various healthcare services, board appointments, hospital social work roles and adjunct professorial roles at UNSW Sydney and the Australian Catholic University. Previously, he led St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney for nearly a decade and served in diverse community roles. Anthony received the Premier's Community Service Award in 1998 and was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019. He holds multiple qualifications and is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Managers, with 30 years of social work service.

Helen Zorbas AO

Dr Helen Zorbas was Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian government’s national agency in cancer control from 2010-2019, and previous to this was CEO of National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre for seven years. Helen has been responsible for directing a number of national cancer control initiatives to improve evidence-based practice, policy and health service delivery, in both the clinical and psycho-social aspects of cancer care. She has been an author on over 66 peer reviewed publications. Her clinical experience spans almost 40 years as a GP and a specialist breast physician in both public and private healthcare settings. Helen has chaired and held positions on a number of key national government, cancer and health committees including Chair and Member of the Board, Cancer Institute NSW (2006-2009); Chair, BreastScreen Australia Evaluation Advisory Committee (2007-2009); and Member of the Health Care Committee, National Health and Medical Research Council (2009-2015). Helen is a member of the National Advisory Committee on Medicinal Use of Cannabis (since 2017), Chair of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and non- executive Director of The Hellenic Initiative Australia.

Irina White

Irina commenced as Committee Secretary, Kolling Institute Governance Committee in October 2019. Before joining Kolling Institute Irina was employed in a number of the state’s largest industry sectors: electricity, rail and education. She has served as Company Secretary to the Boards of Endeavour Energy, Integral Energy, Rail Corp, Rail Infrastructure Corporation, State Rail Authority, and Rail Services Australia. Her past experience has also included membership of executive leadership teams and holding a variety of senior executive positions such as General Manager Corporate Services, Group Manager Corporate Governance, General Manager Human Resources and Director Communications and Marketing. She is a Fellow of Governance Institute of Australia, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Member, Australian Institute of Company Directors.