MD/CEO Dr Andreas Fouras talks revenue growth, clinical trials validating technological application and commercial piloting expansion successes during FY2021-22 in interview with Nadine Blayney on ausbiz 19 AUG 2022.
Matt Tucker is a highly experienced senior executive with extensive medical imaging knowledge. This skillset has been gained in a career working for several leading global healthcare companies including GE Healthcare, SonoSite and Philips. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer and President of GE Healthcare, Matt occupied a high-profile role in the Australian medical technology sector, delivering growth across key metrics including customer satisfaction and retention, revenue generation and profitability.
Naomi Lawrie is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with approximately 20 years of experience, including 6 years as a partner in a tier-one national law firm. Possessing experience in all aspects of corporate and commercial law, Naomi’s expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracting, venture capital, shareholders’ agreements, capital raisings, joint ventures, corporate governance and company secretarial work.
BCom (Acc&Fin), MBA, CA
Simon Glover has significant corporate experience in relation to commercialisation, business strategy, cashflow management and a track record of driving revenue growth. He previously served in senior finance leadership roles for Coles Group (ASX:COL), Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX:TAH), Jetstar (ASX:QAN) and KPMG. Simon joined 4DMedical after three years serving MedAdvisor Limited (ASX: MDR) in the role of CFO. He has a passion for building and nurturing high performing teams, and a unique focus and expertise in successfully leading change and transformation.
BEc (Monash), CA ANZ, FFINSIA, GAICD
Heath is a qualified Chartered Accountant that brings significant business and financial acumen to his role as Chief Financial Officer at 4DMedical. Heath commenced his career at KPMG Australia before moving into investment banking as Associate Director in M&A at Barclays Investment Bank, which was later acquired by ABN AMRO. As a merger and acquisitions professional for over seven years, Heath worked on several high-profile advisory mandates including the Commonwealth Government of Australia’s $4.0 billion privatisation of national airports and CSR Limited’s $6.7 billion demerger of Rinker Materials.
In 2004, Heath left ABN AMRO to establish contact centre and market research company OCIS. As a co-founder and CEO, Heath successfully grew OCIS from a start-up with 10 staff based in Melbourne to over 600 employees across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. OCIS was sold in 2013, at which point it was servicing multiple international clients including Optus, The Nielsen Company, Seek.com, Virgin Mobile and the New Zealand Government.
Heath joined the 4DMedical Board as Non-Executive Director in 2016 before transitioning to Chief Financial Officer of 4DMedical following his appointment in January 2020.
Heath holds a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting Major) from Monash University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA). He is also a Qualified Chartered Accountant, Fellow member of FINSIA, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
BEng, PhD
Jon is an expert in the fields of dynamic imaging and measurement techniques, with over 15 years’ experience in interdisciplinary research and development in the UK, US and Australia. Jon has expertise working at the interface of fundamental science and technology development, helping to translate ambitious research projects into disruptive medical products. Having worked initially with Andreas Fouras on X-ray image velocimetry techniques in 2006, Jon joined 4DMedical in November 2018, and returned to Melbourne in November 2020 to lead the Imaging Systems team, in particular the development of the dedicated XV (XVD) human lung function scanner.
PhD (Medicine), ATSF
Jason has 20 years training and experience in Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep Medicine. He was previously Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, where his areas of investigation were novel technology, biological instrumentation, diagnostics, and therapies for chronic diseases. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the American Heart Foundation, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) among others. He is an active, long-standing and contributing member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), member of the ATS Drug Device Discovery and Development Committee as well as the American College of Chest Physicians, American Association of Respiratory Care, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He has authored more than 70 peer reviewed publications, book chapters and editorials as well as patents in respiratory medicine.
One of the most critical health challenges over the next decade will be to access, manage, and utilize big data in order to discover sustainable improvements in quality of life. This effort requires tremendous coordination, teamwork, innovation, and creativity. The focus of Jason’s career has been on novel technology, biological instrumentation, practice change and implementation of diagnostic and therapeutics for chronic diseases in children and adults. Joining 4DMedical in June 2020, Jason’s training, experience, and passion has positioned him to contribute to this important goal.
BEng(AeroEng)
Rachael started her career in 2008, working as an Aerospace Engineer. In this role she focused on delivering solutions to technically complex problems for the aerospace and automotive industries, both in Melbourne and Germany. Pursuing her passion for engaging stakeholders and delivering new products, Rachael spent time leading validation & verification efforts for vehicle programs in the defence industry. Joining 4DMedical in 2018, Rachael has utilised her business acumen, experience in highly regulated industries and keen organisation skills to lead the delivery of product outcomes critical to the business. Rachael has successfully completed the Accelerated Leadership Performance Program with Women & Leadership Australia and is a self-motivated leader within the business.
Evonne is a highly experienced leader combining current board (ASX, private, publicly unlisted) and governance experience with a successful career in Executive Director level Marketing, Innovation/Tech and Commercial roles managing large balance sheets across diverse industries in blue-chip, multi-national organisations including listed companies. She has a track record in bringing high growth strategic direction to organisations including commercialising transformative, new to world products and services & an expert background in driving brand profile, customer experience/journeying and growing market share and sales across channels, including digital products/services.
Governance roles in Finance, Insurance, Health/Wellness, eCommerce, FMCG/Packaged Goods and Government sectors in large ASX, private, mutuals and publicly unlisted companies as: Non-Executive Director, Committee Member and Elected Councillor of small to large balance sheet holding companies, insurance businesses and start-ups including e-commerce ventures. Liaised with regulatory and government organisations in Australia, NZ and various international markets.
BA(Mil), GradDipBus, MLatTh (SOT)
Paul has more than 30 years’ of commercial expertise in business development, marketing, international commercialisation and market entry strategies. Paul’s previous executive roles include Group Chief Executive Officer of Icon Agency Group, Director of The Fuel Agency, Vice President of R.L. Polk, and Director of his own marketing communications agency, Effectus Marketing Group.
Paul’s experience in management consulting, data analytics, software development and marketing is leveraged by the 4DMedical executive team to help frame the Company’s global communications messaging and assist in the international market entry strategy.
Paul joined 4DMedical in 2015 and has left his other interests behind to fully dedicate himself to internationalising 4DMedical.
BBus (BusAdmin), MCom DIstinct (Mktg), GradDipBusMgmt
Clint is responsible for 4DMedical’s strategic marketing and corporate communications functions together with various key stakeholder relationships spanning research and government. His sectoral experience includes universities (research and higher education), professional commercial services (legal, intellectual property and chartered accountancy) and government encompassing innovation portfolios and the nation’s defence technology and science agency.
Prominent as adjunct marketing director for the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Science Centers, Universities and National Academies based in Berlin, Clint contributed to the scientific and policy program at twelve iterations of the influential World Health Summit from its inception.
He possesses over 30 years of military experience primarily in combat engineering, and takes particular interest in the application of 4DMedical’s capabilities to enhancing the wellbeing of veterans and defence force personnel.
BSc(Computer Science), MBA
Craige has a Bsc in computer science and an MBA from London Business School. He has worked across a variety of industries including Media, Fintech and Medtech. He has over 30 years’ experience in technology with over 20 years in digital and 10 years with Cloud technologies. He has helped deliver digital transformations across magazines with IPC Media, music with EMI Music and newspapers with News International in the UK and News Corp Australia. Over the last 10 years he has led both technology teams as CTO or CIO and the Product, design, and security functions across a number of companies including OFX, World First, Zava and iCareHealth.
BSc
Nichole joined 4DMedical in 2021 with over 20 years’ experience in the regulatory affairs and quality assurance functions in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Having held local, regional, and global roles in some of the world’s largest healthcare companies, Nichole has extensive experience in managing complex regulatory and quality projects, quality management systems and diverse teams. Nichole has a successful track record of providing strategic regulatory leadership to meet commercial goals, whilst maintaining and enhancing quality and regulatory compliance.
BMechatronicsEng, PhD
Michael joined 4DMedical as a founding employee in 2013. In addition to his core expertise in software engineering, Michael also brings a breadth of knowledge in hardware (mechanical and electronic design) to his role. After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Canterbury, Michael obtained his PhD from Monash University, examining real time studies of cell mechanics in a fluidic environment.
Michael leads 4DMedical’s Software team, responsible for the development of the 4DMedical’s products to highly regulated medical device standards.
BEng, MIPLaw (Intellectual Property), PhD, Registered Patent Attorney
Aidan has over 12 years’ experience in the biomedical research and intellectual property sectors. He is a registered patent attorney and completed his Masters of Intellectual Property Law while finishing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. As an author on the first XV Technology journal publications, and as a former employee of one of the largest intellectual property firms in Australia, Aidan brings a wealth of experience to 4DMedical. As Senior Vice President of Engineering, Aidan drives the Company’s research and development activities as well as its IP strategy with an in-depth knowledge of both 4DMedical’s technology and the IP landscape.
BAppSc(MedRad), GradDipHlthSc(HlthEdu), GradCertBusAdmin, GAICD
John is a Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical.
John Livingston was previously one of the founding partners of Lake Imaging, subsequently becoming part of Integral Diagnostics Ltd., where John was Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. John was awarded the AGFA International Award for Development of Digital Imaging Solutions in 2005.
He has lectured in Australia and abroad on the digital radiology environment, as well as business strategies and systems within the commercial sector. John has considerable commercial experience, having worked with the team at Lake Imaging and later Integral Diagnostics through acquisitions and the establishment of Greenfield facilities across Australia. During his career at Integral Diagnostics, John lead the group through private equity investment with Advent Partners in 2014 and in 2015 John worked with Advent to list Integral Diagnostics on the ASX.
John is a former director of VicWest Community Telco and United Way, a current director at QScan, Comrad Medical Systems and Ballarat Clarendon College (Chairman) and is a graduate member of the AICD.
John is Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
BSc, CFA
Julian is a Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical.
Julian started his career in 1995 as an actuarial analyst for Towers Perrin in Melbourne where he consulted to some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. He later transferred with Towers Perrin to Brussels and then to London, where he worked predominantly in an asset consulting capacity.
In 2002, Julian joined Credit Suisse Asset Management in London as an assistant portfolio manager in their Multi-Manager team. Driven by strong performance, the team grew assets under management ten-fold from GBP50 million to GBP500 million over the following two years.
In 2004, Julian joined Schroders Investment Management as a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Multi-Asset team, responsible for the management of a suite of investment funds with assets under management in excess of US$1 billion. These funds were invested on a global basis and had exposure to a broad range of asset classes including private equity, hedge funds, property, commodities, equities, bonds and cash.
After seven years with Schroders, Julian returned to Australia with entrepreneurial ambitions. Julian established a sales and marketing business that helps best-in-class international fund management companies establish a presence in the Australian and New Zealand market. Currently, Julian is responsible for the sales and marketing function of Brown Advisory in Australia.
Julian is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
MD, FACP
Robert is a Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical.
Robert A. Figlin, MD, FACP, is the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology, Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Deputy Director for Cedars-Sinai Cancer, and Deputy Director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. Dr. Figlin received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Figlin was the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Endowed Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, and the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to that, Dr. Figlin served as the Henry Alvin and Carrie L. Meinhardt Endowed Chair in Urologic Oncology and Professor of Medicine and Urology in the Divisions of Hematology/Oncology and Urologic Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Figlin joined the UCLA faculty as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and was Co-Director of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Oncology Program. He held the post of Medical Director of the Thoracic and Genitourinary Oncology Program in the Departments of Medicine, Surgery and Urology, and served as Program Director of Solid Tumor Developmental Therapeutics within the Cancer Center. Dr. Figlin serves as Editor for Kidney Cancer Journal, and his studies have appeared in Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JNCI, Lancet Oncology, and Journal of Urology, among others. He has authored over 400 peer reviewed articles, more than 70 book chapters, and has published as editor multiple books in kidney cancer.
A nationally recognized leader in genitourinary and thoracic oncology, Dr. Figlin’ s research focuses on renal cell carcinoma and thoracic malignancies. He established and directs the Kidney Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which aims to understand the biology of kidney cancer and translate that knowledge into novel treatment approaches. His leadership is in developing novel anticancer drugs that avoid the toxicity associated with standard treatments furthers Cedars-Sinai’s tradition of compassionate patient care.
BSc(Econ), MSc, GAICD
Lil is a Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical.
Lil brings to 4DMedical an invaluable history of experience in technology products and business transformations, helping lead boards to build an agile and robust strategy through expansive growth. She has participated in business transformations for US listed technology companies and risk collaborations across financial risk modelling, climate science and primary industry productivity models. She is an experienced contributor to business transformations for US-listed technology companies with technology product expertise in AI and SaaS offerings and has vast international experience in the US, Australia, India, Singapore, UK, France, Germany, New Zealand, Italy and Spain.
Lil’s value to the 4DMedical board lies in her CEO, board, and senior executive track record in financial services, global listed billion-dollar tech corporations, tech start-ups, tier 1 management consultancies, public sector organisations, and international research operations. Her governance, strategy and capital raising experience has helped her lead corporations in periods of growth, guiding them in the pivot to stock market listings and international sales.
Lil is an independent Director, and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.
BEng, MEngSc(Res), PhD, MAICD
Andreas is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Group.
Andreas started his career in academic research studying experimental fluid dynamics in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His early research in wind tunnel quantification placed him as a young leader in the area of imaging (within fluid dynamics) developing a number of new approaches to the imaging of gas and liquid flow.
Completing a Masters and PhD, and then rising to the position of Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Laboratory for Dynamic Imaging, Andreas was recognised by various accolades from a wide range of premier research bodies including the National Health and Medical Research Council and the American Asthma Foundation.
Andreas was able to apply a novel concept to clinical use through the development of XV Technology, uniquely measuring airflow within the breathing lungs, at every stage of the breath, with both high spatial and temporal resolution at low radiation dose. Andreas’ research has been documented in over 100 peer reviewed publications and over 40 patents and patent applications. Andreas founded 4DMedical in December 2012 from a desire for his work to reach and positively influence as many people globally as possible.
A recognised leader, as evidenced by an Australian Davos Connection Australian Leadership Award (2013), Andreas is now dedicated to applying his business acumen, drive and innovation to the commercialisation of 4DMedical’s technologies.
B.Comm, LLB, MBA, FIML, FAICD, FGIA
Bruce is the Chairman and Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical.
Bruce is a professional Non-Executive Director of 20 years standing, having completed successful prior careers in law and finance. He holds degrees in law (LLB), commerce (B. Commerce) and business (MBA Geneva). He is particularly strong in governance being a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holding its Diploma Company Director, a Fellow of Australian Institute of Managers & Leaders and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and holding its Graduate Diploma in Company Secretarial Practice (Governance).
His legal career included being a partner of a prominent private law firm and then Senior Corporate Counsel to Robert Holmes a Court’s Bell Resources Limited in the 1980’s.
After completing his MBA in Switzerland, he went into investment banking in 1986 which took him to New York for 3 years returning to Sydney in 1990. He spent the 1990’s as an investment banker in Sydney, the last 5 of which as Director Investment Banking and Head of the Industrial Franchise Group at Salomon Brothers and then Salomon Smith Barney where he lead the firm’s joint lead manager roles in the privatisations or IPOs of Qantas, Commonwealth Bank and Telstra amongst other major transactions of the day.
Bruce has been a professional Director since 2000 in roles with ASX listed and unlisted companies predominantly in the financial services, biotechnology and technology sectors. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of ASX 200 PolyNovo Limited, Capricorn Society Limited, ASX listed Cettire Limited and Australian Meat Processors Corporation Limited. He is also Chairman of Capricorn Mutual Limited and 4DMedical.
Previously, he has been a Non-Executive Director of ASX listed companies Netlinkz Limited, Compumedics Limited, Anteo Diagnostics Limited (Chairman), USCOM Limited, Mungana Goldmines Limited and Datadot Technology Limited (Chairman). He also served as an inaugural CSIRO nominated Non-Executive Director of Polynovo Biomaterials Pty Ltd when the Polynovo technology was first spun out of the CSIRO in 2004, as with several other CSIRO technology commercialisations and served as chairman of a number of these vehicles.
Bruce is an independent Director.
BEng, BTech(Aero), MEngSc(Res), GIA(Affiliate), MAICD
Charlene Stahr was appointed Company Secretary of 4DMedical Limited from 18 March 2016 to 12 December 2018, and re-appointed effective 11 September 2019 following a planned leave of absence.
Charlene is a governance and compliance professional with over 7 years’ company secretarial experience advising senior management and board levels. Charlene reports to the board and her duties include continuous disclosure compliance, corporate governance, and communication with 4DMedical’s 8,000+ shareholders.
Charlene joined 4DMedical as a founding employee in 2013 and has served several roles within the company, including Operations Manager (2014-2019).
Charlene has broad experience across the engineering, biomedical research, and education industries. She has detailed experience in international research programs, leading to publication of research and patented intellectual property.
Charlene holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (hons.), a Bachelor of Technology (Aerospace), and a Master of Engineering Science (Research) from Monash University, her master’s thesis demonstrated the application of XV Technology’s precursor preclinical research technology to a lung disease model.
BAppSc(Med Tech), MSSTC, MAICD
Lusia is a Non-Executive Director of 4DMedical and Chair of ALHI.
With over 35 years in the pharmaceutical and bioscience industries, Lusia is an experienced CEO, technology developer and medtech entrepreneur, with strong leadership skills and international industry networks. She started her career as a Medical Laboratory Scientist before joining the Manufacturing Division of pharmaceutical company FH Faulding & Co (now Mayne Pharma). Lusia then went on to found medical technology innovation company LBT Innovations Limited (ASX:LBT) where she was Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director until 2016 and Chair of Clever Culture Systems, Zurich (LBT’s European joint venture company) until 2018.
Lusia currently serves as Chair of the BioMelbourne Network and Chair of Neo-Bionica. She is also Chair of 4DMedical’s wholly owned subsidiary ALHI (Australian Lung Health Initiative).
Lusia has a proven track record in bringing innovative products to global markets, with experience in France, Germany, and USA. She has ongoing interest in the commercialisation of innovative healthcare products that incorporate automation, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Lusia is an independent Director and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Dr Sam Hupert joined 4DMedical as an Advisory Board member in late 2019. After graduating from Monash University Medical School in Melbourne in 1978 he commenced practice as a primary care physician in Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs. Seeing the potential for computers in medicine at a time when the profession was still paper based, he co-founded Pro Medicus in 1981, prior to the release of the inaugural IBM PC. Pro Medicus is now an ASX 200 listed company providing Healthcare Imaging solutions to some of the world’s foremost healthcare providers. As founding CEO, he led the company from 1981 through to 2007 and then from 2010 to the present. Dr Hupert has extensive experience in the North American healthcare market and also brings significant public company experience having been an Executive Director of Pro Medicus since it listed in 2000.
Director, Senior Vice President
21 August 1972 – 7 November 2017
ANDREAS FOURAS EUOLOGY
Celebrating Steve
I had a very deep and special relationship with Steve. I loved him like a brother. I point this out, not to set myself apart, but because Steve formed deep and special relationships with all of us here and no doubt with countless more.
If you can indulge me, I want to make my words today as much as possible Steve’s words through stories of how Steve touched my life. Some of this is as deep and true as Steve, but some of it will be silly and funny because that’s what he would have wanted.
I had the great fortune to convince Steve to join 4Dx just a little under three years ago – although when I counted that out, I was sure I was wrong, it felt like it must have been so many more – so deep was Steve’s impact on 4Dx as a business, as a community and on me personally.
I learnt a lot from Steve.
Steve’s life taught that life is not about the hand of cards you are dealt, but how you play them. That’s not to say Steve wasn’t about winning. Steve always wanted to win – he hated losing, and that hate of losing was a big drive that led him to win so often. Even as much as he hated losing, he often found a funny or positive edge to difficult circumstances.
This brings me to the story of how I met Steve.
Three years ago, before Steve, 4Dx was a much smaller and more fragile company, scouring for investors, which led me to meet all kinds of people. One such person wanted to spend hours and hours talking to me – and it cost me countless lunches and coffees to discover that there was no prospect of him ever writing a cheque. Back at that time, this would ordinarily be a disastrous waste of time and energy – but not on this occasion, because this gentleman told me about a game of tennis he had played with a very special person, whom I should maybe meet. Not for the first or last time Steve managed to grab a win out of the makings of a hopeless loss.
For me, that is such a quintessential Steve story. Steve like to win and had a habit of creating wins. But also, Steve always knew someone and someone always knew Steve. That wasn’t an accident – that was how Steve worked and lived. He worked so hard to meet people, to reach out to them as fellow human beings, to get to know them, and once people knew Steve they wanted to be part of whatever he was doing.
Steve and I had some great times on the road. Steve was always a huge asset on roadshows and other travel. Not only because of what he got done, but also because of the humour he brought with him. If I could, I would have taken Steve on every single trip. While travel wasn’t easy for Steve, he never shied away from it because it was hard on him.
On one occasion, Steve and I were with another co-worker in Singapore. The humidity was extreme – and so much worse than any day in Melbourne. With the walking we were doing, going from meeting to meeting, Steve started to complain of chaffing around his underpants. He could see I found it slightly off-putting, meaning he had found a way (as he always did) to convert what might be seen as unfortunate circumstances into humour. However, I have to admit, after a while, I eventually had enough and I made an effort to ban further conversation about his underpants – his derps. Because of this, I was pleased when Steve suggested that a change of clothes might reduce his symptoms – as I hoped that would get me a win with a change of topic. Later on, Steve started again – and I tried to cut him off – saying we agreed no more conversation about derps – in turn he cut me off and said, “but I’ve taken them off!”
As I said earlier, I really feel that Steve and I shared a special bond. Some of that came from how different we were. We came together from such tremendously different backgrounds, different methods of thinking. But we also had quite a lot in common, from big things like our philosophy, to little things like a love of vanilla milkshakes. Steve was a quintessential rooster of an Aussie male. Many of you might think that craving vanilla milkshakes more than beer might not fit within that image. But my proof comes again in a travel story with Steve, and how on one occasion, on a long hot day in Hong Kong, Steve got such a craving. Now you might also imagine that given the impact of lactose intolerance on the local milkshake industry, milkshakes might be hard to find in Hong Kong – and you would be right! However, Steve had us walking up and down the streets of Hong Kong until we finally found a boutique ice cream store. It ended up costing him $25 to get that milkshake, but the look on Steve’s face as he drank made it obvious that it was well worth it.
Steve was eminently likeable, but he also commanded respect. My respect for Steve will never diminish. It’s hard not to respect how Steve carried himself, how he played the game of life with passion, conviction and a smile, despite the fact that the cards he kept being dealt would seem to so many of us as simply not fair. But what I want to talk to you about today is Steve’s courage. An incredible mountain of courage.
I wanted to share with you two dictionary definitions of courage. (1) “the ability to do something that frightens you”, (2) “strength in the face of pain or grief”. Isn’t that just Steve?
“The ability to do something that frightens you.”
In the world of business – the ability to do something frightening is a rare and valuable condition. Of course, it doesn’t pay to ignore risks, it pays to weigh them, to measure them and then to act. But, weighing and measuring lets you know what you’re in for – it only adds to the fear. When asked to take the leap – Steve never hesitated – never relented to the fear of not making the other side. I was regularly asking Steve to do things he had never done before, not only asking him to try something new, to step way outside of his comfort zone, but to do that under tremendous pressure. I know that Steve felt the fear. Not so often, but every now and then, we would talk about the fear, hopefully by naming it, making its hold on us a little less. But regardless of the fear, he stepped up with class, with style, and quite a bit of mongrel to do what was needed.
Now to the second definition of courage, “Strength in the face of pain or grief.”
While I have only known Steve for a short while, I know that this was always Steve. Steve told me that at 7 he was told he might not make it to 10, and that at 21 the thought of living to 45 was a fantasy. The pain and grief from that is hard to imagine. But for me the clincher is the conversations I had with Steve over the past six weeks.
When Steve told me that he had stage 4 cancer, it was clear to me, that in a millisecond Steve had moved on from thinking of his pain, his grief, his loss and he was already onto thinking of how he could help everyone else.
Steve had an endless list of tasks that he was onto like a bulldog: after taking care of his family and his affairs Steve wanted to take care of a whole raft of issues at work – taking care of this, reminding the team to look into that, contacting consultants and investors. And in a way even more courageous and generous was that through all of it Steve was asking if we were ok.
Only when he felt like he had taken care of all of us, did Steve engage in the luxury of talking about how it was for him. I was very fortunate to chat with Steve the Friday before last. We talked things big and small – we even had a few laughs. Those laughs will be something I treasure till the end of my days. We spoke about how crap the circumstances were, we spoke about how disappointed Steve was about the things he would miss – like how we would miss the chance to stand together and ring the bell on the day 4Dx goes public. But classic Steve, and in text-book courage, told me that he loved me and told me to ring it twice as hard. “Smash it”, he said.
So, although I will miss Steve, although I mourn the loss of what will not be, I want to celebrate what we did have. I want to celebrate the contributions Steve has made: to me, to 4Dx, to healthcare, to our whole community. Those touches, those contributions are permanent, they will not fade.
GREG SNELL EULOGY
Steven Peuschel was a remarkable man, father and Australian. He was born with Cystic Fibrosis, which in turn led to lung failure and it was at this time I first met him. Personally experiencing severe life-threatening disability, and then the transformation that organ transplantation can make, Steve refocussed his life with the target of improving the health of others.
In 2002, pre transplant, Steve was a public advocate for organ donation and transplantation- speaking at over 30 meetings despite being ill and disabled.
In 2003, whilst recovering from his transplant Steve became aware of potential novel ways to increase the organ donor pool to increase transplant numbers. Within weeks he had set up his own philanthropic organisation- the Lilly Foundation, and generated the first funds for this by paddling the 400km River Murray Marathon. This was incredibly heroic only weeks on from massive chest surgery- I actually thought he was mad!
Over the next few years Steve continued to talk at numerous various public, religious and Rotary meetings on organ donation and transplantation. Along the way he continued to facilitate funding for transplant projects. He brokered corporate support to employ medical staff and equipment for children’s lung transplantation through the creation of the Ronald McDonald’s House Charities. He participated in various state government health advisory committees, worked with Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation and Leadership Plus’ (Victoria’s largest advocacy agency for people with disability).
In 2006 Steve was bestowed Rotary International’s prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship in recognition of ‘appreciation of tangible and significant assistance for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among people of the world’.
In 2013 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for the ‘protection of the rights of people with disabilities’
Steve has educated thousands of people about organ donation. His efforts have generated funds to the tune of over $800,000, has led to 250 successful human life saving transplants across Australia. Indeed, this body of work is recognised across the world, generating numerous scientific presentations, awards and publications. He brokered ‘deals’ to help those with disability and personal difficulties- providing a plan for accommodation for country and interstate patients stranded in central Melbourne awaiting and recovering from transplantation and attempted to create an Australian Centre of Excellence in Transplantation with $1 billion from Indian and Chinese investors!!
And then there was 4DX….. an amazing idea that was an obvious fit for Steve. Andreas, Steve’s boss, didn’t stand a chance.
How do you sum this guy up!?
Steve bravely rose above his own significant personal challenges to contribute a real difference to the day-to-day existence and survival prospects of Australians disabled and terminally ill with advanced lung diseases. His down-to-earth enthusiasm and high conversion rate of ‘ideas’ into ‘reality’ amazed me. As a health professional I was inspired by Steve’s achievements. I came to see a brave, ‘outside the box thinker’ who became my friend.
Steve Rest-in- peace. You have made a big difference!
Professor Bruce Thompson is Professor and Dean of the School of Health Science at Swinburne University of Technology. Professor Thompson is also the President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, the only peak body to represent all professional groups with an interest in improving knowledge and understanding of lung disease across Australia and New Zealand.
Professor Thompson is internationally recognised as a clinical scientist particularly in the area of respiratory measurement and lung physiology. He is currently the co-chair of the joint American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society position statement on interpretation of lung function tests. More recently, Professor Thompson has carved out an international reputation in imaging lung physiology. Professor Thompson is chair of Respiri Limited’s (ASX: RSH) Australian medical and scientific Advisory board and product portfolio development lead.
Dr Raymond Casciari joined 4DMedical in May 2019, as Clinical Chair of the Advisory Board, bringing with him a compelling history of over 40 years’ experience as a senior executive in Pulmonary Disease, Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine.
In addition to a successful 30-year private practice, Dr Casciari’s career at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA, saw him in multiple disciplines and roles, including Medical Director, Chief of Staff, and Chief Medical Officer.
His tenure with St. Joseph and years of serving as a highly influential medical consultant has also given him a diversified healthcare background in private, public, clinical, academic and managed care settings within leading hospitals, private offices, multi-specialty group practices, and multi-state networks.
Dr Casciari is a Fellow with the American College of Chest Physicians and was awarded the Values in Action Award in 2003. He was also given the Physician in Excellence Award by the Orange County Medical Association in 2006, and was named as a “Top Doctor,” by U.S. News & World Report in 2009 and 2011.
