Grand Challenges in Health and Medicine
Public Lecture Series 2008
Speakers
Dr Deborah Schofield
Professor Sally Redman
Professor Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE
Professor Stephen Leeder AO
Professor Bruce Armstrong AM FAA
Professor Adrian Bauman
View Lecture Series Program Here
Download past presentations here
Dr Deborah Schofield
Associate Professor and Director of Research, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health, the University of Sydney.
Dr Schofield’s career has spanned the Australian Government public service, academia and clinical practice and she has a national and international reputation for her work in economic modelling of the health system. On several occassions, her work has been cited in the Federal Parliament. Her current research includes analysis and modelling of the economic impacts of illness, demographic change and the health workforce.
She was one of the founding staff members of the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling where she established NATSEM’s health research and modelling program. She was one of the architects of STINMOD, Australia’s most widely used tax-benefit microsimulation models.
Her time in the public service included four years in Treasury (Director, health policy and retirement and income policy) and two years in the Department of Health and Ageing (Director, hospital finance and pharmaceutical benefits policy). During this time she played a leading role in the current $42 billion Australian Health Care Agreements which fund public hospitals and Treasury’s Intergenerational Report for which she pioneered the methods for forecasting health expenditure. The Prime Minister at the time referred to the Intergenerational Report (IGR) as the most influential publication to come out of government in recent years. The then Treasurer, addressing the National Press Club claimed that “in practically every portfolio area – health, education ...– the IGR now provides the overall architecture within which we operate.”
Professor Sally Redman
CEO, Sax Institute
Professor Redman is the CEO of the Sax Institute and is widely published in peer review journals. She is a member of NHMRC’s Research Committee and chairs the Policy and Practice Focused Research Advisory Committee.
Information about the Sax Institute can be found here.
Professor Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE
Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne
Gustav Nossal was born in Austria in 1931, and came to Australia in 1939. In 1965 he was appointed Director of The Walter and Eliza hall Institute of Medical Research, a position he held from 1965-1996. Sir Gustav is currently a consultant for the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation from 1998 to 2000. He was knighted in 1977, made a Companion in the Order of Australia in 1989 and appointed Australian of the Year 2000.
Professor Stephen Leeder AO
Co-Director, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Medical Foundation Fellow, the University of Sydney
Stephen Leeder is a professor of public health and community medicine at the University of Sydney and Director of the Australian Health Policy Institute, an affiliated unit of the School of Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine. He is also a co-director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy, a joint venture between the University of Sydney and Australian National University.
In 2004, Stephen Leeder was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to medicine as an academic and administrator and to public health through research, education, policy development and advocacy of greater community awareness of environmental and lifestyle health issues.
Stephen Leeder has had a career of nearly forty years in public health research, educational development and health policy. His research interests have concentrated upon the prevention and management of chronic disease. He has experience in academia, health service delivery and administration and as an advisor to Commonwealth and state health departments. He has authored numerous reports and papers on hospitals and health services.
Professor Bruce Armstrong AM FAA
Professor of Public Health, Medical Foundation Fellow, the University of Sydney
Bruce Armstrong is known principally for his research into the causes and prevention of skin cancer and melanoma and has made important contributions to knowledge on the causes and control of other cancers. He received the inaugural New South Wales Premier’s award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year 2006. He is currently a Professor of Public Health at The University of Sydney and is a former Commissioner for Health in Western Australia and Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. He is also Chair of NSW Health’s Population Health Priority Taskforce and a Director of the Sax Institute.
Professor Adrian Bauman
Sequicentenary Professor of Public Health (health promotion and behavioural epidemiology), School of Public Health, Medical Foundation Fellow, the University of Sydney
Professor Adrian Bauman is internationally known for work around researching and promoting physical activity for health. His advocacy efforts have influenced many state and national governments, as well as the World Health Organisation's initiatives around disease prevention. He directs research groups concerned with public health approaches to obesity prevention and physical activity located within the School of Public Health, and linked to the Institute of Obesity, Exercise and Nutrition at Sydney University. He is a passionate advocate for social change to improve health, and uses scientific evidence to make the case for changes to our society so that we can lead healthier lifestyles. He provides a completely fresh perspective on 'exercise' for health, and is provocative in discussing how obesity developed in industrialised societies.