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Meet our board of directors.

Linear board

Peter Leedman

Director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Head of the Perkins Laboratory for Cancer Medicine and Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Australia, Peter is our inaugural chairman and has been involved with Linear since its inception. While driving our growth from three staff in 2010 to ~100 in 2017, he has pursued his long-term interest in RNA biology, in particular microRNAs, and how this information can be harnessed for therapeutics in poor prognostic tumors (head and neck, liver and colon cancer). Peter has also co-founded miReven, a spin out company established to commercialise microRNA replacement therapy for cancer.

Dr Michael Winlo

Currently CEO and Managing Director of Emyria, a listed biotech company leveraging Real World Data to accelerate drug development, Michael served as the CEO of Linear from April 2016 to October 2019. Under Michael’s leadership, Linear expanded its cancer trial team and was the first site in Australia to adopt electronic source data capture. This contributed to a period of rapid growth with clientele from the USA, Europe, Japan and China.

Prior to Linear, Michael was based in Silicon Valley as the health lead for Palantir Technologies - one of the largest privately held big data companies in the world. There, Michael led deployments for health companies and government organisations across the US and UK.

Michael has a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Degree from the University of Western Australia.

Mark Potts

Mark has held senior executive and board positions, in start-ups and listed and unlisted entities in Australia and the USA, over a 30-year career. Most recently Mark was the worldwide CTO and VP for Corporate Strategy at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Prior to Hewlett Packard, Mark was the founder of several successful, venture backed start-ups, that have driven technology disruption and business innovation in varied industries. Mark is currently a non-executive director of Resolute Mining Limited (ASX:RSG appointed 2017), iCetana (appointed 2018) and was previously non-executive chairman of Decimal Software (ASX:DSX).

Fiona Harris

Currently a director of BWP Trust, Perron Group Ltd and Red 5 Ltd, Fiona has garnered a significant breadth and depth of experience in her 27-year non-executive director career. Fiona has experience in many sectors, including Energy and Resources, Utilities, Financial Services and Property. Previously Fiona was a partner with KPMG, working with the firm in Perth, San Francisco & Sydney.

Fiona’s leadership in the WA director community saw her elected as State President of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2005 - the first woman to hold this position. Her contribution to the economic progress of WA and to the highest standards of corporate governance was recognised in 2016 when she was awarded the AICD WA Gold Medal and in 2021 when she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the finance, investment, resources and not-for-profit sectors.

John Atkins

Mr Atkins joined the Linear Board recently after returning to Perth from London in 2018 where he had been appointed Western Australia’s Agent General to the UK and Europe. With an extensive career in law and commerce spanning 40 years, John is well respected and highly regarded across the political and corporate divide, being awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his distinguished services to the business and financial sectors, the legal profession and the community.

John has significant experience as a non-executive director of public, listed and not-for-profit
companies which included a five-year term as Chair of Lotterywest, ten years on the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA Board and nine years as Deputy Chair of the Committee for Perth. He is currently Chair of Anglicare WA. In addition to a Bachelor of Laws (UWA) and Masters of Law (University of London), John is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Nina Webster

Nina has over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with leadership roles in investor relations, business development, and prosecution of intellectual property matters, as well as leading and managing the strategic, scientific and operational aspects of pharmaceutical product development. Nina is currently the CEO & Managing Director for Dimerix Limited (ASX:DXB), an Australian drug pharmaceutical company taking multiple products through clinical trials and commercialisation. Nina was formerly the Commercial Director for Acrux Limited (ASX:ACR), where she has successfully developed and commercialised multiple products globally. Prior to Acrux, Nina was Director of Commercialisation and Intellectual Property for Immuron Limited (ASX:IMC), and previously spent 6 years in new product development with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the UK. Nina holds a Ph.D in Pharmaceutics from Cardiff University, a Bachelor degree in Pharmacology, a Masters degree in Intellectual Property Law from Melbourne University and an MBA from RMIT.

Roger Port

Roger is currently a non-executive director of Eagle Mountain Mining Limited (ASX:EM2) and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. He has held a number of non-executive director roles over the past 25 years including in the health and medical research, aged care and education sectors.

Roger was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers for 19 years up to his retirement from the firm in 2016. He has extensive experience in financial analysis, company and business valuations, transaction due diligence and mergers and acquisitions across a range of industries and led the PwC Perth Deals team for seven years.

He is a graduate of Macquarie University and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a former Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Key personnel

Andy Redfern

Andy is Consultant Medical Oncologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital, a translational cancer researcher with the University of Western Australia, and current clinical head of the Cancer Division at Harry Perkins Institute. He has active research projects in breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma and bowel cancer, with a focus on growth signalling and mechanisms of chemotherapy and hormone therapy resistance in cancer. In addition to conducting a variety of human trials of chemotherapies, hormone therapies and immune therapies, Andy also co-ordinates training for advanced medical oncology doctors in WA, and is the State Lead Clinical for breast cancer overseeing services.