Kiwi Leadership Network USA

Robert G. Webster is a world-renowned virologist and leading influenza expert. His team identified the avian strain of influenza known as H5N1, the causative agent of avian influenza or "bird flu"; that emerged in Hong Kong in 1997. Dr. Webster is Emeritus Member and Professor of Virology and Molecular Biology of the Division of Virology; Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His interests include the emergence and control of influenza viruses, viral immunology, the structure and function of influenza virus proteins and the development of new vaccines and antivirals. Together with Graeme Laver he developed one of the first subunit vaccines for influenza that is still being produced in Australia. He contributed to the establishment of the Center of Excellence for Influenza Research at the University of Hong Kong and to the Center of Excellent for Influenza Research and Surveillance at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His curriculum vita contains over 700 original articles and reviews on influenza viruses with pandemic potential. Dr. Webster grew up on a farm in Balclutha, New Zealand and received his B. Sc.and M. Sc. in Microbiology from the Otago University in New Zealand where he has also given his name to the Webster Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Webster Family Chair in Viral Pathogenesis at Otago. He received his Ph.D. from the Australian National University, and was a past Fulbright Fellow at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) and Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Dr. Webster has trained and mentored many scientists, including New Zealand scientists at the world leading St Jude's Research Hospital. 

Leo Anthony Celi MD MS MPH has practiced medicine in three continents, giving him broad perspectives in healthcare delivery. As clinical research director and principal research scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology (LCP), and as an attending physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), he brings together clinicians and data scientists to support research using data routinely collected in the process of care. Leo also founded and co-directs Sana, a cross-disciplinary organization based at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT, whose objective is to leverage information technology to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. He is one of the course directors for HST.936 – global health informatics to improve quality of care, and HST.953 – collaborative data science in medicine, both at MIT. He is an editor of the textbook for each course, both released under an open access license. Finally, Leo was an intensive care and infectious disease consultant at Dunedin Hospital and a senior lecturer at Otago University School of Medicine from 2002-2007. He been a mentor and help advised many young New Zealanders to study and research in the United States, including at Harvard and MIT and collaborates with New Zealand based researchers with his work with MIT and medical informatics.

Campbell Murray is a experienced venture capital investor with a demonstrated history of working in the biopharma industry and life sciences. He is managing Director of Norvartis Venture Funds (NVF) in Cambridge, MA, USA. Prior to joining NVF, he worked at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research as the Director of Special Projects. Campbell is originally from Auckland, New Zealand and a graduate of University of Auckland Medical School and previously worked at Auckland Hospital. He is a Kauffman Fellow and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPP (public policy) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Knox Fellow and Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Campbell serves as a director on the boards of Annexon, Expansion Therapeutics, Galera, and Lemonaid Health and is an observer on the board of Akouos.

Chris Lewis is one of New Zealand's greatest tennis players and sportspersons. As a former professional tennis player, he reached the 1983 Wimbledon final against John McEnroe, which was one of New Zealand's greatest sporting moments. Also in 1983, he received the New Zealand Sportsman of Year Award. During his career, he won three singles titles, reached the final of ten Tour events, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 19 in April 1984. He also won 8 doubles titles during his 12 years on the professional tour. Lewis became only the third player from New Zealand to reach the finals of a Grand Slam singles event, and he is the last player from New Zealand to reach the finals of a Grand Slam. In 1982, he led the NZ Davis Cup team to the semifinals in which New Zealand lost a close tie against France. In 1975, Chris was ranked the number one junior in the world, winning Junior Wimbledon and finishing runner-up in the US Open Juniors. As a coach, he has coached some of the top players in the world, including Ivan Lendl (former world no. 1), Carl Uwe Steeb (former world no. 14), and New Zealand's Marina Erakovic (former world no. 39). Lewis is currently Co-founder and Co-Owner of the Brymer Lewis Tennis Academy in Irvine, CA, where, together with his two partners, he is responsible for the development of over 500 aspiring young players.