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Lesley Russell

Dr Russell returned to Australia in October 2012 after three years in Washington DC where she worked on a range of issues around the enactment and implementation of health care reform, initially as a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress (known as the 'Obama think tank') and later as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr Russell has substantial experience working in health policy in the United States and Australia. both in and out of government. She was previously the inaugural Menzies Foundation Fellow at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) and a Research Associate at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Prior to that she was a health policy advisor to the Federal ALP. She worked for seven years as health policy advisor on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the US House of Representatuves.

Dr Russell is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the MCHP and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University. She holds a PhD in biochemistry from the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU.

Getting rid of junk health insurance policies is just tinkering at the margins of a much bigger issue

Aug 28, 2017 14:27 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

In media interviews and his speech at the National Press Club this week, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) president, Michael Gannon, has spoken out against junk health-insurance policies. He said these are worth...

Investing in rural health brings ten-fold returns to local economies (and improves health)

Apr 26, 2017 07:59 am UTC| Insights & Views Investing

When we talk about rural health, its easy to focus on health inequalities between the roughly 10% of Australians who live in rural and remote areas and those who live in our cities. Statistics show the further...

Is the investment in private health insurance worthwhile?

Nov 22, 2016 01:27 am UTC| Insights & Views Business

A frequent topic of conversation at any social or workplace gathering is the cost and unfairness of private health insurance. Despite guaranteed free treatment in public hospitals, we are both conditioned and persuaded to...

Do you really need to go to hospital? Time to recentre the health system

Mar 17, 2016 23:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Hospitals dominate our health-care system and account for more than one-third of Australias A$150 billion-plus health budget. Pressure is growing on hospital services and costs are spiralling. This is because of the...

Economy

Goldman Sachs Sees Value in European Real Estate Stocks Despite Sharp Selloff

European real estate stocks have taken a significant hit since late February, tumbling roughly 14% as rising bond yields and widening credit spreads weigh heavily on the sector. According to Goldman Sachs, valuations have...

Asian Currencies Hold Steady Amid U.S.-Israel-Iran Tensions and BOJ Signals

Asian currencies traded within a narrow range Monday as geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran continued to weigh on regional sentiment. Most currencies in the region remained under...

Asian Stocks Drop Amid Iran War Fears and BOJ Rate Hike Signals

Asian equity markets declined sharply on Monday as investors reacted to mounting geopolitical tensions surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, while hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan added further pressure on...

South Korea March Exports Expected to Surge to Near Five-Year High Amid AI-Driven Chip Demand

South Koreas exports in March are projected to have surged at their fastest pace in nearly five years, powered by soaring global demand for semiconductors driven by artificial intelligence investment. A Reuters poll of 11...

Gold Prices Inch Higher Amid U.S.-Iran War Tensions and Technical Rebound

Gold prices edged up in Asian trading on Monday, recovering modestly after a turbulent week marked by sharp volatility tied to escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran. Spot gold climbed 0.4% to...

Politics

U.S.-Iran War Talks Emerge Amid Ongoing Strikes and Economic Fallout

Diplomatic efforts to end the month-long U.S.-Iran war are gaining momentum, even as military operations intensify across the Middle East. President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that the United States and Iran have...

Myanmar's Military Chief Steps Down to Pursue Presidency After Controversial Election

Myanmars military leader Min Aung Hlaing resigned as commander-in-chief on Monday to pursue the countrys presidency, marking a significant political shift following the nations first elections since the 2021 military coup...

UNIFIL Peacekeeper Killed in Southern Lebanon as Tensions Escalate

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and several others were wounded after a projectile struck a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Indonesias foreign ministry confirmed...

Trump Says Iran Nuclear Deal Could Be Near as Direct Talks Progress

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States is actively engaged in direct negotiations with Iran, expressing cautious optimism that a diplomatic agreement could be reached soon. Speaking to reporters...

Pakistan Leads Diplomatic Push to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Amid Iran War

Pakistan brought together foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia in Islamabad on Sunday in a high-stakes diplomatic effort to end the ongoing Iran war and restore critical oil shipping routes through the...

Science

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Technology

Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears

Major cybersecurity stocks took a sharp hit Friday following reports that Anthropic accidentally exposed details about its next-generation AI model before its official launch. CrowdStrike fell 7%, Palo Alto Networks...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...