We are honoured to enjoy the expertise and generosity of our Directors
Margie Austin
BOARD MEMBER
Margie is an experienced Board & Committee Member and Commercial Director with over a decade of board-level experience in the global healthcare sector. Throughout her career, she has developed a strong depth and breadth of leadership, business acumen, and governance expertise. She leverages this to help organizations set strategy, achieve their aspirations and growth, and ensure effective governance.
Most recently, Margie served as a subsidiary Statutory and Commercial Director for the global healthcare company, Organon. Prior to that, she was at MSD, a top worldwide healthcare company, where she was a longstanding member of the leadership team, holding various leadership roles, including Executive Commercial Director.
Margie holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is proud of the positive impact she has had on people’s lives throughout her career, including the launch of lifesaving medicines and her strong leadership contributions to boards and the teams she has led.
Karen Lindley AM
BOARD MEMBER
Karen is a recently retired business woman who had a Gemmological practice in Sydney CBD for 40 years.
In conjunction with this she has sat on several Government and NGO Boards, been a business mentor with the Dept. of State and Regional Development, received the Pommery Award for Business Excellence and been both the Lane Cove Business Woman of the Year and the NSW Adult Volunteer of the year.
For the past 20 years Karen has been involved with victims and survivors of child sexual assault and worked as a volunteer through several agencies where one-on-one support and assistance is required.
Karen has been on the SAMSN Board since its inception in 2012 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for significant service to social welfare initiatives, and to the jewellery industry.
Professor James Elliott
BOARD MEMBER
James is a seasoned healthcare Director with over 20+ years experience in the global healthcare sector. Currently leading the Kolling Institute, the oldest biomedical research institute in New South Wales, James has a track record of steering complex projects across international teams and strategic alliance partners. He works with key policymakers, opinion leaders, Boards, and C-Suite executives. James possesses a unique ability to make sense of complex issues, set strategic directions and translate them into practical and pragmatic and measurable actions. His extensive experience in building and inspiring multidisciplinary teams has consistently delivered impactful results.
In addition to his leadership role at the Kolling Institute, James is the co-founder of the MuscleMap, an innovative open-source consortium for whole-body quantitative MRI of muscle. He has also been appointed to the Astronaut Spine Working Group by NASA and served as the VP of the Medical Faculty Council for the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. His academic qualifications include a Master of Science in Physical Therapy, a PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia). With a background in professional sports, having worked with the Colorado Rockies at the Major League level and a playing career with the San Diego Padres, James brings a diverse and dynamic perspective to SAMSN.