SPHERE Council welcomes a new Chair, Professor Cheryl Jones

SPHERE is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Cheryl Jones as the new Chair of the SPHERE Council, following her ratification at the August Council meeting.

Professor Jones is the Dean of Medicine and Health at UNSW Sydney and brings extensive leadership experience across research, education, and clinical practice. She is an internationally recognised authority on childhood infectious diseases and her research on encephalitis and congenital infections has influenced global health policy and practice.

Professor Jones has been a Senior Staff Specialist at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and has over 30 years of clinical experience. She has also held senior leadership positions at the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne, including as Executive Director of the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health (MACH) another NHMRC accredited Advanced Health Research Translation Centre.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences and currently serves on several prestigious boards and organisations, including as Director of the Australian Medical Council and Director and Chair of the Ramsay Health Research Foundation, and a Director on MRI boards (NeuRA, Black Dog Institute, Victor Chang Research Institute, Children’s Cancer Institute).

Professor Jones’ wealth of expertise and vision will be instrumental in guiding SPHERE’s Council as it continues to strengthen collaboration, drive innovation, and set the strategic direction for health and medical research translation across our partnerships.