IMSANZ Board

IMSANZ is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting.

A/Prof Douglas Johnson, President

A/Prof Douglas Johnson is an Infectious Diseases Physician and the Director of the Department of General Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. A/Prof Johnson completed his fellowship in Infectious Diseases in 2008, a PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2013, evaluating a novel vaccine construct for Hepatitis C virus, and a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (London) in 2017.

A/Prof Johnson has published over 70 papers covering areas of interest including internal medicine, infections in immunocompromised hosts and travel medicine in the immunocompromised traveller.

A/Prof Johnson was the Director of Physician Education for 8 years and has a longstanding interest in education, staff wellbeing and improving the work environment. A/Prof Johnson is a member of the FRACP General Medicine Advanced Training Committee, the Victorian Representative of the Internal Medicine Society of Australia New Zealand, an FRACP National Examiner, Deputy Chair of the FRACP Written Examination Committee and longstanding Chair of the Melbourne Infectious Diseases Group. He held roles at the College of Physicians in the Basic Training Curricula Review Committee and Special Consideration committee.

A/Prof Johnson joined the IMSANZ Board of Directors in September 2020, was appointed as the Australian Vice President in February 2021, and appointed as President on 9th September 2022.

Dr Michelle Downie, NZ Vice President

Dr Michelle Downie completed training and started work as a Consultant General Physician & Endocrinologist in Wellington in 2011, before moving to Southland in early 2013 where she spent a decade working in provincial General Medicine. In 2022, she then moved to her current position at Tauranga Hospital, Hauora A Toi Bay of Plenty where she shares her time between General Medicine, Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Michelle previously served on the IMSANZ council for 7 years, and has been on and chaired the NZ Advanced Training Committee for General & Acute Care Medicine for 9 years. She has also served on the NZ RACP Adult Medicine Education Committee for several years, and is an active member of the written examination item writing panel committee which writes the questions for the RACP written examination.

Michelle attends every IMSANZ meeting possible and has convened several IMSANZ conferences in the past. She want to ensure these meetings continue to be successful and appealing.

Michelle has a particular interest in encouraging trainees to complete General Medicine training and to see the specialty as being as challenging and exciting as she does. She also wants to promote training and working in General Medicine outside of Tertiary Centres. Michelle feels strongly that as an organisation IMSANZ needs to continue to actively work hard to promote and grow our specialty going forward.

Michelle was elected to join the IMSANZ Board in September 2020, and was appointed as the NZ Vice President in June 2021.

C/A Prof Robyn Wallace

C/A Prof Robyn Wallace is a General Physician with special interests in healthcare of adults with intellectual disability, healthcare of adults with mental illness, and perioperative medicine. She has a strong interest in developing the general physician role in care of vulnerable patients, who typically have complex health and lives. In the private sector she has established these as new services in Tasmania. She is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania, previously University of Queensland. She also teaches medical students lectures and in clinics, and medical registrars. She is currently completing her term as Chair of the Tasmanian Regional RACP Commitee, and hs been a member of the RACP CPAC. She is a Board member of a Disability Service Provider. She is also on the Medical Advisory Committee of a private hospital. She is immediate past Chair of the Clinical Review Committee at another private hospital.

Robyn was appointed to the Board on 7 September 2018 at the 2018 AGM in Queenstown

Dr Tony Ryan

Dr Tony Ryan initially trained in Queensland and the United Kingdom and is currently a General Physician based at Fremantle, SJOG Murdoch and Armadale-Kelmscott Hospitals. Treasurer and Councillor of the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand, he is also a member of the AMA Inter Hospital Liaison Committee, a member of the Fiona Stanley Clinical Reference Group and MAC member at Armadale Hospital.

Tony was appointed to the IMSANZ Council and Board at the AGM on 7 September 2018.

Dr Tessa La Varis

Dr Tessa La Varis practises full time in a small rural general public hospital in a job that epitomises the necessary breadth and strength the general physician can bring to the table. Tessa worked and trained in some larger prestigious academic hospitals in Edinburgh, Perth and Wellington, but loves the whole experience she gets living and working in beautiful Marlborough. She is passionate that we encourage trainees into this domain, recognising it as a fantastic entity in itself, and out into the regions, where the medicine is challenging, never boring, and the lifestyle truly rich.

Dr Laura Chapman

Dr Laura Chapman is a General Medicine SMO and the Director of Clinical Training at Waitemata. She qualified in 1999 then took a rewarding and meandering training path. She completed training in the UK in Acute and General Medicine before moving to NZ. Laura enjoys strategic leadership and contributing to all aspects of medical education. She is an RACP SPDP facilitator, serves on the HPDT and has held several roles with the University of Auckland Medical Programme including deputy Head of Programme, Selective attachment lead, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Assistant Dean of Waitemata Clinical Campus. She has been the Clinical Director of ADU, RACP AMDEC member and was the convenor of the IMSANZ NZ Conference in Auckland 2019.

Laura joined the IMSANZ Council and Board in July 2021

A/Prof Ar Kar Aung

A/Prof Ar Kar Aung is a General and Infectious Diseases physician at Alfred Health in Melbourne, Victoria. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2004, attained his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2012 and Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh)(FRCP Edin) in 2022. He completed Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University in 2015. He is currently the Chair of IMSANZ Research Network, and holds an adjunct clinical associate professor position at Monash University. A/Prof Ar Kar Aung has strong interests in medical education, clinical medicine, quality improvement research, health service and clinical research, medication safety and adverse drug reactions. He was the former Chair of the Australian General and Acute Care Medicine Advance Training Committee (GACM ATC) at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), and former Director of Physician Education (DPE) at Alfred Health. He also supervised and coordinated General and Acute Care Medicine advance training program at Alfred Health from 2015 to 2019. He has also served in various local and national leadership roles including, as a Director on the IMSANZ Board from 2018 to 2020, as the Victorian metropolitan representative on the IMSANZ Council from 2021 to 2022, as the head of General Medicine research and as the Chair of Adverse Drug Reaction Review Committee at Alfred Health. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, numerous clinical guidelines and book chapters, and co-edited two medical textbooks ‘Clinical Integration: Medicine’ and ‘Beyond Evidence-Based Medicine: Clinical Pearls from Experienced Physicians’ .

Dr Nicole Hancock

Dr Nicole Hancock is a physician awarded Fellowship in General and Acute Care Medicine in September 2001.  She has worked in tertiary hospitals across three states as a General Physician including Director and Deputy Director leadership roles.  She has been in her current role as Deputy Director of General Medicine at Alfred Health, Melbourne since January 2019.

She is the National Lead in Accreditation for General and Acute Care Medicine Advanced Physician Training (2018-2024).  In February 2023, she formally established the Victorian Internal Medicine leadership group, completed studies with the Australian Institute of Company Directors and attained Associate Fellowship of the College of Medical Administrators.  She was appointed to the Victorian RACMA Jurisdictional Committee in November 2023. She continues to identify, speak about and influence institutional cultures towards General Medicine clinical services, support growth and opportunities for General Physician leaders and expands her knowledge in medical workforce strategy and planning.   

She became an IMSANZ member in 1999 and served on the IMSANZ council as a young consultant.  Following a nadir from council duties to focus on her family and hospital-based career, she is really excited about re-connecting with IMSANZ in 2023 as Councillor and Board member. She was appointed to the IMSANZ Board in September 2023.