Board of Directors
Paul Reid
Chairman
BSc (Hons) Maths & Stats
Ralph Highnam
Executive Director and CEO
BSc (Hons) 1st Class, MSc, PhD
Ralph, a founding Director of VHT, has been at the forefront of the digital breast imaging field for over 25 years. Initially a research scientist at the University of Oxford, Ralph’s innovative work in quantitative breast imaging technology led him to form first OXIVA Limited and then Mirada Solutions with Professor Sir John Michael Brady. Under Ralph’s leadership Mirada became the number-one provider of image registration and fusion tools before being acquired by CTI Molecular Imaging Inc. and later Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
Before founding VHT in 2009, Ralph consulted for many of the world’s top medical imaging companies, including R2, Siemens, Hologic and Dexela, as well as many leading breast screening programs. During this time, he continued his academic research as part of an international circle of collaborators.
Ralph is the author of numerous articles and, with Brady, the seminal book Mammographic Image Analysis. As CEO of VHT, Ralph is dedicated to providing the most accurate measurements possible of breast composition (“breast density”) in order to improve the health outcomes of women around the world. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2015 he was named a Wellingtonian of the Year finalist.
Roger Allen AM
Non-Executive Director
BA (Hons), FACS
Roger joined the Board in June 2010 and was Chairman from October 2015 to March 2019. Roger is a highly experienced entrepreneur and investor in early-stage growth companies in Australia and internationally. He built Computer Power Group (CPG) in the 1970s from a small start-up to a worldwide group of 3,000 people operating from 50 offices in 12 countries, listing on the ASX in 1987. In 1996 he co-founded Allen & Buckeridge, an early-stage venture capital fund with offices in Silicon Valley and Australia. He is dedicated to social entrepreneurship, especially to enterprises focused on indigenous economic development and digital health.
Roger has served on two Prime Ministers’ Science and Technology Councils and Advisory Boards, and was Deputy Chairman of Austrade from 1990 to 1997. Currently an adjunct professor in the Business School of the University of Technology Sydney, he has also lectured occasionally at the School of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD. Roger has been awarded the top two lifetime awards in the IT industry (CSIRO Tony Benson award and the Pearcey Medal for lifetime achievement) as well as an Order of Australia Honour for his services to the IT sector through leadership roles, venture capital investment and professional development, and in recognition of his support of the indigenous community and philanthropic interests. He is based in Sydney, Australia.
Roger is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Monica Saini
Non-Executive Director & Chief Medical Officer
BSc, MS, MD
Monica joined the VHT Board in 2018. She is an internationally recognised expert in breast cancer, especially breast density and breast cancer risk assessment.
Monica is a Doctor of Medicine and a prior BSc in nursing. She has had U.S. radiology training and an additional fellowship in women’s imaging. She has over 10 years of patient care experience and was the Chief of Breast Imaging at Santa Fe Imaging/Christus St Vincent Hospital in the southwestern U.S. from 2008 to 2016. She also served as the chairman for the Christus St Vincent Cancer Committee.
In 2015, she became a medical advisor for GE Healthcare and consultant for ProScan Imaging, as well as research advisor for World Care Clinical. By 2016, she was appointed Medical Director of Automated Breast Ultrasound Systems, GE Healthcare. Globally, she worked on early detection of breast cancer, breast cancer research, and international physician education for breast imaging technologies.
Monica relocated to New Zealand in 2017 and started as a consultant for VHT where she implements hands-on expertise in product development, research, and customer relations. She also evaluates patients as a lead radiologist at Hutt Valley District Health Board in Wellington.
Karin Lindgren
Non-Executive Director
BS, JD
Karin joined the Board in 2020. She brings 35 years’ experience in health information technology as a senior technology executive and law firm partner. As one of the earliest healthcare technology lawyers in the US, Karin has an in-depth knowledge of data governance, data privacy, SaaS and US healthcare, and has extensive professional networks across the IT landscape.
Her previous roles include General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Chief Privacy Officer at the University Health System Consortium (which covers 90% of US academic medical centers); General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at ReedGroup, a data and informatics technology company responsible for absence management solutions at over 40% of Fortune 100 companies; and Senior VP, Legal Affairs, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Privacy Officer and Chief Audit Executive at Availity, a revenue cycle management, electronic data interchange platform, PaaS IT company that operates the largest real-time information network in healthcare, connecting payers and providers in 6 billion+ transactions every year.
Karin was a founding faculty member in the Health Informatics Master’s Programs at both Northwestern University (Chicago), and University of Colorado (College of Nursing), and has taught in schools of medicine, law and business at numerous US universities. She is a board member of multiple private and non-profit organisations.
Karin is Chair of the Risk Committee and is based in Boulder, Colorado.
John Pavlidis
Non-Executive Director
BS, MS
John joined the VHT board in early 2015 with more than 25 years of medical device experience as an executive and company director, John currently serves as the President and CEO of VytronUS, Inc., a venture-backed start-up using novel catheter-based ultrasound and robotics technology to treat atrial fibrillation, a cardiac arrhythmia.
Prior to VytronUS, John was the President and CEO of Endoscopic Technologies, Inc., a leader in minimally invasive and endoscopic treatment of atrial fibrillation. Since 2007, John has also served on the board of directors of several health technology start-up companies, including U-systems, Inc., which pioneered automated breast ultrasound imaging as an adjunct to mammography for breast cancer screening and was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2012.
Previously, John served as President and CEO of R2 Technology Inc., the pioneer and leader in computer-aided detection of breast cancer, until Hologic Inc. acquired the company in 2006. Before joining R2 Technology, John was the president of the Ultrasound group at Siemens Healthcare, where he led the acquisition and integration of Acuson and subsequent growth of that company to $1 billion in revenue. He is based in Silicon Valley, California.
John Diddams
Non-Executive Director
B Com, FCPA, FAICD
John has over 40 years’ experience as a CFO, CEO and director of both private and publicly listed companies. John has extensive knowledge and practical experience in the application of Australian corporations law, ASX Listing Rules, international accounting standards and corporate governance principles.
He leads a CPA firm providing corporate advisory services to SME and mid-cap companies and has managed IPOs, secondary capital raisings and ASX listings in the oil and gas, food and retail, telecommunications, adventure tourism, biotechnology, and dental and medical sectors. He is currently a director of Aroa Biosurgery Limited and Surf Lakes Holdings Limited and is Fellow of the Australian Society of CPAs and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
John is Chair of the Audit Committee and based in Sydney, Australia.