Healix has strengthened its Asia Pacific (APAC) operations with key senior hires in Melbourne.

Joining the business in Melbourne are industry specialists, Julian Heath and Grant Strudwick who will take on roles as Directors of Travel Risk Advisory, and Karen Howden as Operations Manager, Medical Assistance. Collectively, they bring more than 60 years of global expertise across medical and travel assistance, resilience consulting, medical operations, and crisis response.

Julian and Grant – both with foundations in the Australian Defence Force – bring nearly 50 years’ combined experience in senior management roles across Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Their deep sector knowledge, longstanding client relationships and extensive operational backgrounds will support Healix’s continued growth in Travel Risk Management (TRM), consultancy and on-demand services across APAC.

Julian Heath is an internationally experienced executive with 26 years in the professional services sector operating across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific. He is widely recognised for his extensive crisis management expertise in the public and private sectors and brings significant humanitarian and peacekeeping experience through assignments with the United Nations in the Middle East and a NATO secondment during the hostilities in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, supporting NGOs delivering humanitarian assistance.

Grant Strudwick brings over 25 years of private sector security, travel risk and resilience expertise. He has guided multinational organisations through major crises including the Mumbai hotel attacks, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the Christchurch earthquakes, Sydney Lindt Café Siege, and Chennai Floods. Grant has built and led multi-cultural teams across 12 nationalities and 17 languages, establishing new operational capabilities, global centres of excellence and dedicated advisory units.

Alongside them, Karen Howden joins as Operations Manager, Medical Assistance adding significant depth to Healix’s operational leadership. With more than 12 years’ international experience in medical travel assistance, insurance operations and clinical governance, Karen has a strong track record in managing complex global operations and building high-performing provider networks. Earlier in her career she worked as a critical care and cardiac nurse in Australia and the UK, providing deep clinical insight that informs her approach to risk management and operational excellence.

Commenting on the senior hires, James Henderson, CEO of Healix International said:

APAC is a key growth region for Healix, and these strategic appointments reflect our long-term commitment to building the strongest possible leadership team in the region.

Julian, Grant and Karen bring a wealth of experience across advisory, resilience and global operations, and their expertise will play a central role in supporting our expansion and delivering high-quality services to our clients across Australia and the wider region.

The Melbourne appointments form part of Healix’s broader push to scale its APAC footprint. Alongside the new hires in Australia, the company has also strengthened its leadership in Southeast Asia with the appointment of Chris Garrett as Director of Client Solutions & Growth (Southeast Asia). His role in Malaysia further embeds senior capability across the region, ensuring clients benefit from deeper expertise, stronger regional alignment and enhanced operational support in an increasingly complex global risk landscape.