Executive team

Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque joined the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation as Chief Executive in June 2017.

He was previously Chief Executive of the Bureau of Health Information between 2013 and 2017. Jean-Frédéric brings to the ACI leadership in healthcare system analysis and improvement, combining experience in clinical practice in refugee health and tropical medicine, in clinical governance and in academic research. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of New South Wales.

Jean-Frédéric has a Medical Degree, a Masters in Community Health and a Doctorate in Public Health from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. He is a member of the Strategic Analytic Advisory Committee of the Canadian Institute of Health Information and a member of the HealthShare NSW Board.

Prior to joining NSW Health, Jean-Frédéric held senior positions responsible for publicly reporting information about the Canadian health system at the Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec and the Commissaire a la santé et au bien-etre du Québec and he was a Visiting Academic at the University of Melbourne

Dr Tracey Tay is a Staff Specialist Anaesthetist at John Hunter Hospital and a Clinical Executive Director at the ACI.

Tracey has worked in a number of clinical and management roles throughout her career including Director, Perioperative Services at John Hunter Hospital and Clinical Lead at the ACI for four years until 2016.

Tracey is passionate about the need for greater leadership by clinicians in creating a sustainable system that improves both health outcomes for the community and the experience of care for patients and their carers. She has extensive experience supporting clinicians and managers to redesign their services to improve care for their patients and clients. She is also experienced with developing practical partnerships across the primary, community and acute healthcare sectors to develop explicit, locally agreed pathways of care.

Tracey has a Master of Health Policy and was awarded a 2011 Churchill Fellowship – studying clinician involvement in decision-making and leading change across the UK, Denmark, Sweden and the US. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ellen Rawstron has been appointed Acting Clinical Executive Director, PRISM to August 2021.

Ellen joined the Agency for Clinical Innovation in 2010 and has worked extensively in clinical networks, project management and leadership roles across the organisation. Ellen’s substantive role is Clinical Associate Director, Surgery, Anaesthesia and Interventional Medicine at the ACI. Her previous experience encompasses supporting clinical training programs at the NSW Institute of Medical Education and Training (now the Health and Education Training Institute) and at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Ellen holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Macquarie University. She also has 15 years' experience working in volunteer and community organisations, including active service with the NSW State Emergency Service.

Lea Kirkwood commenced her career as a nurse specialising in emergency care.

Lea has held numerous education and practice change roles, including Clinical Nurse Consultant in Emergency and lead for several statewide projects at the NSW Ministry of Health, moving into the manager of the NSW Health Redesign program. In this role she led the transition of the redesign program into a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Redesign and saw it win the Bond University prize for Sustainability in Healthcare in 2018.

Lea holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Psychology), Masters of Nursing and Graduate Certificates in Clinical Education and Clinical Redesign. Lea represents as a professional hearing member of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW, Health Professional Councils Authority and is an Adjunct Lecturer with the University of Tasmania.

Lea completed a Hospital Alliance for Research Collaboration (HARC) scholarship in 2019 researching transdisciplinary innovation and is interested in how healthcare reform can be achieved through increased integration of design and partnerships.

Lea is passionate about the opportunity to influence health system innovation and developing consumer partnerships to progress healthcare reform.

Dr Kim Sutherland joined the Agency for Clinical Innovation in May 2018.

Her previous role was Senior Director, Performance Measurement & Reporting at the Bureau of Health Information.

Kim is a health services researcher with experience in performance measurement and reporting, evaluation and assessment of quality, and change management in healthcare organisations. She played a central role in the development of performance measurement frameworks in NSW and the UK and co-authored a series of reports on the English NHS quality agenda. Kim holds a Master of Science from London Hospital Medical College, a Master of Business Administration from Imperial College London and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Karen Perini joined the Agency for Clinical Innovation in May 2018.

She was previously the Director, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement at the Bureau of Health Information.

Karen has 20 years’ experience in corporate and internal communications, public relations, media and issues management. She has worked on community campaigns, high profile issues and has provided strategic communications advice to governments, Ministers and clients. Her experience spans across the business, health and environment sectors in Sydney and London. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) from Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.

Nirav joined the Agency for Clinical Innovation in 2015 as the Finance and Business Partner and was appointed Director, Finance and Corporate Affairs in 2018. Nirav leads the ACI’s finance function including audit and risk.

Nirav has more than 12 years’ experience in corporate finance and risk management. His experience spans across the business, education and health sectors in Sydney and London. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Finance & Management) from Middlesex University, UK and is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK.