Keynote Speakers

Professor Wainer is the Deputy Secretary for Public Health in the Victorian Government Department of Health.

She has previously held roles as the Director of Clinical Governance at Bupa Australia and New Zealand, Chair of the Board of Dental Health Services Victoria and a Director on the Board of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Her passion and expertise in public health has driven formal and informal collaborations with the ICHOM, Harvard Business School and The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School in value-based health care across multiple organisations. Zoe also has a continued advocacy focus on the importance of sex differences across health from basic research to health systems implications.

Zoe holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from Flinders University, and has a clinical background in cardiothoracic surgery and thoracic surgical oncology. She has a PhD and a Master of Public Health from The University of Melbourne, is a fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Karen Price was awarded the 2016 RACGP FMCER grant to undertake her part time PhD with the Monash Department of General Practice. She is exploring the construct of peer-connection in general practice. This explores GP’s wellbeing, and goal-directed informal learning.

Karen’s research builds on her lifetime expertise as a GP. She is the co-developer and facilitator of GPs Down Under, an 8000+ member community of Australian and New Zealand GPs. She has chaired committees and developed mentor programs for both the AMA and the RACGP. Karen began her general practice in a large procedural practice which included providing medical assistance to the local district police surgeon. She has also been a successful practice owner growing a languishing practice into a thriving community practice in under a decade whilst wrangling three young school-aged children (who are now fully grown).

Karen has presented nationally and internationally; plenary lectures; workshops on women’s medical leadership; social media; resilience, and informal learning.

She is published on women’s medical leadership and received a 2011 Monash University award for medical student teaching. Karen continues to develop evidence-based medicine, leadership, advocacy, and peer support, in both research and her ongoing clinical general practice.
Most recently her advocacy, research and lifetime experience have coalesced into running for RACGP President after her service as deputy chair of the Victorian Faculty of the RACGP and past chair of the Women in General Practice committee of the RACGP. Karen was elected RACGP President in the 2020 national election. She commenced her two-year term on 30 November 2020.