Lisa McKenzie, BPhysio(Hons), MHA, GAICD, Vice President, Asia-Pacific, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supports organizations in the region to accelerate the pace of improvement and achieve impactful results. She oversees multi-year partnerships with Safer Care Victoria (Australia) and the Singapore Ministry of Health to deliver transformative changes for the populations they serve. Ms. McKenzie advises leaders on strategies to advance the quality of health systems and presents programs internationally to build improvement science capability. She has worked for more than 20 years in the health sector and has extensive experience in the co-design, delivery, and spread of large-scale improvement programs. Prior to joining IHI, Ms. McKenzie was in various leadership roles, including Chief of Staff and Director of Transformation and Quality, at Melbourne Health, one of Australia’s major tertiary health services. She has a Masters of Health Administration, a clinical background in physiotherapy, has completed IHI’s onsite Fellowship Program, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr. Mamun Mohiuddin Bhuiyan, MPH, CCD, MBBS, is the Quality Improvement Implementation Advisor for IHI’s work in Bangladesh. He works with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the local delivery partners to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in 10 districts. Dr. Bhuiyan acts as focal point of a Learning Collaborative primarily in 10 districts of Bangladesh. He was a clinician for seven years before joining as a QI Monitor & Program specialist in URC. Prior to joining IHI, he spent five years in the Health & Nutrition sector of Save the Children in Bangladesh as a Quality Improvement Manager for their Nutrition Project. He actively contributed to the development of different technical guides in the quality improvement field led by the Quality Improvement Secretariat (QIS) under MoH&FW, Bangladesh. Dr. Bhuiyan worked with URC as a Program Specialist to establish the management protocol of Diabetes Mellitus-Tuberculosis Co-morbidity in BIRDEM Hospital, the first-ever initiative in Bangladesh.

Kate Bones, MSW, is Project Director for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s work in the Asia-Pacific region, providing support across multiple improvement initiatives within the region to ensure robust application of improvement science that will lead to results. She first joined the IHI in 2000, during which time she was involved in a number of Collaborative programs in the US, including the national Health Disparities Collaboratives and a statewide Collaborative to reduce hospital readmissions. She was lead staff to IHI’s Scientific Advisory Group, helping to launch this advisory function in 2009. In 2013, she left IHI to gain experience with applying improvement methods in the sector and has since done so within primary care, hospital-based settings, and mental health services. It was during this period that she moved to New Zealand. Ms. Bones has served as teaching faculty with programs offered by Ko Awatea and the Health Quality and Safety Commission within New Zealand and, in 2021, she returned to IHI to support work in the Asia-Pacific region. She is a social worker by training and spent her early years working with consumers of mental health services.

Shady Botros, BPharm, MSc(Dist), SCLF, SPSPF, is the onsite Project Director supporting IHI’s partnership with the Singapore Ministry of Health to accelerate improvement across multiple national health priorities. He joined IHI as a faculty member in 2013 and supported several large-scale initiatives such as the South of England Improving Safety in Mental Health Collaborative, the Singapore Healthcare Improvement Network (SHINe) Collaborative, and the Hamad Medical Corporation Best Care Always Collaborative in Qatar. He has also designed, delivered, and supported multiple capability-building programs. He is a New Zealand trained pharmacist and prior to joining IHI as a Project Director in 2021, he was a lead clinical pharmacist at NHS Tayside where he led multiple services including Oncology, Haematology, Surgery, Orthopaedics and Critical Care. During this time, he led the design and implementation of several innovative quality improvement projects that attracted multiple national and international awards. He has a Master degree from the University of Robert Gordon and is a qualified independent prescribing intensive care pharmacist. In 2012 he gained a fellowship in patient safety from the Scottish Patient Safety Program (SPSP), where he served as faculty for the national medication safety workstream and in 2019 gained a fellowship in Clinical Leadership and Healthcare Management from the Scottish government.

Minara Chowdhury, MA, APM, is the Country Director for IHI’s work in Bangladesh. Working with the Government of Bangladesh and Development Partners, she leads a team of local resources and international faculty with an aim to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in 10 participating districts. Prior to joining IHI, Ms. Chowdhury worked for Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha, Qatar, for 10 years in several improvement-focused roles, including Executive Director for Business Development at Hamad General Hospital and Executive Director for special projects, where she initiated the first value improvement program in Qatar. She was also appointed Acting Executive Director for Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute and prior to that role established and managed the Center for Healthcare Improvement for about six years. Previously, she worked with the National Health Service in the UK in different roles, including operational lead for the Turnaround program at Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust. During this time Ms. Chowdhury completed her Masters in Management of Change from the University of Sussex, UK. She commenced her career in project management within the banking sector, where she qualified as a Company Secretary, having completed the Institute for Chartered Secretaries and Administrators qualification and securing a world prize in Managing Information Systems. She also completed her qualifications through the Association of Project Management.

Diana Dowdle, BA, DipSP&SW, is a Project Director, Asia-Pacific, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), providing leadership for the Preterm Birth Prevention National Collaborative, in partnership with the Women’s Healthcare Australasia (WHA) and the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance (the Alliance). She previously worked in senior professional leadership, senior management, and improvement roles at Ko Awatea and Counties Manukau Health in New Zealand for the past 20 years. In her role as Delivery Manager at Ko Awatea, she was responsible for leading successful improvement campaigns and programs across Counties Manukau Health and the Auckland region. Collaborative project teams in the 20,000 Days, Beyond 20,000 Days, and Manaaki Hauora – Supporting Wellness Campaigns were supported to implement improvements to better manage the demands on the hospital and provide self-management support for people and their families with long-term conditions. Ms. Dowdle has a background in social work in child protection and health, with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Auckland University and a Diploma of Social Policy and Social Work from Massey University.

Stephanie Easthope, BMLSc, PostGradDip Management, is a Project Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), currently partnering with the Victorian Department of Health on the Timely Emergency Care Collaborative. She has worked in service design and improvement for more than 20 years, and through this time has completed a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, the IHI Improvement Advisor Program, IHI Innovation College, and Lean Coach (Cardiff University) qualifications. She has worked across the health sector as a Principal Consultant for Francis Health, as a Design Lead at the New Zealand (NZ) Accident Compensation Corporation, and as a senior leader and faculty at Ko Awatea, an innovation and improvement center at the Counties Manukau District Health Board, NZ. She has supported seven District Health Boards in NZ to improve patient flow, worked with the Department of Corrections to improve health care service delivery in NZ’s largest remand prison, developed and coached teams in improvement science, and has been faculty on leadership development, improvement training, and operational management programs. She was the Co-Director for Leadership at Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority), where she supported the development of a strategy to increase leadership capability and equity across the health sector. In this role she also supported the development of an outcomes framework for the newly established entity.

Sumona Ferdous, MBBS, MPH, is the Quality Improvement Implementation Advisor for IHI’s work in Bangladesh. She works closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the professional bodies, providing support to the Quality Improvement Activities to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in 10 Districts of Bangladesh. As a Quality Improvement Coach, Dr. Ferdous engaged herself in building the QI knowledge and skills of the service providers at the subdistrict, district, and national levels. Prior to joining IHI, she worked for Marie Stopes Bangladesh as the lead for maternity services where she provided technical supports to ensure and improve the quality of care for mothers and newborns. Dr. Ferdous was also engaged in an additional scope of work in the field of sexual and reproductive health and family planning. She worked closely with Marie Stopes International as a master trainer and successfully facilitated different capability development programs on medical emergency management, emergency obstetric care, and infection prevention. Dr. Ferdous has 15 years of clinical experience in gynecological and obstetrical inpatient and outpatient management and the management of emergency obstetric care. She worked for the Government of Bangladesh and played a vital role as a Register-Gynae & Obstetrics in the Institute of Child and Mother Health, which is a renowned health care, training, and research institute in Bangladesh. Throughout her career, Dr. Ferdous has played significant roles in different national and international NGOs and government organizations in the field of maternal, newborn, and reproductive health.

Robert Forsythe, BSc(Hons), MSc, MSHP, Project Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supports IHI’s work with the Safer Care Victoria (Australia) projects, provides leadership to a number of improvement collaboratives in the state of Victoria, and contributes to capability building in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Forsythe previously worked as a hospital pharmacy administrator and has also held roles in project management, health service transformation, and health service executive leadership. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Queen’s University of Belfast and is currently completing a Master of Business Administration degree. Prior to joining IHI, Mr. Forsythe completed Improvement Advisor (IA) training. He has worked on a number of improvement projects, including sepsis care, patient flow, medication safety, and obstetric safety.

Malcolm Green, RN, BN, MN (Critical Care), is a Project Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) supporting the 100,000 Lives Program in partnership with Safer Care Victoria. A recognized senior leader in Patient Safety and Systems Improvement, he has more than 25 years’ experience in health care across the New South Wales (NSW, Australia) and National Health Service (UK) public health systems. Following the completion of the IHI Improvement Advisor Program, he continues to teach quality improvement science at a local and national level as part of the IHI faculty. Before joining IHI, Mr. Green worked for 10 years at the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC). As the Principal Lead for Patient Safety Improvement Programs at the CEC, he provided strategic direction and authoritative advice on the development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement of state-wide quality and safety improvement strategies, priorities, and programs. He is an appointed advisor to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Vice President and on the Board of Directors of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses.

Smitha Gudapakkam, MEng, MBA, Senior Manager, Business Development, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, works closely with the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regional leads and staff to support the evolution of the regional strategies, meet business goals, develop new business opportunities, and contribute to financial sustainability across the organization. Prior to joining IHI, she worked for Massachusetts General Hospital’s Global Health Department and helped grow the Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) Program globally across India and Uganda. Ms. Gudapakkam has worked for large medical device companies and contributed to the research and development of new products, as well as setting and executing strategy for division growth. Her expertise also includes project management and implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) software in several outpatient health networks across the country. Ms. Gudapakkam has a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from Syracuse University and a Masters in Business Administration from Babson College, with Global Management as her concentration.

Kara Herbert, Project Manager, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supports IHI’s work in the Asia-Pacific region, including quality improvement projects in Australia and Singapore. Ms. Herbert has also managed previous projects to improve nursing homes’ infection control practices to minimize the spread of COVID-19 as well as other illnesses. She graduated from Framingham State University with a degree in Consumer Sciences. She is passionate about quality improvement and strives to make a positive impact in the health care sector.

Fiona Herco, BBus, Project Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supports IHI’s partnership with Safer Care Victoria to establish the well-being for the health care worker initiative. Previously, she worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and NorthWestern Mental Health in a variety of health service management roles, including overseeing organization-wide initiatives such as Improvement Programs, Business Planning, and the Safety Culture Program. During this time, Ms. Herco held the role of Chief of Staff within the Office of the Chief Executive. She has worked within the Department of Premier and Cabinet as a Principal Advisor, where she assisted in the development of a long-term strategy for the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct. Her areas of passion are centered around social justice, particularly in the area of homelessness.

David Kidd, BPod, MPH, MHM, CHIA, CF, is Project Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supporting IHI’s Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems in Victoria partnership with Safer Care Victoria (Australia). He was previously the Director of Community Health, Partnerships, and Well Aging at Northeast Health Wangaratta. He has clinical experience in population and public and private health sectors, as well as community development and leadership experience at operational management and executive levels. Mr. Kidd explored the Age-Friendly Health Systems framework in the USA through his Churchill Fellowship in 2019. He has a Master of Health Management and a Master of Public Health both from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Podiatry from La Trobe University, and is a Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA). He has also studied value-based health care through the University of Texas at Austin.

Muntasir Moin Nabil, MBBS, MPH (Epidemiology), is the Quality Improvement Implementation Advisor for IHI’s work in Bangladesh. He works with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the local delivery partners to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in 17 districts. Dr. Nabil acts as focal point of Maternal and Newborn Health Quality Improvement (MNHQI) Scale-Up Initiative primarily in the Manikganj and Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh. He was a clinician for five years before joining International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), as a research physician. Prior to joining IHI, he spent two years in the Health and Nutrition sector of Save the Children in Bangladesh as a Manager-District Implementation and Divisional Quality Improvement Coordinator for their MaMoni Project. He actively contributed to the implementation of quality improvement protocols in the field led by the Quality Improvement Secretariat under MoH&FW, Bangladesh. Dr. Nabil worked with ICDDR,B for four years as a medical officer and research physician in maternal and child health in various research, including inactivated polio vaccine trial, Type 2 monovalent oral poliovirus vaccine trial, and accelerating implementation of national nutrition services. He has also done postgraduate training in internal medicine and has advanced knowledge on epidemiological research methods.

Hannah Neven Gorr, BA, JD, Project Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is leading the Improving Care Initiative for children and young people living in residential care, in partnership with the Victorian Government Community Services Quality and Safety Office and Safer Care Victoria (Australia). She has led consumer-centered health projects to improve outcomes in end-of-life care, child health, and women’s health in Australia and the UK. Her previous work within health sector peak bodies includes the Victorian Healthcare Association, Health Issues Centre, and Australian and British Medical Associations, with a focus on promoting equity and consumer voice through strategic policy, advocacy, and human-centered service design. As a qualified lawyer with a legal background in human rights policy, she continues to promote social justice principles through her work and volunteering for Liberty Victoria’s Rights Advocacy Project to promote the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

Denille Studt, Project Manager, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), supports IHI’s work in the Asia-Pacific region, including quality improvement projects in Australia and Singapore. She previously worked in health service quality, safety, and transformation teams and has led several improvement projects, including strategic and operational improvements for the maternity, obstetrics, and gynecology portfolio. Ms. Studt holds a Bachelor of Business Management and is eager to apply these learnings along with her passion for quality improvement to assist the team in achieving their objective to improve health and health care in the region.