Keynote Speakers

	Prof. Ervin Podgorsak Ervin B. Podgorsak is a medical physicist, educator and administrator. He was born in Vienna, Austria and attended elementary and secondary school in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 1968 he graduated in Physics at the University of Ljubljana and then attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, USA where he obtained his M.Sc. degree in Physics in 1970 under Prof. John R. Cameron and Ph.D. degree in Physics in 1973 under Prof. Paul R. Moran. During 1973-74 he held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, Canada under Prof. Harold E. Johns. Since 1975 he has been employed at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where he currently holds a position of Professor of Medical Physics. From 1979 to 2008 he was Director of the Medical Physics department in the McGill University Health Centre and, concurrently, from 1991 to 2008 Director of the Medical Physics Unit of McGill University which offers M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in Medical Physics and a clinical residency program in Radiation Oncology Physics. The McGill academic and clinical programs in medical physics are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP). Dr. Podgorsak published over 240 medical physics articles and 4 books, gave numerous scientific presentations, and supervised 32 M.Sc. and 8 Ph.D. graduate students in medical physics. For his contributions to medical physics he received the Coolidge Award from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine in 2006 and the Gold Medal from the Canadian Organization of Medical Physics in 2008. He is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, and the American College of Medical Physics. He is board certified in radiation oncology physics by the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and the American Board of Medical Physics.


	James Keller James Keller is Vice President, Health Technology Evaluation and Safety. He directs ECRI Institute’s internationally recognized medical device evaluation program referred to by the New York Times as the "country's most respected laboratory for testing of medical products." He is responsible for numerous ECRI Institute print and Web-based publications and databases, consultation services, educational programs, software tools, and instrument design services. He is a recognized expert and frequently invited speaker on a wide range of medical technology-related topics including patient safety, strategic planning, and forecasting. Mr. Keller is responsible for all operations, sales and marketing support, and product and business development for the Health Devices program. His staff consists of approximately 30 scientists, engineers, writers, editors, and product managers. The products and services for the Health Devices program are relied on by thousands of healthcare organizations throughout the world for objective advice on the safe and cost-effective selection, use, and management of medical devices. Mr. Keller is also responsible for several other ECRI Institute products and services, including the Health Devices Inspection and Preventive Maintenance System; Health Devices Alerts; ECRI Institute Alerts Tracker, the ISO 9000 Quality System for Medical Equipment Service; a quarterly series of interactive telephone seminars; and the International Medical Device Problem Reporting System. Mr. Keller also directs various medical-technology-related product development and consultation services. These include on-site technology planning studies, development of technical specifications for medical device contracts, analysis of manufacturer proposals for medical device contract bids, and accident investigations in support of ECRI Institute’s Health Systems Group and Accident and Forensic Investigation Group; third-party review of U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) medical device clearances; customized device testing and technology assessment analyses; software development; and instrument design. Mr. Keller has been with ECRI Institute since 1984. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Science degree in biological engineering from the University of Connecticut. In 1993, he received AAMI's Biomedical Engineering Achievement Award, which recognizes individual excellence and achievement in the field of biomedical engineering.


	Sastry Vedam Sastry Vedam, hails from the southern Indian city of Chennai (Madras), India. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Biomedical Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka, India in 1996. He received the institute’s Dr. T.M.A Pai gold medal for the best outgoing student in Biomedical Engineering. Seeking to pursue higher studies, he joined the graduate program in Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia USA in 1997. He completed his Master’s degree in 2000, with the main area of research focus on ultrasound imaging. While looking for a suitable avenue to pursue doctoral research in the year 2000, he was introduced to Dr. Paul Keall and Dr. Radhe Mohan from the Department of Radiation Physics at the Massey Cancer Center in Virginia Commonwealth University. Under the guidance of Dr. Paul Keall, he embarked on research in management of respiratory motion during radiotherapy. In addition to early work on respiratory gated radiotherapy, Dr. Vedam was greatly involved in some of the pioneering work on 4D CT imaging, respiratory feedback/patient training during radiotherapy, respiratory motion prediction and motion adaptive radiotherapy, or what is now more commonly known as tumor tracking based radiotherapy. Proof of the impact of such work came later in the form of recognition from the Institute of Physics prizes for highest cited paper in the Physics in Medicine and Biology journal for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. He completed his doctoral research thesis on Management of respiratory motion in radiotherapy in the year 2003. He then went on to continue post doctoral work on respiratory motion prediction and 4D radiation delivery for tumor tracking between the years of 2003 and 2005. In November 2005, Dr. Vedam joined the Department of Radiation Physics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston Texas USA, as Assistant Professor (Tenure) to establish and continue research on image guidance and respiratory motion management, specifically for proton therapy of lung tumors. Dr. Vedam has published more than 20 research articles in internationally recognized peer reviewed journals. He was also a member of the American Association of Physicists (AAPM) in Medicine Task group 76 on Respiratory motion management during radiotherapy. He has served as reviewer and guest associate editor for several journals such as Medical Physics, Physics in Medicine and Biology, International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Radiotherapy and Oncology and Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics. He has also presented abstracts, posters and talks at several international meetings such as American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). He has been invited to present continuing education talks on image guidance for lung cancer at AAPM and RSNA (Radiological Society of North America). Dr. Vedam is also current co-chair of the AAPM workgroup on Imaging for treatment planning and has helped organize research symposia and continuing education sessions at the AAPM meetings. Dr. Vedam’s current research interests include image guidance and respiratory motion management for proton therapy, impact of respiratory motion management on therapy response and respiratory motion biofeedback/patient training during radiotherapy. He has been happily married to Sripallavi Appalakutti for six years now. He is also an accomplished musician (plays the veena, a south Indian string instrument) and an avid sports fan (plays league cricket in the USA).


	Prof. S.K. Koul Professor S.K. Koul, Head, Department of Radiological Physics and Bio-Engg. Sher-I-Kashmir Institute Medical Sciences, Kashmir was born in 1949 and educated at Jammu and Kashmir. He began post graduate work at the University of Kashmir in 1967 obtaining a masters degree. In 1970 he joined the Department of Physics and Astrophysics of the University of Delhi for research in high energy Physics. He was awarded PH.D degree in 1973. He began work in Medical Physics in 1974 and was concerned with day to day problems in Radio-diagnosis, Radiation Oncology and Radiation Protection. Dr. Koul joined division of Radiological Protection Bhabha Research Centre Bombay in 1970 and obtained Postgraduate diploma in Hospital Physics and Radiological Physics of the university of Bombay. He was trained in organisation and Planning of Radiation Science Departments at Allegheny General Hospital, Pitts burr, Pensylvania, USA, Upsala University and Radium Institute Stockhalm, Sweden. AT ICTP Italy he attended a course on Medical Physics (1988) and 1995 and delivered invited lecturers. He has organized various workshops and conferences on Medical Physics, Radiotherapy and other subjects related to health care and medical education. He was Organising Secretary of Roentgon Centeneary Celebration Group (Celebration of 100 years of X-rays, a tribute to Roentgen). He organized special meetings, Seminars, Conferences, Exhibitions, Round Table Discussions and as a part of Mass Awakening Program, he penned popular articles, gave lectures, released Books/Souvenirs and encouraged Group discussions. He is a member for Indian Association for Radiation Protection, Convener of Publications Association of Medical Physics of India and member of Indian Institute of Public Administration, member young Scientist and Secretary J&K for Health and Education. Dr. Koul is an active researcher and has published number of papers on various subjects related to Medical Physics, Radiotherapy and Bio-Engineering. In National and International Journals. His work on treatment of Keloids with Beta rays has been recognized world over and is among the hundred best papers on Surgery from India. Dr. Koul is the M.Sc and Ph.d examiner of many Universities. Dr. Koul has published many articles in National Dailies on popularization of Science, His achievements as an outstanding individual in the professional world have been recognized and presented globally through inclusion in major biographical references titles viz; One amongst 1000 World leaders of Scientific influence by American Biographical institute. One amongst Great Minds of the 21st Century by American Biographical institute. Board of Governors of the American Biographical Institute. One amongst 2000 outstanding intellectuals of the 21st Century by International Bio-Graphical Centre, Cambridge, England. One amongst 500 Founders of the 21st Century by International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England. Member of the Research Board of Advisors of Americal Biographical institute Recently Dr. Koul has been awarded Bharat Jyoti Award by India International Friendship Society for outstanding service achievements and contributions. He was also awarded certificate of excellence for meritorious services, outstanding performance and remarkable role at the National Integration held at New Delhi. He has been felicitated in number of national and international conferences; where he has delivered invited lectures, chaired seminars and released many publications. Dr. Koul has been elected as President of Association of Medical physicists of India (AMPI) during the annual general body meeting of the association held at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay on September 27, 2007. The Association comprises of more than one thousand members from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Rajiv Gandhi Centre, Delhi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research Chandigarh, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute Lucknow, Apollo Hospital Madras and members from abroad also.


	Dr Marc Lakos Dr Marc Lakos graduated from UNSW in 1989. Initially trained in General and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, he then moved in to the fields of General Practice and Medical Administration. He commenced working for the Australian Defence Force in 2004, initially as a Medical Officer and then as the Director of Medical Services at the 1st Health Support Battalion at Holsworthy, Sydney. Dr Lakos is currently completing his Masters of Health Management and is Member of the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer with the University of NSW. He has a keen interest in health technology and e-health systems.


	Professor Gerry FitzGerald Professor FitzGerald graduated from the Medical School of the University of Queensland in 1976. He spent ten years as Director of the Emergency Department at Ipswich Hospital and then 13 years as Medical Director then Commissioner of the Queensland Ambulance Service. In 2003, he was appointed Chief Health Officer for Queensland then Deputy Director General of Queensland Health prior to taking us his current position as Professor of Public Health in 2006. Professor FitzGerald was one of the co-founders of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and served as national Secretary of the College for four years and was Editor in Chief of the Journal Emergency Medicine for four years. Professor FitzGerald’s particular interests lie in the development and evaluation of health care systems and in particular Emergency Medical Systems. He was responsible for the development and validation of the Ipswich Triage Scale which has subsequently been adopted as the National Triage Scale in Australasia. He also led the development of national performance management framework for ambulance services and the development of Queensland’s EMS and Trauma Plan. As Chief Health Officer he was a member of Australia’s national policy committee for disaster response and Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council. Since taking up his position at QUT, Professor FitzGerald has been leading the development of emergency and disaster management education and research programs and health management programs.


	Associate Professor Dale Bailey Dale Bailey is currently principal physicist in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney. He also has honorary appointments as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, and an Honorary Associate in the School of Physics, University of Sydney. He has formerly held appointments at Harvard Medical School, Imperial College School of Medicine and the Medical Research Council (UK). Dale's interests are in the development of quantitative techniques using imaging of in vivo radionuclide tracers and development of multi-modality imaging methodology. He has extensive experience in both single photon tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET). He was instrumental in developing simultaneous emission/transmission scanning on the gamma camera using the scanning radionuclide line source approach, which has now been implemented by nearly all manufacturers. In 2004 he led a team in developing Australia’s first integrated SPECT and diagnostic X-ray CT scanner for combined imaging of anatomy and physiological function. This has been proven to change the scan diagnosis in over 50% of patients. It has also been used extensively by researchers in respiratory physiology, stem cell transplantation and radiotherapy. Dale has had numerous clinical collaborations most notably in functional neuro-imaging, cardiology and in respiratory medicine. He has been actively involved in developing techniques to measure cerebral activation in PET, assessing aerosol distribution in vivo using 3D methods, measuring changes in mucus clearance rates after therapeutic interventions, and in mapping airways ventilation patterns. Career Highlights Editor and principal author of 3 textbooks on Positron Emission Tomography; Published over 85 peer-reviewed papers which have been cited nearly 3000 times in total; Contributed 10 invited chapters to other texts; Approximately 150 peer-reviewed presentations at national and international meetings; h-index is currently 27; Career grant funding totalling in excess of $1.275M (in today’s $); Frequent reviewer for the major journals in the field (J Nucl Med, Eur J Nucl Med & Molecular Imag, Phys Med Biol, IEEE Trans Nucl Sci, IEEE Trans Med Imag); Two 2 year terms on the Editorial Board of the premier physics journal in medicine published by the Institute of Physics (Phys Med Biol); Regularly reviewer of grant applications for bodies such as the ARC, NHMRC and local granting bodies within the university and hospital; Peer-recognition evidenced by election as: Fellow of the Australasian College of Physical Scientists & Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM); Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Physics & Engineering in Medicine (IPEM); Scientist member of the Royal College of Physicians, London, (ARCP) in recognition of my contribution to medical science; Regular plenary and keynote presentations at international and national conferences; Former recipient of ACPSEM’s “Young Scientist” award; Twice awarded the ANZ Society of Nuclear Medicine’s highest scientific accolade by being invited to deliver the plenary Lowenthal Lecture at the Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting; With two other university colleagues, Dale was the recipient of the 2005 University of Sydney “Innovation Challenge” award from the Business Liason Office which helped to establish a company, PharmaScint, a medical imaging service company that provides clinical imaging trial, data management, and analysis solutions to the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith is the Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Online Health at the University of Queensland. Dr Smith completed a doctorate degree in the field of medicine in 2004 - his PhD examined the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a novel telepaediatric service in Queensland. His principal role in the Centre for Online Health includes research leadership in the field of telemedicine and the evaluation of telepaediatric services developed through the centre.

Dr Brian Richards
Dr Richards is the Executive Manager of the Health Technology and Medical Services Group in the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, and the department’s Principal Medical Adviser on Medicare policy, responsible for providing high level advice to the Australian Government in the areas of health financing, primary and ambulatory care, chronic disease management, and quality and safety of health care. Prior to these roles he was the department’s National Director of e-Health Implementation.

Before joining the department in 2005, Dr Richards was Chief Information Officer of the Health Insurance Commission (now Medicare Australia) for five years, with key responsibilities for information management (including privacy and security of personal health information), e-business development, and international consulting services. Dr Richards came to that role after seven years as the Chief Executive Officer of the ACT Division of General Practice, and seventeen years as a medical practitioner in primary care.