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Learn about ANSTO's core activities; the OPAL research reactor, its science, safety culture, board and organisational structure, news visitors information and events.

Leadership Team


ANSTO's leadership team, including short biographies.

 

 

Short biographies

 

Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson, Chief Executive Officer 

 

Dr Paterson commenced a five year appointment as Chief Executive Officer on March 1st 2009. Formerly General Manager of Business Development and Operations at the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Company in South Africa, Dr Paterson holds a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

 

Throughout his career, Dr Paterson has been involved in creating, establishing and developing science and technology institutions. His focus is on the interface between public spending and practical innovations that create wealth and quality of life – putting science and technology to work.

 

Read Dr Paterson's extended biography.

 

 

Peter Arambatzis, Chief Financial Officer  


Peter Arambatzis was appointed Chief Financial Officer of ANSTO on the May 3rd 2010. He brings to ANSTO over twenty five years of operational, commercial and financial experience within the healthcare and financial service sectors gained domestically and internatinally across Asia, Europe and North America, and has a detailed understanding of manufacturing systems & processes, consulting service, healthcare financial services and products.
 

Prior to joining ANSTO, he was the North America CFO for a multibillion dollar GE Healthcare Financial Services operation.


As Chief Financial Officer of ANSTO, Peter is responsible for all Finance & Controllership related activities, Supply Chain & Logistics, Quality Compliance & Continuous improvement, and is the business owner and project leader for several key organisational intitiatives.  

 

Peter has completed a Bachelor of Business and a Master of Business Administration. He is a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

 

 

Professor Richard Banati, Distinguished Researcher Fellow   

 

Professor Richard Banati has held a Distinguished Researcher Fellowship at ANSTO since 2008. He is also the Professor and Chair of Medical Radiation Sciences at the University of Sydney, the Director of the Ramaciotti Centre for Brain Imaging at the Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) and Director of the joint ANSTO and University of Sydney node of the National Imaging Facility.

 

Professor Banati has been internationally recognised by the scientific community, with his research highly cited and published in professional specialist and multi-disciplinary journals.

 

His research has also received respect through the bi-annual Award of the German league for Research into Alzheimer’s Disease, and the Award for Interdisciplinary Research of Society for Radiation Research (Gesellschaft fur Strahlenforschung GSF, Munich), to name a few.

 

 

Michael Beckett, General Manager Support Services & Chief Information Officer; and General Manager of Operations, Australian Synchrotron      
 

Michael Beckett is responsible for the provision and support of Information Technology Services (ITS), Library and Records services and also the Facilities Management Group across ANSTO. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Open University (UK).

 

He is also a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society (CITP) and a Certified Professional with the Australian Computer Society (CP).

 

Michael has more than 35 years experience in the IT industry, and held a number of roles from computer operations through product marketing in Europe. Prior to joining ANSTO, he was Program Manager for the NSW Government Licensing Project.

 

At ANSTO Michael is responsible for providing the science and business units with a reliable and flexible IT infrastructure, the ANSTO service desk and IT support services, and also IT and information management solutions project delivery.

 

 
Robert Blissett, General Manager, Human Resources and Workplace Health and Safety          

 

Robert Blissett is responsible for the provision and leadership of human resources and workplace health and safety. He holds both post graduate and undergraduate qualifications in commerce and industrial administration from the University of Wollongong. Rob has 23 years' experience in a broad range of human resource functions across numerous industries including mining, media, chemical manufacturing and heavy equipment hire. Rob also has 15 years' operational experience in New South Wales Police. 

 

Prior to joining ANSTO Rob was the General Manager HR at Staging Connections overseeing a diverse technical and creative work force across the Middle East and Asia Pacific. 

 

Rob maintains professional external interests in leadership and change management including the School of Engineering and Technology Central Queensland University as a visiting lecturer. 

 

 

Stephanie Cole, Legal Counsel 
 

Stephanie Cole joined the organisation in 2008 and is responsible for all legal affairs, commercial and corporate law, advising on employment-related issues and providing major support to procurement. She also provides legal input in policy development.

 

She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, going on to complete her Master of Laws at the University of New South Wales.

 

Prior to joining ANSTO, she worked at the Roads and Traffic Authority, the Department of Education and Training NSW and TAFE NSW. Previous to this she was in private practice.


Day-to-day, Stephanie promotes awareness of important legal issues, including recent changes in industrial relations and occupational health and safety law in senior management.

 

 

 

Doug Cubbin, General Manager, International Commercial Partnerships   
 

Doug Cubbin has over 30 years experience in accounting and is a member of the NSW Public Sector Committee of the Australian Society of CPAs.
 

Doug has held several senior finance and operational roles in the private and public sectors in the fields of logistics, telecommunications, financial services and public transport before joining ANSTO. As a member of the Executive, he has particular responsibility for ANSTO’s commercial activities.

 

“My role has basically two components; in the enterprise area I ensure that the support and professional services of ANSTO are run in a business-like manner and that appropriate corporate governance systems are in place. In the business area I am focused on achieving sustainable profitable revenue growth for ANSTO.”

 

Mr Cubbin is also President of ANSTO Inc, a company that represents ANSTO’s waste form interests in the US.

 

 

Professor John Dodson, Head of the Institute for Environmental Research 
 

With over 100 research articles and books in his name, Professor John Dodson is highly respected in his field. He has held administrative positions with organisations such as the Australian Academy of Science, National Committee System, International Geosphere Biosphere (Past Global Environments) Program and the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering.
 

Formerly at Brunei University in the UK, John worked on research projects around the world before taking up the position of Head of ANSTO’s Institute for Environmental Research (IER).

 

While continuing to work on major research projects, he is responsible for the overall leadership and management of research and development activities within the institute.

 

That research is discovery directed and focused on addressing major environmental issues such as climate change, water resource sustainability, air pollution, human impact on Earth systems and waste in the environment.

 

 

Professor Lyndon Edwards, Head, Institute of Materials Engineering 
 

Prof. Lyndon Edwards is the Head of the Institute of Materials Engineering at ANSTO. He holds a Personal Chair in Structural Integrity at the Dept of Department of Design, Development, Environment and Materials at the Open University, UK, where he spent 23 years before joining ANSTO in January 2007.

 

Prof Edwards has a long-standing reputation in fatigue and fracture, particularly of aerospace and nuclear materials and structures.

 

He is also internationally recognized as one of the leading proponents of engineering stress measurement using neutron diffraction. Before arriving in Australia he was a leader in the re-development of UK expertise in Nuclear Engineering, with particular emphasis on the mechanical properties of all classes of Nuclear Structural Materials.

 

“Scientists study the nature of the world,” he says. “They are fundamentally different to engineers whose main drive is to solve problems, which often must be achieved using incomplete data, because there is often insufficient time for the information to come in. The common theme in my work is that it uses scientific techniques to provide models and data that are of direct use to practicing engineers.”

 

 

Hefin Griffiths, Head, Nuclear Services  
 

Hefin Griffiths started at ANSTO in March 2009. He holds an Honours degree in applied Physics and Post-Grad diploma (Radiation Protection) from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and is a Chartered Physicist and Chartered Radiation Protection Professional in the UK.
 

With more than 20 years experience in the UK nuclear industry, both in defence and civil nuclear markets, Hefin’s corporate skills combine operational health physics, emergency planning and safety case production. At ANSTO he manages a multi-disciplinary team.

 

 

Shaun Jenkinson, Group Executive, Nuclear Business   
 

Shaun Jenkinson joined ANSTO in March 2010. He is working with the team in ANSTO Health to ensure a reliable supply of radioisotopes to the domestic market as well as delivering export sales. 

 

He has a degree in biotechnology and has most recently focussed on business, process improvement; training and implementing quality standards within organisations.


Shaun has held senior positions with medical equipment and large pharmaceutical companies in the UK and Australia, with whole of business experience.

  

 

Paul Jones, General Manager, Security and Safeguards  
 

Paul Jones was appointed General Manager Security & Safeguards in January 2011.

 

Paul is responsible for ensuring the security of ANSTO’s people, assets and work environment and creating an environment that is intelligence led, risk based and outcome driven. 

 

ANSTO Security & Safeguards strives to continue to develop and maintain a knowledge base that enables it to contribute at the leading edge of international and national discussions and deliberation on nuclear security and safeguards.

 

Paul has extensive security experience in the private sector as both a senior manager and consultant in addition to over twenty five years experience with the New South Wales Police. 

 

In 2001-02 Paul spent seven months with the United Nations Police in East Timor as Chief of Security Operations for the successful ‘Declaration of Independence’ celebrations.

 


Nadia Levin, General Manager, Government, International and External Relations 
 

Nadia Levin was appointed General Manager, Government, International and External Relations in 2012.

 

Nadia is responsible for providing strategic advice to the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive team on the proactive management and development of the public and government profile of ANSTO and acting as a media spokesperson for the organisation as required.

 

Government, International and External Relations strives to manage and foster strong links and relationships with key stakeholders within ANSTO, with community groups and within business, research, educational, political and media environments.

 

As a journalist, Nadia has worked extensively across a broad range of areas, in both the public and private sectors, as well as in an advisory role to a federal government minister.

 


Con Lyras, General Manager, Engineering and Capital Programs  
 

Con Lyras has extensive experience in delivering best practice engineering support on a world-class scale. Indeed, he has held several engineering management roles over the last 35 years.

 

Prior to joining ANSTO he was Senior Manager Aircraft Maintenance at QANTAS (Sydney) overseeing the maintenance and maintenance planning of the airline’s Boeing 747 fleet.

 

Since joining ANSTO Con’s main focus has been to identify and implement change to ensure that Engineering and Technical Services provides efficient, safe and cost effective support to the organisation.

 

His latest achievement has been the establishment of the ANSTO project governance and project delivery office.

 

“My plan for the future is to continue to provide best practice engineering support, develop the ANSTO strategic site infrastructure plan and implement a strategy that ensures availability of engineering skills into the future,” he said.

 

Con holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree, is a member of the PETNET Australia Pty Ltd board, the Australian Animal Health Laboratories Safety Assessment Group (ASAG) and is a member of the IAEA Decommissioning Network (IDN) advisory committee.

 

 

Professor Andrew Peele, Interim Director, Australian Synchrotron   

 

Professor Andrew Peele was appointed Interim Director of the Australian Synchrotron on 1 Janurary 2013. He is Professor of Physics at La Trobe University and was seconded to the Australian Synchrotron as Head of Science in 2011.
 

Andrew’s previous appointments include a Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellowship held at the University of Melbourne and post-doctoral research at NASA’s  Goddard Space Flight Centre.  Prior to return to his PhD studies at the University of Melbourne, Andrew was a qualified lawyer and practiced as a solicitor with Minter Ellison.
 

Andrew’s research improves the versatility and quality of x-ray imaging, including new methods such as phase imaging and coherent diffractive imaging with applications such as tomographic imaging of cells and material.  He has published over 100 refereed articles and has a strong history of service to the scientific profession including roles as Victorian Branch Chair of the Australian Institute of Physics and Co-Chair of the AIP National Congress in 2010.

 

 

Dr Robert Robinson, Head, Bragg Institute 
 

Dr Robert Robinson received a PhD in experimental physics from Cambridge University in 1982. He then moved to Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States to carry out postdoctoral research, and was a staff member there between 1985 and 1999.

 

He has also spent time as a visiting scientist at the Institute Laue-Langevin (1984) the Japanese National Laboratory for High-Energy Physics (1992), and the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (1994). A fellow of the American Physical Society since 1998, he joined ANSTO in 1999 to become leader of the Neutron Scattering and Synchrotron Radiation Group.

 

He is an Adjunct Professor in both the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales and the Faculty of Science at Sydney University and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics. He has been head of the Bragg Institute since its inception in December 2002.

 

 

Dr Greg Storr, Group Executive, Nuclear Science & Technology Group  

 

Dr Greg Storr has worked at ANSTO since 1982 and was appointed General Manager of Nuclear Operations in 2005. He played a key role in steering the organisation through commissioning and operation of the OPAL research. Greg holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics (Hons.) and a PhD in Engineering in the field of vapour explosions.

 

In the early 90s, he conducted research into boron neutron capture therapy at Idaho National Laboratory in the United States.

 

As Group Executive of the Nuclear Science & Technology Group, Greg leads current research, user and innovation activities across the organisation, driving ANSTO’s ANSTO’s scientific contributions, strategic collaborations, innovation potential, and key infrastructure and research platforms to align and strengthen our nuclear science and technology profile, globally, locally and in the region.