Dr Amanda Ruth Appointed as 2021 Guest of the Chair

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19 July 2021

MTPConnect congratulates Dr Amanda Ruth who has been appointed as its next Guest of the Chair.

It is the third appointment from a unique initiative which provides emerging leaders in the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector with a range of board-level experiences.

Dr Ruth, who is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Rare Cancers Australia (RCA) and the Executive Director of the National Oncology Alliance, will attend MTPConnect Board meetings over the next twelve-months to gain new perspectives on how boards operate.

MTPConnect Chair Sue MacLeman says the Guest of the Chair initiative is a great example of how organisations can do more to develop board-ready leaders.

“On behalf of the members of the MTPConnect Board, we warmly welcome Dr Ruth and look forward to working with her over the next year,” said Ms MacLeman.

"As Guest of the Chair, Dr Ruth will be exposed to a new level of company management, financial planning and corporate governance and will be involved in our key events throughout the year.

“These are experiences that emerging leaders would otherwise not be exposed to at this stage of their careers so by providing these opportunities, we’re preparing our future industry leaders and building our sector’s capacity and resilience.

“Our sector is responding to many challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and it is a time of great innovation and activity. Dr Ruth’s valuable expertise in industry and her patient-focused perspective will also be of value to our growth centre activities."

Dr Ruth has held leadership roles in market access, health economics, policy and government affairs, working with companies including Celgene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson Medical, Eli Lilly and consulting firm Deloitte Access Economics.

She holds a PhD in immunology from the Centre of Inflammatory Diseases at Monash University and has authored numerous publications in peer review journals relating to kidney syndromes and immune cell activity. She says she is thrilled to be selected as the next Guest of the Chair.

“I have always been passionate about this sector and being a guest board member is the obvious next step for me. Nearly two decades of my career has been dedicated collectively to scientific research, the commercial pharmaceutical and medical/biotech industries and more recently patients, who are the beneficiaries of advancements in these areas,” Dr Ruth said.

“I believe the rapid development of vaccines targeting COVID-19 has shown the community the value the sector can deliver to society when research is harnessed and translated into clinical practice. 

“From my perspective, there has never been a more meaningful time to gain this type of practical, board-level experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to grow through being the Guest of the Chair at MTPConnect over the next 12-months.”

The Guest of The Chair initiative was launched in 2019 to support the ambitions of aspiring directors in the MTP sector. Previous Guests of the Chair include Dr Parisa Glass (2019) and Dr Emma Ball (2020).