The DFF Board of Directors
Chris Saxon
Chairman
Chris is now a senior adviser to Baker McKenzie Australia, having been a partner and Chair (2012-17) to the law firm. His experience includes large-scale mergers and acquisitions, serving as a non-executive director of a number of companies and is Chair of listed public company Home Consortium Limited.
Keith Cox
Medical
Keith Cox OAM is a recently retired Cancer Nurse Practitioner who has 50 years of experience in health and nursing, treating patients at both Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, the specialist cancer treatment centre in Sydney which he helped establish a decade ago.
Scott Hawker
Treasurer
After more than 40 years’ in financial services, his most recent role was as National Manager for not for profit endowments at Perpetual.
Scott has a Masters in Applied Finance, is an Australian Institute of Company Directors graduate and a member of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.
Rick Ferguson
CEO
Rick Ferguson owned and ran both retail and commercial Patisseries and bakeries for more than 20 years before moving into the food service market where he worked in business development and sales representing major wholesale import and manufacturing supply companies. Before establishing “By The Pallet” A wholesale
Food service packaging company that links regional distributors to local manufactures for the benefit of both.
Daniel Ferguson
Board Member
Daniel has almost 20 years’ experience as a boutique jeweller and runs his own business, DDF Jewellers.
Currently residing in Sydney, Daniel is a sufferer of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type R1. His interests include sports, cars, nature and anything creative.
Michelle Lorentzos
Medical
Dr Michelle Lorentzos is a paediatric neurologist and the Clinical Trials Medical Lead at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. She manages patients with neuromuscular disease in a multidisciplinary clinic and oversees several clinical trials for treatments in muscular dystrophy.
Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
Michelle Lorentzos
Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Chair
Dr Michelle Lorentzos is a paediatric neurologist and the Advanced Therapeutics Medical Lead at The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, leading the implementation and delivery of advanced therapeutic treatments and clinical trials. She is also the Clinical Lead of the Neuromuscular Service at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Michelle is an investigator on several gene therapy clinical trials for conditions, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Rett Syndrome and metabolic conditions and she holds advisory positions on the Australian Network of Paediatric Clinical Trial Centres and Australia’s National Gene and Cell Therapy Catalyst. She is also on the TreatNMD international advisory board for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy.
Jo Offord
Board Member
Dr Jo Offord holds a Neuroscience degree, with first class honours, from University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Sydney University. She completed her post-graduate Neurology training at St George and Prince of Wales Hospitals. She has done Neuroscience research in New York and London, and completed a Fellowship in Neurophysiology at Prince of Wales Hospital. Dr Offord is a practicing Neurologist at Prince of Wales Hospital, the Aboriginal Community Health Service in La Perouse, and in private practice. Her interests are general neurology, peripheral nerve and neuromuscular disorders, and headache. She runs the Neuromuscular Transition clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital and is one of three Neuromuscular specialists who run the Neuromuscular and Neurogenetic clinic. Dr Offord is a member of the district Transition Care (Paediatric to Adult services) Steering Committee for SESLHD and SCHN. Outside of Neurology, she has a career-long interest in patient safety and is a Clinical Expert on the CEC Clinical Expert Panel, having presented projects to the CEC Research Advisory Committee (2019) and the CEC Patient Safety Managers Forum (2022), and won a scholarship in Patient Safety for her work in Critical Thinking and Cognitive Bias.
Keith Cox
Medical
Keith Cox OAM is a recently retired Cancer Nurse Practitioner who has 50 years of experience in health and nursing, treating patients at both Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, the specialist cancer treatment centre in Sydney which he helped establish a decade ago.
Daniela Meinrath, BAppSc Physiotherapy , MPH, PhD (Candidate)
Scientific & Medical Advisory Board Member
Daniela Meinrath is a physiotherapist and clinical researcher with a strong background in neurosciences and public health. She holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Sydney and a Master of Public Health and Community Medicine from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Daniela has contributed to clinical research at Neurosciences Research Australia (NeuRA), the UNSW and completed advanced postgraduate training in London and at the Prince of Wales Hospital, where she served as a senior neurosciences physiotherapist. Her clinical expertise focuses on the physiotherapy management of complex neurological conditions.
In private practice, Daniela specialises in the assessment and treatment of vestibular and balance dysfunction, helping patients manage dizziness and balance impairments. She is currently pursuing a PhD at UNSW, where her scholarship-funded research explores the use of machine learning to improve the diagnosis and management of acute vertigo in Emergency Department settings.
Daniela brings to the advisory board a deep commitment to evidence-based, patient-centred care. Her work integrates clinical innovation with a holistic approach, engaging patients and their families to optimise health outcomes and quality of life.
Supporting The Board
Therese Ferguson
Advisor and Mother of Daniel
Therese is a Nurse who has 40 years’ experience in health care including general nursing, mental health care, aged care, and rehabilitation, With a keen interest in neurological disorders, Therese has recently been providing support for those needing assistance to function within their home or community. She is also the proud mother of Daniel Ferguson.
Simone Griffin
Advisor and Sister of Daniel
Simone has a Bachelor of Health Sciences with a Masters in Rehabilitation Counselling from the University of Sydney and worked in health management, in both the private and not-for-profit sectors, before moving to the public sector where she now works for NSW Health, co-ordinating health advice for Parliament and Cabinet.
Tish Lancaster
Registered Nurse
Tish Lancaster AM is a registered nurse with 45 years’ experience in both clinical and management positions and has extensive governance experience at multiple levels. Tish has published in the peer-reviewed literature, authored book chapters, edited a textbook and was a journal editor for 11 years.
Gae Glemson
Secretary
CPA qualified finance professional with over 20 years experience specialising in the area of transactional banking payments primarily in the telecommunications industry. Multi skilled in; delivery of payment products, project implementations across both digital and billing platforms, contract negotiation, vendor management, systems integration, card compliance, financial controls and staff management.
Mark Nicolls
Fundraising
Mark has been in the foodservice sector for over 30 years servicing accounts such as Qantas, I&J Foods, Hyatt Hotels and the Sydney Opera House.
More recently establishing a large scale events catering business and in his spare time consulting to new and up and coming food operators. He will bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to DFF in his fundraising capacity.
George Lloyd
Chariman Emeritus
George has considerable technical, commercial and financial experience as a senior executive and director of companies in the global resources and corporate finance sectors. He is presently Chairman of Ausenco Pty Ltd, a global engineering services provider with more than 2,500 employees, and a director of a number of other resource sector companies.
Ben Lentini
Information Technology
Ben has almost 20 years’ experience in the public sector, specialising in the electronics field, specifically marine systems. More recently he has focussed on information technology and brings both of those skills to the Daniel Ferguson Foundation.
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