MND Australia Research Committee

Prof David Adams

Research Committee Chair

David J. Adams is an Honorary Professor at Molecular Horizons, University of Wollongong (2025–2028), and serves as Chair of the Research Committee and Board Director at MND Australia, as well as Senior Editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology. He is a Fellow of multiple leading academies, including the Australian Academy of Science, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Royal Society NSW, American Physiological Society, The Physiological Society (UK), and the International Union of Physiological Sciences.

Previously, he was Distinguished Professor at the University of Wollongong (2019–2024) and CEO/Executive Director of the Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute (2015–2022). His earlier roles include senior leadership positions at RMIT University and the University of Queensland, and professorial appointments at the University of Miami, where he progressed from Assistant Professor to full Professor.

Dr Karen McConalogue

Research Committee Deputy Chair

Karen is an academic and executive with more than 20 years of experience in the tertiary education and research sector, specialising in postgraduate programs and fellowships. She has led the development of doctoral programs and joint international PhDs, working with diverse stakeholders including government, NGOs and private donors.

A trained biomedical researcher with a PhD in neuroscience, she is a two-time National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow. She has received a commendation in the inaugural Victorian Premier’s Award for Medical Research and multiple awards for research and graduate research management.

A/Prof Shyuan Ngo

Associate Professor Shyuan Ngo heads a research group investigating neurometabolism in MND at the University of Queensland, the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and the Wesley Hospital. Associate Professor Ngo oversees a research program that centres on the MND clinics at the RBWH and Wesley. Her patient-directed research is complemented by extensive discovery research using a range of transgenic models, human myosatellite cells, and human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neurons. Associate Professor Ngo’s broader research program aims to identify pathogenic mechanisms in MND with the goal to develop or re-purpose therapeutic compounds for personalised medicine for MND.

Dr Karen Hutchinson

Dr Karen Hutchinson is a research fellow, conducting MND health services research at the School of Population Health, University of New South Wales. She is a physiotherapist with many years of clinical experience supporting people living with complex neurological conditions in the community in a regional area. Dr Hutchinson is currently coordinating two national Research studies in Australia, Bridging the Health Equity Gap for Australians with MND: Co-designing Solutions with the MND Community and Optimising the Impact of the MND Care Coordinator Model in Australia. Her research areas include implementation science and practice, co-design, health service mapping, models of person- and family-centred health care, and specific workforce roles and responsibilities.

Dr Nicole Sheers

Dr Nicole Sheers, PhD, is a physiotherapist with over 25 years of experience providing respiratory care and home ventilation to adults with chronic ventilatory failure. She is a senior research fellow at The University of Melbourne and the Institute for Breathing and Sleep at Austin Health in Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on improving the respiratory care, breathing and cough function of people living with neuromuscular diseases. In 2023 she was awarded the Jim Zissimopoulos MND Postdoctoral Fellowship from MND Australia for her program of work investigating Novel respiratory therapies that enhance MND care.

Paul King Koi

Paul lives with a rare type of MND and has also lost a close friend to the disease.

Paul's professional career began in electrical engineering before moving into IT, where he has worked for companies such as Telstra, Hewlett Packard, Zebra Technologies and Motorola.

In addition to his technical experience, Paul also has skills in relationship management, business development and contract negotiations. He is an experienced committee member, having served on the management committees of multiple clubs and associations.

Dr Barry Werth

Barry cared for his wife who was diagnosed with MND and passed away in 2013. He is a pharmacist with a PhD (epidemiology/pharmacoepidemiology) and has worked in the Australian pharmaceutical industry for over 40 years. Since retiring from full-time work in 2014, he now acts as a consultant to Australian and foreign pharmaceutical companies and is a Research Affiliate of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney. He has also worked as a medical editor, is a Life Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and has published an article on MND for pharmacists. He is Vice-Chair of the Lived Experience Research Advisory Panel and member of the Lived Experience Network of MND Australia, and is Co-Deputy Chair of the Lived Experience Advisory Group and member of the Clinical & Content Advisory Group of the Australian MND Guideline.

Sarah Shuttlewood

I am a risk professional working in the financial services sector, with prior experience in public health and strategy roles within local government. I hold a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Master of Environmental Health. My connection with MND is deeply personal. My father lived with MND from 2025 to 2026, and through this experience I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of the disease on our family and also our friends. I have been a member of MND Australia's Lived Experience Network since 2025.

These experiences have reinforced my commitment to improving outcomes for people affected by MND. In particular, I am passionate about care models at home but also beyond the home setting, enabling people living with MND to remain connected to their communities and to continue enjoying what community life has to offer. I am also strongly motivated to see health system pathways, services and administrative processes designed to be simpler, more timely, better integrated and easier for individuals and families to navigate. I bring strengths in strategy, governance, risk, project and change management to the Research Committee, with a focus on contributing practical, user-centred insights to support better experiences and outcomes.

Prof Anthony Akkari

Professor Anthony Akkari is a pharmaco-geneticist and neuromuscular disease geneticist with over 30 years research experience, including 18 years of industry expertise in molecular genetics, pharmaco-genetics and personalised medicine. He was recruited internationally to build and lead the Motor Neuron Disease Genetics and Therapeutics team at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science and Murdoch University. Professor Akkari has served on the board of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia for over 3 years and is the WA State Representative to the MND Research Collective.

Prof Paul Talman

Professor P. Talman is a neurologist who completed his PhD in developmental neurobiology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in 1995. He has held senior clinical and leadership roles, including Director of Stroke at Monash Medical Centre and, over a 20-year period at Barwon Health, Clinical Director of Medical Services and Director of Neurosciences. He has also been actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education throughout his career.

His research focuses on motor neurone disease (MND), including establishing the national MND data registry. He leads a multidisciplinary MND clinic at Barwon Health and collaborates nationally and internationally. He is an executive member of the Pan-Asia Consortium for ALS/MND (PACTALS) and hosted the 2025 PACTALS conference in Melbourne.

Prof Adam Walker

Professor Adam Walker is head of the Neurodegeneration Pathobiology Laboratory at the Charles Perkins Centre, Chair of Pharmacological Sciences and Research Academic Lead in the Sydney Pharmacy School, Convenor of the TDP-43 Research Cluster in the Centre for Drug Discovery Innovation, and Leadership Group member of the Biometals in Neurological Diseases Team in the Brain and Mind Centre, at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms of TDP-43 pathology in ALS/MND and in identifying new avenues for therapeutic development.

Prof Zachary Munn

Professor Zachary Munn is an advocate for evidence-based healthcare, focused on ensuring policy and practice are grounded in the best available evidence. He is Director of Health Evidence Synthesis, Recommendations and Impact (HESRI) in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, Head of the Evidence Synthesis Taxonomy Initiative (ESTI), and Founding Director of the Adelaide GRADE Centre.

He is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator (2021–2025; 2026–2030), Past Chair of the Guidelines International Network (GIN), and lead of the Australian MND Guidelines  project. His expertise is in systematic reviews, evidence implementation and guideline development.