Past Advisory Board Members
Jakelin Troy
Jakelin Troy is a Ngarigu woman whose country is the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. Jakelin is Director of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Research, Indigenous Social and Cultural Wellbeing. Her academic research is diverse but has a focus on languages and linguistics, anthropology and visual arts. She is particularly interested in Australian languages of New South Wales and ‘contact languages’. Since 2001 Jakelin has been developing curriculum for Australian schools with a focus on Australian language programs. Her most recent project is to co-write the National Languages Curriculum framework document for ACARA. She previously worked on major government initiatives in Indigenous affairs including developing and writing the Native Title Act, managing Commonwealth land rights legislation, and, managing national languages and broadcasting programs.
Omar Khan
Omar joined Medicines Australia in December 2007 and in July 2013 he was appointed Industry Policy Manager, responsible for advising industry leaders on a wide range of issues, including the Australian Government’s policies on trade, business taxation, medical research and intellectual property protection. Omar was one of the principal authors of Medicines Australia’s submissions to the Pharmaceutical Patents Review, the Senate’s inquiry into gene patents, the ACIP’s review of patentable subject matter and the Productivity Commission’s review of compulsory licensing and Crown-use provisions. Omar graduated from Duke University in 2004 with an A.B. in (Molecular) Biology, an A.B. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and minors in Political Science and Religion. He then attended Yale University, studying health policy, epidemiology and Church history and graduating with a Master’s degree in 2007.
Gail Pearson
Gail Pearson is a leading legal academic in credit and financial services law and has written leading works in these areas as well as in general commercial and consumer law. She is currently working on a large project which involves nineteenth century origins of statutory commercial law in the laws of India. Professor Pearson is a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is a Member of the Consumer Protection Committee of the International Law Association and Vice President of the International Association of Consumer Law.
Steven Bailie
Steven Bailie works in IP Australia’s International Policy and Cooperation Section. IP Australia’s roles are to (i) administer the patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights regulations, (ii) conduct IP public education and awareness activities and (iii) provide advice to government on IP issues. Much of Steven’s IP policy work involves biodiversity and Indigenous peoples’ knowledge. Steven is currently engaging with domestic stakeholders on these issues and has represented the Australian government at international meetings, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Prior to his current role, Steven worked in a university technology transfer office and has done both laboratory research and patent examination in biochemistry.