Board Profiles
Jacka Foundation for Natural Therapies (JFNT) is a not-for-profit charitable fund that supports research in naturopathy and its related modalities, and the development of a community of researchers, scholars and leaders in the naturopathic profession.
The Foundation was formed on 18th May 2010 after the sale of the organisation’s educational business, the Southern School of Natural Therapies (SSNT), Fitzroy, VIC. JFNT retains ownership of the premises from which the Southern School operates. The Foundation’s income is derived from rental income and the investment of funds derived from the sale of SSNT.
The JFNT company includes respected and experienced naturopaths who are dedicated to promoting the cause of natural therapies in Australia and the development of the profession of naturopathy.
Terri Albert
GD.Mkt, M.Mkt
Chair
Terri Albert holds a Grad. Dip Marketing and Master of Marketing from Monash University in Melbourne (2001). She has also completed numerous educational programs including a two week Executive Leadership Certificate from Ohio State University (USA) and Strategic Management at Macquarie University, Sydney.
Terri is an innovative Strategic Business Developer with almost 30 years of global experience in complementary and traditional medicines and business strategy. She is well respected in the nutritional medicine market, with a proven track record of leadership and business growth through strategic concept design, development and commercialisation, whilst fostering respectful, trust based relationships with key stakeholders and partners. Terri has held positions on international Business Development & Innovation Boards, including Patent Review Boards and Strategic Growth, and has received a number of awards for her passion for performance.
Her experience spans retail, brand marketing, manufacturing, research and development and includes over 20 years successfully working in markets internationally, including Europe, USA and Greater Asia partnering multiple health and nutrition organisations. Terri also has a track record of Australian and world firsts to her credit and brings that passion for growth via research and education to the Jacka Foundation.
Terri has held senior leadership roles for 20 years including Innovation/R&D Director and Global Technology Director with a major US-based pharmaceutical manufacturer where she also served on a number of international new product and technology development boards for complementary medicines. Prior to this she was introduced to complementary medicines via her time with Blackmores Ltd.
Dr Sue Evans
PhD FNHAA
Deputy Chair
For nearly four decades, Sue’s work has been with herbal medicine. She trained as a herbalist with the UK’s National Institute of Medical Herbalists before returning home to Melbourne in the early 1980s.
She practiced in the first integrative medicine clinic in Melbourne and helped establish Melbourne’s longstanding herbal support group (and the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia’s (NHAA) first chapter) VicHerbs. She has served on the executive of the NHAA, was inaugural chair of their Board Member Advisory Committee and is currently a member of their Environmental Committee. She taught herbal medicine at the Southern School of Natural Therapies before being appointed foundation lecturer in herbal medicine at Southern Cross University in 1995 when it established the first state-funded university course in naturopathy in Australia. She lectures and publishes regularly both nationally and internationally, and her PhD was an account of the contemporary challenges facing Western Herbal Medicine in Australia.
She has been honoured by her profession with a number of awards, including Herbalist of the Year (NHAA 2009) for leadership in academia, education and mentoring; the inaugural Vis Mediatrix Naturae award (Australian Naturopathic Summit, 2016) presented to ‘an elder of the profession who exemplifies the art and spirit of the healing power of nature in their work, life and community service’ and Life Membership of the NHAA (2017) for ‘insightful stewardship across many sectors of the herbal medicine profession’.
Her role on the Board of the Jacka Foundation complements her current range of activities which includes research and (online)( teaching with the University of Tasmania; consulting – mostly to institutions which offer natural medicine education, and developing her skills in herbal medicine-making for the benefit of the next generation.
Dr Liza Oates
PhD, GradCert EvidBased CompMed, BHSc(Nat)
Public Officer
Liza Oates PhD has been practicing as a naturopath and wellness consultant for over 20 years and has been involved in the clinical education of hundreds of naturopaths, nutritionists and medical students.
She has served on the board of the Australian Register of Naturopaths and Herbalists (ARONAH) and is a current member of the Environmental Subcommittee of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia (NHAA).
Liza is involved in the development of the new postgraduate programs in Naturopathic Medicine and Organic Food and Nutrition at Southern Cross University and previously helped to develop the world’s first Master of Wellness program at RMIT University. She also teaches Clinical Studies and supervises naturopathic student clinics at the Southern School of Natural Therapies and Endeavour College of Natural Health.
Her doctoral degree investigated ‘the health and wellness effects of organic diets’ and she has contributed to several textbooks and authored over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Liza is honoured to be able to serve alongside some of her naturopathic heroes to support the Jacka Foundation’s mission to promote the development of a community of researchers, scholars and leaders in the Australian naturopathic profession.
Poh Poh Chin
CFA, CPA
Treasurer
Passionate about healthy living and wellbeing, Poh Poh is an avid long time yoga practitioner, Poh Poh is excited to be part of the JFNT board to contribute towards research and development in naturopathy and its related modalities.
Poh Poh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Applied Finance from Monash University. She is a CFA charterholder and a member of the Certified Practising Accountant Australia. Poh Poh’s experience in finance spans across industries including positions held within financial services, diversified healthcare and mining corporates.
Dr Lauren Burns
PhD, BHSc(Nat)
SECRETARY
Lauren Burns created sporting history by winning the first Olympic gold medal for
Taekwondo when the sport made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Lauren emerged from these Games as one of Australia’s most sought after speakers and has spoken to over 300,000 people since the Games. Lauren continues to present to a wide variety of audiences in Australia and abroad. Specialising in lifestyle, mindset and human performance, she conducts programs and individual coaching sessions and is involved in the Gold Medal Ready program with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Lauren has always been passionate about complementary medicine and wholefoods. She became a vegetarian at the age of three and studied naturopathy alongside training for the Olympic Games. She incorporated many principles and naturopathic teachings into her training and diet regimine which she attributes to her success at the Games. Continuing her passion for food as medicine, she lectured at Endeavour College of Natural Medicine, teaching Medicinal Food Science, tutoring in the student clinic and worked as a supporting lecturer for the Food as Medicine elective at RMIT University.
She completed her PhD in lifestyle and mindset of elite athletes at RMIT, where her work won both the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research Impact and the Deputy Vice
Chancellor’s Prize for Research Impact in Health and Biomedical Sciences. Her work has been published in high impact peer-reviewed journals such as the British Journal of Sports Medicine. During her candidature she was generously supported by RMIT and the Jacka Foundation for Natural Therapies.
A key theme which emerged from her doctoral studies was the importance of interpersonal relationships. Human social-connection is critical for sustaining health and wellbeing, and is also central to elite sporting performance. Partnerships with support-staff (including complementary medicine practitioners), can offer a framework to develop quality relationships extending beyond purely technical/professional relationships. Her research provided relevance to the client-practitioner relationship along with the value of facilitating interpersonal relationships and human connection for all individuals. In her thesis she coined the term the ‘Performance Alliance’ which leans away from the ‘Therapeutic Alliance’ to create a more positive context for this connection. Building on this area of expertise, she is conducting post-doctoral research with the AIS on the topic.
Lauren has written two books; her autobiography Fighting Spirit, and cookbook Food from a Loving Home.
Dr Pauline McCabe
ND, MHSc(PHC), PhD
Pauline has had a long career in health care, in both mainstream and complementary settings. She completed qualifications in naturopathy, acupuncture, nursing, midwifery and aromatherapy which enabled a career as a naturopathic home birth midwife. Subsequently, after a few years in a retail setting (co-founding the Nimbin Apothecary), she turned to teaching and higher education, completing a Masters degree and a PhD. Her academic work led to a position as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing at LaTrobe University, where she developed a double degree in nursing and naturopathy (now defunct).
Apart from teaching, since the 1990s Pauline has been very involved in the development of complementary therapy courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level, co-written numerous reports, guidelines and position statements relating to complementary therapies and nursing in Australia, contributed to research on the regulatory requirements of naturopathy and herbal medicine, and participated in numerous educational and regulatory committees. She was a member of the steering committee that established the Australian Register of Naturopaths and Herbalists. Her publications include journal articles and book chapters in the above areas.
From 2007-2017 Pauline worked at RMIT University on the development, teaching, and coordination of the online postgraduate wellness program. She developed several courses for the program and was a course and program coordinator and teacher. Wellness theory, assessment and coaching have a natural affinity with naturopathy, and working on this program was a satisfying end to her academic career.
Pauline always harboured a desire to be a philanthropist and was thrilled when a position on the board of Jacka Foundation for Natural Therapies enabled her to live this dream. She is honoured to be able to serve the Foundation and support research capacity building in the naturopathic profession.
Associate Professor Greg Connolly B.A, BHSc, MSH, PhD
Greg graduated from the Southern School of Natural Therapies (SSNT) in 1988 and was a naturopathic clinical practitioner for 22 years specialising in Integrative Oncology. He has lectured at SSNT, now part of Torrens University, as a clinical educator for 30 years in Naturopathy and Clinical Supervision.
Greg’s recent achievements are the national Bioceutical Integrative Medicine Award 2020 in the Living Legend category; the NHAA International Conference 2019 award for outstanding work and best oral research presentation on cancer patients, complementary medicine, and the hospital system; and the Torrens University Deans Award (Health) for Excellence in Learning and Teaching 2020. In 2021 Greg was promoted to Associate Professor of Naturopathy at Torrens University.
Greg is a contributor to World Naturopathic Federation policy documents regarding international standards of terminology of naturopathy in education and professional practice. He is also a member of the World Naturopathic Federation committee on Naturopathic Roots – Global Naturopathic History, which is currently writing a textbook on the global history and principles of naturopathy.
Greg has a BA in Philosophy, a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy, a Master of Social Health and a PhD in Medical Anthropology (University of Melbourne) on cancer patients using complementary medicine in oncology hospitals.
David Morgan CPA
David was born in New Zealand, but has lived in Australia for most of his working life. He is a senior executive who has worked in the not-for-profit and community sectors for over thirty years. David has held positions within Aboriginal health, health research and most recently as Chief Executive Officer with Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal community controlled entity providing comprehensive primary health care services to Aboriginal people living in Gippsland, Victoria. David retired from this role and fulltime work in July 2021.
Previous roles include, Chief Executive Officer of Tennant Creek based Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Darwin based Danila Dilba Health Service and Chief Operating Officer of the Lowitja Institute. He has also worked in local Government as Chief Executive Officer of Milingimbi Council. Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations has given David the opportunity to gain an understanding of the social determinants of health and how they must be addressed tonimprove the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
David’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of
Adelaide, registration as a Certified Practising Accountant and Fellow of CPA Australia, and he is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
In addition to financial expertise, David has extensive experience in human resource
management, information technology and stakeholder engagement.