January 2024

Jennifer Philps from the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) joined us as the first speaker of the New Year. Jennifer, who was a high school teacher in a past life, has worked at CMRI as their Community Relations Officer for over 30 years.

CMRI run the Jeans for Genes fundraiser. One in every twenty children in Australia are born with a defect or genetic disorder.

Jennifer explained what DNA was and told us of the amazing research being done to hopefully one day eradicate childhood cancers and genetic syndromes or diseases.

February 2024

Dr Richard Harris, who is a vascular surgeon, joined us in February. He works at Hornsby Hospital and The San Hospital.

Dr Harris spoke to us about his role in refurbishing Hornsby Hospital and bringing it into the new millennium with state-of-the art operating theatres and AI robots. 

He is currently chairman of the Medical Staff Council at Hornsby Hospital and is quite passionate about caring for the patient as a whole person. He is also very interested in and thoroughly enjoys his role as a medical educator and mentor.

Richard had his novel ‘Imagine’ for sale. It is a utopian look into the future.