On this page: Role of the ACMD | Membership | ACMD proposed meeting dates | Contact details for the ACMD

Role of the ACMD

The Advisory Committee on Medical Devices (ACMD) provides independent medical and scientific advice to the Minister for Health and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on the safety, performance and manufacturing of medical devices supplied in Australia including issues relating to pre-market conformity assessment and post-market monitoring.

The Committee is established under Regulation 38 of the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990. Members are appointed by the Minister. Membership is comprised of professionals with specific scientific, medical, clinical expertise as well as appropriate consumer health issues relating to medical devices.

On 1 January 2017, functions of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medical Devices (ACSMD) were consolidated into ACMD to encompass pre and post-market advice for medical devices.

Membership

Chair

Professor Anne Simmons AM is Provost and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She has previously been Head of University of New South Wales School of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering and Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. Her research involves developing biomaterials for implantable medical devices and analysis of blood flow in diseased vessels. Professor Simmons is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for services to biomedical engineering. She sits on committees for a range of government departments. Professor Simmons provides expertise in the field of biomedical engineering or biomaterials.

Members

Dr Philip Allen is an Orthopaedic Surgeon with principal interest in joint replacement and shoulder surgery. He also provides a wide range of orthopaedic services covering all the sub-specialities. Dr Allen has completed comprehensive studies and training in the UK, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand. He has been in private practice for nearly 30 years. Dr Allen completed postgraduate clinical research Fellowships in hip and knee-joint replacement, revision and shoulder surgery. Dr Allen provides expertise in the field of orthopaedics.

Dr William Boyd is a Specialist Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with over 40 years' experience in clinical services. He has been involved in the management of health services and chaired medical advisory committees. He has offered specialist obstetric and gynaecological services through private practice for over 30 years. Dr Boyd has been a long standing board member on the council and the board of the Australian Medical Association, Queensland. Dr William Boyd provides expertise in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology.

Professor Terence Campbell AM is the Director of Research and Staff Specialist in Cardiology, St Vincent's Hospital Network, Sydney. He is also an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). His research interests are basic cardiac electrophysiology and pharmacology. Professor Campbell is the Chair of the Prostheses List Advisory Committee, and was a member of the previous TGA Australian Drug Evaluation Committee and Member of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. He has 30 years of experience in lecturing and tutoring in physiology, pharmacology, therapeutics and clinical medicine. Professor Campbell provides expertise in the field of cardiology.

Associate Professor Robyn Clay-Williams is an academic who leads the Human Factors and Resilience research stream at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. Her expertise, in human factors and resilience engineering, entails developing cross-industry theoretical frameworks to describe system level behaviour, and advancing new human factors contributions to safety in complex socio-technical systems. Prior to her work in health services research, Dr Clay-Williams was a military test pilot, and electronics engineer. She was a member of the previous TGA Advisory Committee for the Safety of Medical Devices. Dr Clay-Williams provides expertise in the field of human factors analysis.

Professor Mark Edwards is a Consultant Cardiothoracic surgeon in full time practice, both public and private. He is a past Councillor of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, was the inaugural Chairman of Board of Surgical Education and Training, Chairman of the Court of Examiners and Censor in Chief. Professor Edwards is a member of the Medical Board of Australia (Western Australia branch), and has a special interest in clinical governance and surgical education and training. Professor Edwards provides expertise in the field of cardiothoracic surgery.

Associate Professor Gillian Farrell is a plastic surgeon with a particular interest in plastic surgery of the breast including reconstruction after mastectomy and correction of developmental asymmetry. She works with a number of breast surgeons performing immediate reconstructions in patients undergoing mastectomy and oncoplastic surgery following wide local excision for breast cancer. She is currently a member of the TGA Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large-cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) Expert Working Group. She is also Clinical Lead of the Australian Breast Device Registry and a Senior Oncological Surgeon at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Dr Farrell provides expertise in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Dr Charles Fisher has been a Consultant Vascular Surgeon for almost thirty years. He has a Bachelor's degree in research of Neurophysiology and Masters degrees in both Health Management and Clinical Epidemiology. In addition to vascular surgery, his particular clinical interests include vascular ultrasound, vascular medicines, venous thrombosis, renal transplantation and evidence-based clinical practice. Dr Fisher provide expertise in the field of vascular medicine.

Professor Nehmat Houssami is a registered Public Health Physician and a clinician and researcher focused on evidence-based practice and evaluation of diagnostics in breast cancer. She is currently a Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, where she is the lead on a breast cancer research program evaluating new technologies, and a visiting Medical Officer at the Royal Hospital for Women's Breast Centre. She has approximately 25 years' experience with breast cancer screening, diagnosis and pre-operative assessment. Professor Houssami provides expertise in the fields of public health and breast oncology.

Dr Richard Laherty is a neurosurgeon with subspecialty training in complex spine surgery. Dr Laherty has extensive experience with spinal implants and adjuncts to aid bone fusion. He has experience in a number of Communities of Practice and is currently a member of the Spinal Prostheses Clinical Advisory Group with the Commonwealth Department of Health. Dr Laherty provides expertise in the field of neurosurgery.

Professor Guy Ludbrook is Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia and past Chair of the ACMD. He is a practicing Anaesthetist, with an interest in neuroanaesthesia and pre- and post-operative care. He has research interests in pharmacology, and increasingly in optimising health services delivery. Professor Ludbrook provides expertise in the field of anaesthetics.

Dr Kyungho Park has extensive clinical experience working in both public and private laboratories as an Anatomical Pathologist. Currently, Dr Park is the Director of Histopathology at Capital Pathology with direct involvement in wide ranging issues across all fields of pathology. Dr Park currently serves on number of committees at Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) including the RCPA Board of Professional Practice and Quality, RCPA Anatomical Pathology Advisory Committee, and RCPAQAP committee for Cytology. Dr Park provides expertise in the field of pathology.

Professor Karen Reynolds has over 25 years’ experience as a biomedical engineer working in academia, she is the Director of the Medical Device Research Institute at Flinders University and Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineering. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological and Engineering, and the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences. Professor Reynolds is a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board and the ATSE Board. She has also been the past chair of the College of Biomedical Engineers. Professor Reynolds provides expertise in the field of biomedical engineering.

Ms Janine Saunders represents consumers on health issues in relation to medical devices. She began her career in South Australia as a registered nurse/midwife before relocating to the Northern Territory. Ms Saunders was employed by the Asthma Foundation of the NT as an asthma educator for several years. She was appointed Executive Officer of Asthma Foundation NT in 2005 until her retirement in 2018 and is currently a member of the Board. Ms Saunders provides expertise in the field of consumer health issues.

Dr Fiona Stanaway has extensive expertise in the appraisal of scientific research evidence for risk of bias. She has more than 15 years of experience in teaching critical appraisal to clinicians, is currently a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Sydney. She is also a qualified medical practitioner with expertise in public health, ageing, and migrant health. Dr Stanaway provides expertise in the field of epidemiology and biostatistics.

Professor John Thompson has been a general, vascular and transplant surgeon and surgical oncologist for over 40 years. During this time, he has been involved in the development and use of a wide range of medical devices. As a surgical oncologist, he has had experience with the use of implantable reservoirs for chemotherapy, devices for electrochemotherapy, and the use of various devices for delivering regional chemotherapy. He has wide-ranging experience in a number of fields of pre-clinical and clinical research. He is a strong advocate for evidence-based medicine and has a long and ongoing involvement in the development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Professor Thompson provides expertise in the fields of general surgery, vascular surgery and oncology.

2021 ACMD proposed meeting dates

Contact details for the ACMD