Mark Gilheany was appointed to the Board in 1996. He was appointed Vice President and then President in 2001. He has been heavily involved in the implementation of prescribing rights for podiatrists and a new accreditation model for the podiatry profession (ANZPAC). He began training as a podiatric surgeon in 1986. In 1994 after completion of his post grad qualification and practical training, he qualified as a Fellow of the Australasian College of Podiatric Surgeons and gained accreditation by the Australian Federal Department of Health. He has limited his area of practice to foot and ankle surgery (podiatric surgeon). Since 1998 he has had ongoing teaching roles within undergraduate programs and postgraduate levels. He has undertaken educational rotations within surgical units in both the UK and USA. Other professional interests include health policy and researching clinical outcomes.

Still to come

Bernard Comerford joined the Board in December 2007. He is a Director and Senior Podiatrist at the Essendon Foot Clinic which was established in 1986. After finishing his undergraduate training at Lincoln Institute in 1984, Bernard completed a Graduate Diploma in Podiatry at LaTrobe University in 1994, a Fellowship with the Australian Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine in 1996 and then his Masters of Podiatry at Curtin University in Perth in 2003. He has served as a Board Member of the A. Pod. A.(Vic) and is currently a member of LaTrobe University‘s External Curriculum Advisory Committee for the School of Podiatry. Bernard is also involved in External Clinical Education of Podiatry students from both LaTrobe and Charles Sturt Universities.

Margaret Dawson was appointed to the Board as a podiatrist member in 2001. Margaret is currently employed as Clinical Manager - Podiatry, Ballarat Health Service (‘BHS‘). Margaret is responsible for BHS‘s allied health assistants and also manages the BHS HACC funded allied health service. Margaret is a past Board member of the Australian Podiatry Association (Victoria). Her particular areas of professional interest are demand management and the diabetic foot. In addition to her podiatry qualification, Margaret has a graduate diploma of podiatry and a Masters of Business Administration.

Julie Miller came to Melbourne after graduating as a Podiatrist in Perth, WA in 1983. For almost 10 years, Julie worked at the Caulfield Hospitals progressing to Deputy Chief of a Department of 10 or more staff. She is currently employed at Austin Health (coming up 15 years service) as Podiatry Manager, running High-Risk-Foot Clinics. Julie is the Accredited Podiatrist at Knox and Epworth Hospitals. Julie is a founding member, and the inaugural Chairperson, of the Melbourne High-Risk-Foot Clinics Collaboration. Last year, she commenced post-graduate studies in Wound Care at Monash University.

Sharon Brennan was appointed as a Member of the Podiatrists Registration Board in July 2009. Ms Brennan has been a Conciliation Officer at the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service since 1995 and has been a Member of the Veterans‘ Review Board since 2006. She has a Masters in Business and is a graduate in Arts and Education. Ms Brennan has an extensive employment history in Human Resources in both the private and public sectors.

Martin Botros was appointed to the Board as a non-practitioner member in 2003 and has degrees in Law, Legal Practice, Conflict Resolution, and Physiotherapy. He is presently completing a Master of Laws at La Trobe University. He currently holds positions on various boards and tribunals including Eastern Health‘s Board of Directors, the Health Practitioner Board‘s Hearing Panel List and Football Federation Victoria‘s Disciplinary Tribunal. He also served as a board member on Manningham Community Health Service‘s Board of Management; the Australian Physiotherapy Association Branch Council (Vic); Monash University‘s Course Management Committee (Physiotherapy); La Trobe University‘s Faculty Board of Law and Management; and the University of Melbourne‘s Faculty Board of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. He has an ongoing interest in health law, administrative law, and sports law having worked in a legal role at a number of major sporting events, and is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA) and the United Nations Association of Australia (Vic).

Elizabeth Steeper Sampson had a lengthy career in physiotherapy and allied health management, including terms of office as President of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, the then Australian Council of Allied Health Professions and as National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, before moving into management and consulting roles within public health, a professional association and small IT businesses. She is currently working part-time in a wireless communications company which allows time for continuing projects as a past-President of the National Council of Women of Victoria and to fulfil her role as Vice President of the National Council of Women of Australia. Elizabeth also chairs the Cardinia Shire Council Disability Advisory Committee and was appointed to the Podiatrists Registration Board of Victoria in 2008.

Nihal Samara is currently the Manager of Quality Assurance, Clinical Governance, Legal and Compliance Services at Plenty Valley Community Health. This role is pivotal in ensuring that the community health service meets its objectives to clients and staff to deliver services that are effective, accessible, acceptable, appropriate, safe and efficient. In this function he advises the CEO and senior management group on their corporate legal obligations and rights. Over the past 12 years he has held a number of senior management positions including, general manager of a large integrated health service and for a diabetes institute. He also held a number of other senior appointments on joint academic committees, legal member on Research and Ethics Committee, in-house corporate lawyer and compliance officer at Private Health Insurer and solicitor in a Melbourne legal firm. He has played vital roles in formulating policies, drafting accreditation guidelines and providing broad legal and governance advice to health services, medical and health associations and Universities. At present, he is currently completing a PhD (management/law) at Victoria University focussing on the relationship between management models, corporate governance systems and the quality of health services.