SPACE HEALTH & MEDICINE ON AUSTRALIA’S CLINICAL LAUNCHPAD
With
Professor Tracy Smart AO, Air Vice-Marshal (Ret’d)
BMBS, MPH, MA, Dip AvMed, FRACMA, FACAsM, FAsMA, FCDSS, FACHSM (Hon) &
Tracy Smart AO, Professor, Military and Aerospace Medicine
The Australian National University
HEALTH EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS SEGMENT
Filmed in Canberra | April 2026
Professor Smart is a veteran, medical doctor, health leader, aerospace medicine specialist, and retired Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) senior officer. She is currently at the Professor, Military and Aerospace Medicine at the Australian National University (ANU), and serves as the Interim Director of the ANU Defence Institute, and as a Mission Specialist at the ANU Institute for Space. She previously served as the University’s COVID-19 Public Health Lead from 2020 to 2022.
Prof Smart’s 35-year RAAF career included several operational deployments, and leadership and command positions at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of Defence. Her career culminated in the roles of Surgeon General of the ADF and Commander Joint Health. In these roles she drove substantial reform in the delivery of policy, programs, and treatment in the military Mental Health space, and in the health aspects of transition from Defence. She transferred to the RAAF Specialist Reserve in early 2020 and continues to take a strong interest in Defence and Veterans’ health.
Apart from her ANU roles, Prof Smart is a non-executive Director of Goodwin Aged Care Services and the International Academy of Air and Space Medicine; Chair of the ANZAC Research Institute and the Australian Football League Industry Mental Health Steering Group; and Co-Chair of the Australian War Memorial Gallery Development Project Veterans’ Advisory Group. She is a member of the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal, an Honorary (Professorial Fellow) in the Psychiatry Department, University of Melbourne, a frequent keynote speaker, and undertakes various consulting and advisory roles in aerospace medicine and military and veterans’ health.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8918-8939
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Message from former Australian Health Minister Hon Greg Hunt
The Honourable Greg Hunt served in the Australian Government as Minster for Health and Aged Care from 2017, previously as Industry, Innovation and Science Minister and before that the Environment Minister.
Elected as the Member for Flinders in 2001, Greg announced his retirement from politics late 2021 and in 2022, ahead of the Federal Election, having completed 20 years as a public servant.
Australian Health Journal recently caught up with Greg in a relaxed interview at his home in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria to hear how a 9 month sabbatical has allowed him to focus on family, fitness and future. This has even included some “brutal spin cycle classes!”.
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Generosity of spirit in teaching
The Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence is considered one of the most prestigious awards in biomedical research in Australia and is highly sought after by researchers in the field.
In 2022, Professor Matthew Kiernan was the recipient of the Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence and the associated $50,000 award.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Professor Kiernan to hear about his journey in medicine and science to try and uncover and understand diseases and his generosity of spirit to pass on what he has learnt.
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NSW Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program (MDCTP) Graduation 2019
Cicada Innovations with NSW Health this week hosted the graduation night for the 15 individuals that were part of the NSW Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program (MDCTP).
