Previous Speakers

Andrew holds the William R Lindsay Chair in Health Economics at the University of Glasgow, where he was instrumental in developing capacity in Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment (HEHTA).  The HEHTA research group that he headed fromm 2005 to covers a broad range of health technology assessment projects as well as delivering an MSc in Health Technology Assessment.   Following a sabbatical at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York he remains a Visiting Investigator, collaborating with Dr Peter Bach on value frameworks for oncology medications.

Andrew has expertise in all areas of health economic evaluation — he has published over 200 articles in the peer-reviewed literature.  He has particularly focused on statistical methods for cost-effectiveness analysis.  This includes statistical methods for estimation of parameters for cost-effectiveness models as well as statistical analysis of cost-effectiveness alongside clinical trials.  He also has a more general interest in epidemiological methods, in particular the use of prognostic scoring methods for predicting health outcomes and the relationship with heterogeneity in cost-effectiveness.  Andrew took a leadership role as co-chair of the Joint Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) and International Society for PharmacoEconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Task Force on Modelling Methods.  The Task Force, which was responsible for producing a set of seven papers covering all aspects of modelling methods applied to medical decision making and health technology assessment.  He is also the author of two successful textbooks, one published by OUP entitled Decision Modelling for Health Economic Evaluation, and another published by Wiley entitled Statistical Methods for Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

In addition to his academic activities, Andrew is also Director & Principal of Avalon Health Economics, a small consultancy company based in New Jersey, USA which focuses on providing support to companies bringing products to market in both US and ex-US.

Tiffany heads up Social Media and Event marketing for Aspen Snowmass and is the guru behind the colourful Instagram account @aspensnowmasss.  She was the chief marketing officer for the 2017 World Cup Finals held in Aspen and has worked with brands such as XGames, Strafe & Playboy.  She teaches the ever evolving landscape of social media and design at Colorado Mountain College.  Over the past 8 years, Tiffany has cultivated a remarkable portfolio of creative talents including design and photography in various roles in the ski, fashion and wedding industries.  She can be caught on any social channel at any given time and has a continuous pulse on the world of social media and the next snow storm and is equally as passionate about both.

James (Jim) Ruble, RPh, PharmD, JD, is an associate professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.  He provides instruction to professional pharmacy students, and graduate students in pharmaceutical compounding and in pharmacy law.  He also provides instruction to pharmacy and health professions students in bioethics.  He has more than 25 years’ experience as a pharmacist and more than 30 years’ experience in health care.  He currently practices in community pharmacy, but has previously worked in hospital practice, drug information, poison control, and neuroscience clinical care.  Jim has received numerous awards for teaching excellence.

Tabitha Acret is a qualified dental hygienist and has been part of the dental industry for 18 years.  She has worked as a dental nurse, dental receptionist and practice manager.  She holds a Bachelor of Oral Health from Newcastle University and is now studying Law at Sydney Law School.

Registered with the Australian Dental board, a member of the periodontal society, previous committee member for continued education for the Dental Hygienist Association NSW and current chair for NSW Dental Hygienist Association Australia Ltd. and a guest lecturer for the Dental Assistants Association of NSW.

Tabitha has a keen interest in preventative density and sleep medicine, however her focuses have been on starting and building successful hygiene departments and continuing her studies in health law.

Dr Maria Doton migrated from the Philippines in 1987 to assist ease the doctor shortage in Fiji. She commenced practice in Lakeba in Lau. Through the Soroptimist International organisation, she reached out to other women and in 2010 formed the Ba Women’s Forum.
In 2014 the Ministry for Women picked out Dr Maria Doton as their most influential figure for women in the Fiji Western Division, saying her impact on the community through her projects and initiatives was recognised at national level.
Dr Doton is the immediate past president of the Fiji Dental Association and member of the Fiji Dental Council and brings a wealth of experience on Dentistry in Fiji.

Jill has worked in clinical practices as a Registered Dental Hygienist for over 23 years, recently retiring from the Exceptional Dental Practice in Las Vegas, Nevada and pursuing her independent consulting full time. In the clinical setting, Jill specialized in non-surgical periodontal treatment, with special emphasis on Molecular Testing and Laser Therapy. Jill has co-authored several articles appearing in well-respected dental journals regarding Laser applications in periodontal therapy. In addition to being a published author, Jill is an accomplished speaker who presents on topics including Molecular Testing, Restorative Communication and Acceptance, and Laser Therapy in Periodontal Treatment.

Professor Emeritus at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), is and internationally recognised expert on fluorides and has a long and distinguished academic and research career. He graduated BDS Sydney University, in 1954 and ahs since been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and honours including Presidential Citation from the ADA for contributions to public oral health.

Jonathan is the lead partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler’s Sydney property & development practice. His areas of expertise include commercial property law, business law and structuring of property ventures. Jonathan regularly advises large private client groups and high-net-worth individuals on a range of property related and business law matters.

Dr Gordon Slater obtained an undergraduate qualification at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons and the Australian Orthopaedic Society. He undertook advanced study in Foot and Ankle Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York in 1997.

His many publications and extensive clinical experience in foot and ankle surgery have provided opportunities as both presenter of plenary lectures and chairman of numerous international meetings. He first published in 1993 on ground breaking techniques using ceramic alud mina spaces anhas since then published in various numerous, including the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Surgery  Clinics of North America, Foot and Ankle International, Journal of Bone and Joint, World Journal of Orthopaedics. He has over 20 years experience in various minimally invasive techniques and similar experience in advanced reconstruction in such conditions as charcot disease. At present, he is in private, clinical practice in Sydney and Albury, Australia.

Terri Tilliss, RDH, PhD acquired a PhD degree in Health and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Colorado. She received BS and MS degrees from the University of Iowa in Dental Hygiene and an MS degree in Counseling, from the University of Colorado.   She has been a faculty member at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine since 1982.

Dr. Tilliss is currently a Professor in the Department of Orthodontics where she facilitates resident research projects, and teaches health communication skills to medical and dental students

Dr. Tilliss publishes extensively in the dental literature and presents educational programs nationally and internationally.

Dr Joanne Silverton graduated from medicine at the University of New South Wales with first class honours in 2000. She obtained her FANZCA in 2010. She is currently working as a consultant Anaesthetist at the Prince of Wales Hospital and Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick, Sydney. Her main areas of speciality include Anaesthesia for Gynaecology and Gynaecological Oncology, Ophthalmic surgery, Obstetrics and Plastic Surgery.

Zoe Bojanac has over 20 years’ experience as a litigation lawyer, with a particular focus on professional reputation, conduct and negligence matters. Zoe was the Australian Lawyer Member of the Pharmacy Council of NSW (formerly known as the Pharmacy Board of NSW) from 2006 to 2015. Zoe was also a member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Law Society of NSW from 2004 to 2013, a member of the Licensing Committee of the Law Society of NSW for 2012 and a member of the Litigation Law and Practice Committee of the Law Society of NSW for 2001.

Jenny is an Anaesthetist who currently works at the Royal Hospital for Women.  She is a VMO and works privately at hospitals in Sydney.  Jenny’s specialty is obstetrics and gynaecology anaesthesia.  She undergoes regular lists in plastic surgery, endoscopy, eye surgery, orthopaedics obstetrics and gynaecology. Her publication work includes the chapter in Nicholas Talley’s book on Clinical Medicine on anaesthesia for endoscopy.

Dr Bynum is a Graduate of University of California, San Diego. For over 12 years he has been providing individualized, high-tech, high-touch, quality cosmetic, aesthetic and general dentistry. Aside from hands-on clinical teaching and instruction Dr Bynum also speaks on topics ranging from clinical excellence and restorative dentistry, to practice management/motivation and neuromuscular dentistry/occlusion to both dentists and dental professionals.

Clinical Instructor, teaching progressive dental concepts and procedures.

Tim is an Executive Director at APN Property Group. He has over 12 years’ of experience across real estate, funds management, investment banking and law.  Over Tim’s career, he has practised law at Herbert Smith Freehills as a qualified corporate lawyer and worked in corporate finance advisory within Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division.  Tim has worked on mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions worth several billion dollars within Australia and internationally including a number of significant commercial real estate transactions.He has led both private and public capital raising projects for real estate investments and successfully completed asset acquisitions, sales and asset management projects across a range of different real estate asset classes.

Dr. Astroth graduated from Northwestern University in 1976 and spent the next seven years as a general dentist, three years for the U.S. Army, four years in private practice.  Following completion of a Veterans Administration Prosthodontic program in 1985, he maintained a prosthodontic, implant-focused private practice in Kansas City, MO.  In 1992 Dr. Astroth entered a Geriatric Fellowship and MSPH program at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry.

Upon completion of these programs he joined the faculty of the School of Dentistry in the Department of Prosthodontics and practiced prosthodontics in the Faculty Practice for twenty years.  Dr. Astroth has lectured both nationally and internationally on the medical and prosthodontic care of elderly patients.  He maintained his association with the Army Dental Corps for thirty years which included numerous deployments until retirement.  Currently Dr. Astroth is an attending prosthodontist for the Veteran Administration Hospital’s general practice residency in Denver.  He has enjoyed many dental missions to serve indigent populations in several international locations.

Dr Michael Zacharia is a highly trained Sydney based plastic surgeon specialising in facial plastic surgery and Ear, Nose & Throat surgery.  Throughout his career, Dr Zacharia has performed 4000+ rhinoplasty procedures and has earned a reputation in the industry for achieving natural-looking results using the latest facial rejuvenation techniques.  In addition to rhinoplasty, Dr Zacharia provides a number of facial plastic surgery procedures for clients, including fact lift, eyelid surgery, brow and neck lift and cosmetic early surgery.

Dr Nishimine, DDS, is a Diplomate, American Board of Periodontology and has been providing periodontal/implant therapy for patients in the Fresno area for over 10 years.  He attended California State University Fresno, University of Oklahoma Dental School for a D.D.S. degree, and completed his specialty residency in Periodontics at University of California at San Francisco.

A 1995 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Duncan vigorously pursued continuing education to grow beyond what was taught in dental school; twice being recognized as a leader in Oklahoma for Continuing Education. He completed the surgical and prosthetic sections with the Misch Implant Institute earning a Fellowship with the Institute as well as holding Diplomate status with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. He has also earned the Fellowship with the Academy of General Dentistry in the shortest time period allowed by the Academy. 

Dr Duncan considers his real advance in education to have started with his journey through the Las Vegas Institute where he earned a Fellowship and currently works full-time as Clinical Director. Dr. Duncan is a member of the International Association of Comprehensive Aesthetics (IACA) and holds a position on the Board of Directors.
Dr. Duncan writes on a variety of dental topics and lectures internationally on advanced dental topics including occlusion, esthetics, advanced technology, communication, and myofacial pain. www.LVIGlobal.com

Debbie Rigby is a consultant clinical pharmacist from Brisbane. Since graduation with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland she has since obtained a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy, Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Pharmacy and certification as an Asthma Educator.

Debbie is a Director on the NPS MedicineWise Board (National Prescribing Service) and Chair of the SHPA Accredited Pharmacist Reference Group. Other appointments include the Australian Therapeutic Goods Advisory Council, APC Advanced Practice Credentialing Committee, Honorary Fellow QUT, and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at UQ. Debbie conducts Home Medicine Reviews in collaboration with GPs in a medical centre.

In 2001 Debbie was awarded the PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year, in 2002 the PSA Qld Bowl of Hygeia and in 2008 was the inaugural recipient of the AACP Consultant Pharmacist Award.

Dr McCreight received his BA from Luther College obtaining a major in Biology in 1991. After his undergraduate education, Dr. Jim went on to receive his dental degree (DDS) from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 1995. He continued his dental education by completing an advanced education in general dentistry (AEGD) through the Naval Dental Center of San Diego, CA and was a commissioned officer in the Navy (Lieutenant) during this training period.

Dr McCreight founded McCreight Progressive Dentistry in 1998 with his wife Wendy. Together they also founded the McCreight Smile Foundation in December 2006 which is a dental fund that directly supports victims of domestic violence of Northwest Colorado.Dr McCreight currently instructs Advanced Anterior and Comprehensive Aesthetic Reconstruction Programs, teaching dentists from around the world state of the art cosmetic and neuromuscular dentistry. Visit Wesbite

Dr McCreight received her BS in Nursing in 1988 and made her career change in 1997 when she received her dental degree (DDS) from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.

After her 1997 graduation Dr. McCreight continued her post graduate training attending the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI), studying cosmetic and neuromuscular dentistry. She maintains active memberships in the American Dental Association, Colorado Dental Association, Western Slope Dental Association and the International Association of Comprehensive Aesthetics. Visit Website

Anna Forsythe is a Managing Partner and a CEO of Purple Squirrel Economics (PSE), a boutique consultancy firm specializing in providing curated evidence and economic modeling to support global health technology assessments. Prior to PSE, Anna was an Executive Director and Head of Global Value and Access Strategy at Eisai Inc. Anna has more than 20 years of experience in global product commercialization and strategic drug development, market access, HEOR, pricing and reimbursement across major pharmaceutical companies covering multiple therapeutic areas. Anna is an adjunct professor for health economics at Long Island University Pharmacy school and a guest lecturer at Rutgers University Business School,  and a frequent and contributor to forums, articles and conferences addressing issues related to value of therapies, health economics evaluations and access to medicines. Anna has a doctorate degree in Pharmacy, a Master of Science in Health Economics and Public Policy and a Master in Business Administration.

James Silverton is a Senior Investment Adviser at Shaw & Partners Limited with over 18 years experience in financial services encompassing equity portfolio management, fixed interest, bonds and derivatives (options).  He has worked at Shaw & Partners for over 16 years and previously held positions at Coopers and Lybrand and Rothschild Australia.  As a Senior Investment Adviser, James works in partnership with clients to understand their unique financial circumstances to determine an appropriate investment strategy that will best deliver on their objectives whilst respecting their appetite for risk.

Dr Miller grew up in Northern and Southern California, attending both Gunn High School in Palo Alto and Marina High School in Huntington Beach. College included UCLA and UC Irvine. Dr. Miller received his dental degree from the University of California at San Francisco. He then practiced dentistry for seven years (5 of it with the Tuolumne Rural Indian Health Clinic) before returning to UCSF for his orthodontic specialty training. He had a private orthodontic practice in Sunnyvale from 1998-2008. Since then he has worked in several orthodontic offices and consulted for a number of start up companies in the Bay Area.

He was the first Chief Clinical Officer at Align Technology where he was instrumental at bringing Invisalign to the market. He has lectured nationally and internationally, written numerous orthodontic papers and helped author more than twenty-five publications. Dr. Miller consults with Sonitus Medical and RODO Medical. Sonitus Medical manufacturers an intra oral hearing system for Single Sided Deafness and RODO Medical is bringing to the market a high tech dental implant system and denture retention system.

Associate Professor Caplan is Director of Post Acute Care Services and Director of Geriatric Medicine at Prince of Wales Hospital and a Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

His research involves:

• Developing and rigorously testing new health services, he has been a chief investigator on 5 investigator-initiated RCTs, and
• The pathophysiology of delirium, where he works with a consortium of international investigators.

He led the Prince of Wales involvement as lead hospital in three phases of the National Demonstration Hospitals Program (NDHP) and has served as a consultant to Commonwealth and State Health Departments including the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council, and is the editor of the most recent Australian textbook of Geriatric Medicine.

Dr Brett L Taylor BDS FICD FPFA graduated from Sydney University in 1984. He was a Clinical Associate of the University of Sydney Faculty of Dentistry from  1991-7, ADA NSW Branch  Councillor from 1997-2005 and ADA Vice President in 1999. He was a founding director of the ADA (NSW) Centre for Professional Development, and organised (and assisted teaching) their first live patient training program in 2003. He has been awarded fellowships  by the International College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy, and was the inaugural recipient of the ADA NSW Branch Medallion for “Outstanding Contribution to Dentistry” in 2006. He currently teaches hands on live patient cosmetic and reconstructive  courses in Brisbane. He lectures domestically and internationally, has written a book (“Getting Your Smile Right-The Importance of Feeling Normal”) and occasionally finds time to run a full time practice in Penshurst NSW. He has a wife and two daughters who  can be found by the pool while he’s lecturing. http://www.leadingedgedental.com.au/

Michael joined APN Funds Management in 2006 and has been responsible for the management of the APN Development Funds and for the capital management, treasury, risk management, financial analysis and operational managemnet ofor thises funds.
Michael has more than 25 years’ professional corporate experience. Prior to joining APN, Michael held various senior positions with Perpetual Investments Limited (Infrastructure funds), Austock (establishment of the ASX-listed Australian Education Trust) and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Corporate Finance) and has successfully achieved financial close on a number of complex ‘Greenfield’ developments ranging in value from $50 million to $1 billion.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

An international lecturer, accomplished author and instructor on advanced dental ceramics. Brad is one of only 4 ceramists in the world to be awarded a Fellowship by the prestigious American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Visit Website