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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 Forecasts Fed Rate Hike as Inflation Risks Rise

Goldman Sachs now expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting, reversing its previous forecast for no change as inflation concerns intensify across U.S. financial...

Gold Prices Fall as Hot U.S. Inflation Boosts Fed Rate Hike Bets

Gold prices moved lower on Monday as stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation increased expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this week, while surging oil prices added fresh inflation concerns. Spot gold...

Asian Tech Stocks Slide as AI Concerns and Rising Bond Yields Hit Chipmakers

Asian technology stocks fell sharply on Monday as rising bond yields and renewed concerns about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence rally pushed investors away from high-growth chipmakers. South Koreas...

Oil Prices Surge as Houthi Attacks Deepen Hormuz Supply Fears

Oil prices surged on Monday as renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz intensified concerns over Middle East supply disruptions. Brent crude futures jumped as much as 3.5%...

Saudi Oil Exports Face 4% Global Supply Threat as Pipeline Remains Shut

Saudi Arabia could run short of oil inventories available for export within days unless it restarts its critical east-west pipeline to the Red Sea, potentially removing about 4% of global oil supply, according to oil...

Politics

Trump Vows to Keep U.S. Ahead of China in AI Race

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States must maintain its artificial intelligence lead over China, pushing back against calls from prominent technology leaders to slow AI development amid growing safety...

Sweden Election Puts Far Right and Centre Left in Tight Race

Swedish voters head to the polls on Sunday in a closely contested parliamentary election that could either bring the far-right Sweden Democrats into government for the first time or return the country to centre-left...

Russian Strikes Across Ukraine Kill Nine, Injure Dozens

Russian air strikes across multiple Ukrainian regions killed at least nine people and injured dozens on Saturday, damaging homes, businesses and critical infrastructure as attacks intensified away from the front lines....

Ukraine Prepares for October Peace Talks With Russia and US

Ukraine is preparing for a possible resumption of trilateral peace talks with Russia and the United States in October as diplomatic efforts to end the more than four-and-a-half-year war regain momentum. Kyrylo Budanov,...

Trump Backs United Ireland During Dublin Visit

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would love to see Northern Ireland unite with Ireland, breaking with the traditionally neutral position taken by previous U.S. presidents on the politically sensitive issue. Speaking...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Z.AI Shares Slide 7% After $5 Billion Fundraising

Z.AI shares tumbled nearly 7% on Monday, reaching a 5-1/2-month low after the Chinese artificial intelligence company completed a roughly $5 billion fundraising package involving discounted new shares and convertible...

Anthropic Eyes Second Straight Profitable Quarter Ahead of Potential IPO

Anthropic expects to post positive adjusted operating income for a second consecutive quarter, signaling improving financial performance as the artificial intelligence company moves closer to a potential IPO, the Financial...

Samsung, SK Hynix Reject KEPCO’s $18.7 Billion Power Funding Plan

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have rejected a proposal from Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) that would require the chipmakers to provide 25 trillion won ($18.7 billion) in upfront funding to secure electricity...

Hyundai Delays In-House ADAS, Turns to Nvidia

Hyundai Motor Group plans to introduce vehicles running its proprietary driver-assistance software in late 2029, delaying the technology by about two years as the South Korean automaker expands its partnership with Nvidia....

SpaceX Nasdaq 100 Weight Set to More Than Double

SpaceX is poised to receive a substantially larger weighting in the Nasdaq 100 later this month, potentially driving billions of dollars in purchases by passive investment funds that track the technology-heavy index....