Matthew Miles

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Matthew William Miles (born 23 March 1968) is an Australian veterinarian, businessman, and executive in the Australian health industry. He has received national recognition for his role as the Chief Executive Officer of MS Research Australia, Australia's largest nonprofit organisation,^[1] which won the 2017 Telstra Business Awards Charity of the Year and 2017 NSW Business of the Year under Miles's stewardship.

Early life[]

Miles was born on 23 March 1968 in Temora, New South Wales to Jennifer Jessica Miles (née Cook) and Michael John Miles. The family settled in Sydney in 1970 when Miles was two, where they remained for the next nine years. Heart disease plagued Michael Miles throughout his son's childhood, and a number of strokes and heart attacks progressively disabled his father, Miles became more intimately involved with his care. Miles credits this experience, and his father's premature death at forty-four in 1979, with his interest in disability medical research.

Following his father's death, the family moved to the Gold Coast, where Miles attended Keebra Park State High School, graduating in 1985.

Veterinary career[]

Miles studied veterinary science at The University of Queensland from 1986-1991. Upon graduating, he spent two years in Mosman and Lane Cove working with Stephen Van Mil, an Australian veterinarian who later became a well-known television and film personality.^[2][3] Miles subsequently lived and worked across numerous veterinary placements in the UK before moving to Singapore in 2000 with his wife, Caroline. On returning to Sydney in 2003, he continued to practice as a veterinarian until 2007, when he decided to pursue his interest in community engagement, fundraising and disability medical research.

Medical research[]

From 2007 to 2012, Miles served as Director of External Relations at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Medicine,^[4] while obtaining a Masters of Business Administration degree there. In May 2012, he became CEO of MS Research Australia (MSRA), founded in 2004 by Simon McKeon.^[5]

During Miles’ tenure as its CEO, MSRA has received a number of awards:

2015: Charity of the Year, Australian Charity Awards^[6]

2015: Highly Commended award, Small Budget/Pro Bono category, Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Golden Target Awards^[7]

2015 and 2016: Highly Commended award, Fundraising Institute of Australia Awards, for "Kiss Goodbye to MS" fundraising initiative^[8]

2016: Special Events Award for organisation with under $5 million in revenue, Fundraising Institute of Australia^[9]

2016: Outstanding Achievement award, Australian Charity Awards

2017: Australian Charity of the Year, NSW Charity of the Year, and NSW Business of the Year, Telstra Australian Business Awards^[10][11]

2017: Outstanding Achievement award, Australian Charity Awards^[12]

Miles himself has received the Harvard Club of Australia's Not for Profit Fellowship (2015);^[13] and in 2016 was shortlisted for "Not for Profit Executive of the Year" by CEO magazine.^[14]

During this period, MSRA has been a major funding source for significant Australian breakthroughs in multiple sclerosis research, including, in 2017, the discovery of a blood biomarker for MS that will enable the development of a highly accurate blood test to determine the type of MS a patient has.^[15] In 2017, MSRA also co-funded a three-year, $750 000 MS research fellowship for the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research.^[16]

Personal life[]

Miles is the great-nephew of Sydney personality Bea Miles, the subject of numerous books and short stories (including the bestselling novel Lilian's Story,^[17] later adapted into a film starring Ruth Cracknell, Toni Collette, and Barry Otto), and a play starring Toni Lamond.^[18] Miles's grandfather, Arthur William Miles, and great-uncle, John (Jack) Miles, were owners and managers of George Street’s Peapes Menswear, a landmark gentleman's department store of the late 19th – early 20th centuries.^[19][20][21]

References[]