Duncan joined the CERA Board as a Director in February 2024 and was appointed Chair in August, succeeding Olivia Hilton who led CERA though a significant period of growth. 

“Chairing CERA provides an extraordinary opportunity to work with great minds, scientists and Board colleagues, and be a part of the future of the organisation,’’ he says. 

“It is a privilege to follow on from Olivia’s outstanding leadership. I am deeply impressed by the calibre of my Board colleagues – who have skills in entrepreneurship, finance, strategy, medicine and research. 

“CERA is a successful organisation. It is in a strong position, with solid financial reserves. 

“Despite the challenging environment for medical research institutes and universities in Australia and internationally, we will be looking to make strategic investments to grow the quality of our research in partnership with philanthropy and industry. 

“As Chair I hope to open the door to more opportunities and relationships and create connections and partnerships that make more people aware of CERA’s research.’’ 

Duncan has extensive experience as a senior executive, business consultant and Board Director. 

Initially training as an engineer at the University of Cambridge, his career has spanned a diverse array of for-profit and for-purpose organisations, including the Australia Council, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Social Ventures Australia and, most recently, global consulting firm Partners in Performance. 

Global perspective 

As our first Sydney-based Chair, Duncan says his appointment is the natural evolution of CERA’s focus on global and national partnerships. 

“We have a team that is commercialising and translating their research,’’ he says. 

“This is crucially important in bringing great ideas to fruition and overcoming the limitation of the traditional research grants system that keeps good ideas in the lab. 

“That strong entrepreneurial mindset ensures that our work helps the maximum number of people.’’ 

Duncan says the recent CUREator+ investment in gene therapy start-up Mirugen, which is developing a treatment for the currently untreatable eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, exemplifies this approach.

“By creating Mirugen as a spin-out company to attract further investment, CERA has accelerated the pace of this research and helped it move closer to clinical trial.

“It also leverages the support of philanthropists who backed the blue-sky thinking behind this technology in its early stages – maximising the impact of their support.”

Duncan says he is fascinated by the way researchers are applying cutting-edge technologies to prevent vision loss and save sight for people living with diseases which until very recently have been considered untreatable.

“CERA and eye research is also crucially important because the eye is the window to the brain and how it works – opening up new frontiers of research.’’

He is also inspired by CERA’s next generation of emerging research talent. 

“We need to maintain an environment that nurtures the talent of our early and mid-career researchers, and encourages innovation,’’ he says.

“CERA has been very successful globally and my aim is to help it grow and continue to thrive.’’ 

This story was originally published in Share our vision: Annual Review 2024.