Leadership team

ANSTO is currently in a restructure phase. As such, the leadership team is expanding and and evolving to meet the needs of the organisation. A new image will be posted shortly.

Click on the name below for a short bio.

Front row, left to right:

Ian Turner (left the organisation in May 2010), Michael Beckett (Chief Information Officer), Professor John Dodson (Head, Institute for Environmental Research), Margaret Fittler (Manager, Human Resources), Dr Adi Paterson (Chief Executive Officer), Stephanie Cole (Legal Counsel), Dr Robert Robinson (Head, Bragg Institute), Doug Cubbin (Executive General Manager,  Business and Enterprise), Professor Lyndon Edwards (Head, Institute of Materials Engineering).

Back row, left to right:

Hefin Griffiths (Manager, Quality, Safety, Environment and Radiation Protection), Andrew Humpherson (General Manager, Government and Public Affairs), Tanya Karma (Manager, Silicon Irradiations), Dr Ron Cameron (former Executive General Manager: Strategy, Government and International Relations), Rosanne Robinson (General Manager, Business Development) and Dr Greg Storr (General Manager, Reactor Operations).

Leaders not shown in group photograph:

Professor Richard Banati (ANSTO LIfeSciences), Marie-Claude Gregoire (ANSTO LIfeSciences), Ivan Greguric (ANSTO LifeSciences), Con Lyras (General Manager Engineering and Technical Services), Bob Ring (General Manager, ANSTO Minerals), Peter Arambatzis (Chief Financial Officer), Geoff Askew (Security), Shaun Jenkinson (General Manager, ANSTO Health), Ron Hutchings (Acting Executive General Manager, Strategy, Government and International Relations) and Barry Munns (Chief Internal Auditor).

Short biographies

Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson, Chief Executive Officer
Dr Paterson commenced a five year appointment as Chief Executive Officer on 1 March 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 extended biography here.

 

Doug Cubbin, Executive General Manager for Business and Enterprise and the Chief Financial Officer
Doug Cubbin has 30 years experience in accounting and is a member of the NSW Public Sector Committee of the Australian Society of CPAs.

He 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 four years ago. As a member of the Executive, he has particular responsibility for ANSTO’s commercial activities, Information Management Systems (IMS), Quality, Safety, Environment & Radiation Protection, finance and procurement and business systems.

“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 holds board positions on ANSTO Inc, a company that represents ANSTO’s waste form interests in the US and CeramiSphere. The company was established to commercialise ANSTO's patented encapsulation and controlled release technology. He is also Company Secretary of PETNET Solutions, a radiopharmaceuticals production company.

 

Dr Greg Storr, General Manager, Reactor Operations
Dr Greg Storr has worked at ANSTO since 1982 and was appointed General Manager of Reactor 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.

The focus of Greg’s team is to ensure high reliability of the OPAL reactor. “Our aim is to achieve 100 per cent reliability,” he explained. In addition to leading Reactor Operations, Greg’s role has a significant strategic element in ensuring that OPAL will meet ANSTO’s needs now and in the future.

 

Tanya Karma, General Manger, Silicon Irradiations
Tanya (Tatiana) Karma was born in Russia and studied electronic engineering at St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University. In 1985 she was offered a fellowship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and moved to Poland to study nuclear safety and the practical applications of nuclear research reactors.

In 1992, Tanya accepted an engineering position at ANSTO. In 1996, she undertook training in reactor operations to become the first accredited female Duty Operations Engineer (DOE) at the HIFAR reactor. Since 2000, she has been leading ANSTO Silicon Irradiations. She was successful in doubling revenue in silicon irradiations in  HIFAR before it was decommissioned in 2007. She is now focused on developing the silicon business in OPAL to its full capacity, and her ambition is to make ANSTO the preferred provider of NTD silicon irradiation services worldwide.

 

Ian Turner, ANSTO Radiopharmaceuticals (ARI)
As the leader of ANSTO's radiopharmaceuticals division (which produces radioisotopes for nuclear medicine and industrial use), Ian focuses on improving processes to strengthen compliance and to make it more competitive and efficient.

“My plan is to see ARI positively transform the customer experience. I want to ensure that our employees have the training they require and then streamline our processes to reduce waste and improve our efficiency. The final step is profitable growth which can be achieved by launching into the international markets, particularly the United States and South East Asia."
 

Hefin Griffiths, Manager, Safety and Radiation Protection within Safety and Radiation Protection

Formerly Principal Consultant of Radiation Protection with AMEC Nuclear in the UK, 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 providing safety and environmental services and support to ANSTO business areas.

 

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. 

 

Rosanne Robinson, General Manager, Business Development
Rosanne sees ANSTO's Business Development unit as a conduit between the outside world and ANSTO’s scientific discoveries.

“Our job is to make sure that all commercial business units have sustainable streams of revenue and long-term business strategies,” Rosanne explains. “We also help with the commercialisation of some scientific discoveries by providing advice on intellectual property, detailed market analysis and patents for commercial applications. We see ourselves as an enabler for the transfer of technology through to market.”

A degree-qualified Chartered Accountant, Rosanne brings a range of commercial experience to ANSTO, having worked in shipping and logistics, manufacturing, importation and distribution and various service industries throughout her career.

 

Andrew Humpherson, General Manager, Government and Public Affairs

A qualified chemical engineer, Andrew Humpherson worked in the oil industry with Shell Australia for six years. He went on to work for local government before serving as the State Member for Davidson in the NSW Parliament for 15 years.

In that time he held Shadow Ministerial responsibilities in Justice, Planning, Environment, Water, Housing and Emergency Services. Andrew joined ANSTO in 2007 and is now responsible for media liaison and relationships with governments, external nuclear organisations, education, local community interaction and internal communication.
 

Professor Lyndon Edwards, Head, Institute of Materials Engineering
After completing a Masters and DPhil in Metallurgy and the Science of Materials from Oxford University, Lyndon worked with the aerospace, automobile and power industries for more than 20 years before becoming a Science and Engineering Research Council Fellow at Oxford. Two years later he took up the role of Professor of Structural Integrity at the Open University in the UK. In 2007 he took up his current role at ANSTO, and sees himself as a materials engineer, not a materials scientist.

“Scientists study the nature of the world,” he said. “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.”

 

Margaret Fittler, Manager, Human Resources
Margaret Fittler holds a Masters degree in Human Resources Management from Charles Sturt University, a Masters in Occupational Health and Safety from University of New South Wales, and a Diploma in Quality Management Systems.

Prior to joining ANSTO in 2007, she worked as the Human Resources Manager and Environmental Health and Safety manager for Tyco (Asia-Pacific). Prior to this, she was National Human Resources Manager for Komatsu, Australia and New Zealand.

At ANSTO Margaret is responsible for Organisational Development and Learning, Industrial Relations, SAP planning and the Human Resources Information Systems, which includes payroll. Margaret is also responsible for the recruitment team and human resources advisers who work in the various divisions at ANSTO.

 

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.

 

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. 
 

Michael Beckett, Chief Information Officer
Michael Beckett is responsible for the provision and support of Information Technology (IT), Library and Records services 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 and has reciprocal membership of the Australian Computer Society.

Michael has more 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.

 

Dr Ron Weiner, ANSTO LifeSciences
Dr Ron Weiner joined ANSTO in 2007, bringing with him more than 25 years experience as a nuclear medicine scientist, administrator, medical educator and researcher at leading United States (US) hospitals, universities and the US government National Institutes of Health.

Today, Ron works with a scientific team dedicated to developing new radiopharmaceuticals and medical imaging processes. These tools help improve patient management for people with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, and debilitating neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. Ron’s team includes chemists and radiochemists who specialise in developing ‘vectors’, radiolabeled molecules that bind to targets (tumours) within the body.

“It is the molecular biologists who are trying to understand the disease processes that will identify the new targets for RRI,” explained Ron, who spends much of his time establishing relationships with the medical community so that patient clinical trials of RRI developed vectors can be undertaken.

“Knowing that I am playing a part in bringing some relief to patients and their families is a great reward,” he said.

 

Allan Murray, Manager, External Radiation Services Division

Allan Murray leads a team of scientists and technical experts responsible for the provision of radiation safety training and consultancy services, nuclear emergency preparedness and response training, professional development and exercises. Allan is also responsible for the operation of the GATRI gamma irradiation facility at ANSTO which used for research and development, as well as specialist irradiation services.

Allan has been involved in various aspects of radiation protection, health physics, nuclear safety and now radioactive source security for 30 years since graduating with first class honours in physics from the University of Queensland in 1977.

From 2001 to 2004, he was Manager of Regulatory Policy at ARPANSA. From 1997 to 2001 he led the Safety and Licensing team for Australia's replacement research reactor, OPAL. From 1993 to 1997 he was the Counsellor for nuclear matters at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.

Allan is currently the Leader of the Regional Security of Radioactive Sources Project.

 

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.

 

Patrick Jones, Manager, Finance and Procurement
Patrick Jones joined ANSTO in 2006, bringing with him more than 25 years commercial experience in senior financial roles within large multinational organisations. Patrick has a degree in Business Studies from the University of Technology and is a member of the Australian Society of CPA’s.

At ANSTO Patrick is responsible for providing centralised, robust and streamlined financial information and processes. These cover a broad field including internal reporting, budgeting, ASIC statutory reporting, Federal Government reporting, procurement, taxation, treasury, insurance, product costing and inventory valuation, receivables, payables and travel processing.

 

Dr Robert (Bob) Ring, General Manager, ANSTO Minerals
Starting his career in the organisation in 1970 (then known as the Australian Atomic Energy Commission), Dr Bob Ring has worked his way up from research scientist to his current position of General Manager of ANSTO Minerals.

This mining consultancy group specialises in uranium ore processing and has extensive experience in detecting and treating naturally occurring radioactive materials that result from other mining processes. It provides process design and problem solving solutions to issues across the entire mining life cycle.

Having built valuable contacts over a lifetime, Dr Ring has been able to capitalise on the resurgence of interest in uranium mining as well as new opportunities in the rare earths sector to significantly improve ANSTO Minerals’ bottom line. Indeed, there was 50 per cent increase in revenue for 2008/09 and the business unit is well positioned to benefit from the increased activity in mining around the world.

Dr Ring holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of NSW.

 

Con Lyras, General Manager, Engineering and Technical Services

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, has a Board position in PETNET Solutions, is a member of the Australian Animal Health Laboratories Safety Assessment Group (ASAG) and is a  member of the IAEA Decommissioning Network (IDN) advisory committee.

Barry Munns, Chief Internal Audit & Risk Assurance

Barry has been involved in Audit, Risk Management and associated assurance and consulting roles for over 20 years - across a range of industry sectors including transport, retail, human services, health, higher education, research, energy, and manufacturing. He holds qualifications in Economics, Business, and Information Systems.

At ANSTO, the Chief Internal Auditor reports to both the ANSTO Board (through the Board's Audit and Risk Committee) and the Chief Executive Officer. Barry's role involves the independent and objective audit of business performance, compliance, security and risk management.

“My primary objective is to assist the CEO and Board accomplish strategic and operational objectives, by evaluating and providing professional advice on matters concerning the adequacy and effectiveness of ANSTO’s governance arrangements, business performance, risk management, internal control framework, business culture, probity and ethics.”

Barry is s a member of the ANSTO Risk Committee, Top Management Team, and is the nominated Protected Disclosure Coordinator for ANSTO.