Investigators

Winthrop Professor Lyle Palmer – Busselton Healthy Ageing Study Scientific Director

Professor Lyle Palmer is an internationally renowned geneticist and epidemiologist who is expert in the genetics of complex respiratory diseases. He plays key roles in a number of clinical teams in Australia, the UK and the US involving genetics research into asthma, sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease, cancer, foetal growth regulation and diabetes. His group is also active in methodological research in statistical genomics and medical informatics.  Professor Palmer is the Director of the Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Western Australia. Before returning to Western Australia in 2003, he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Statistical Genomics at the Channing Laboratory, Boston. 

Clinical Professor Bill Musk – Chairman, Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation

Professor Musk is Chairperson of the Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation, Chairperson of WA Mesothelioma Registry, Past President of the Australian Council Smoking and Health and a Member of the Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel in WA. In 1992 Dr Musk was awarded Member of the Order of Australia for services to medicine in the area of asbestos-related diseases and smoking control. Professor Musk has been a respiratory physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since 1978, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Australia since 1992 and Clinical Professor of the School of Population Health at the University of Western Australia since 1998. He is supported by an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship and has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles, numerous reviews and book chapters in the scientific literature. His research focus is the epidemiology of respiratory diseases and cancer, particularly related to Wittenoom blue asbestos workers, Kalgoorlie goldminers and the Busselton population.

Winthrop Professor Osvaldo Almeida

Professor Almeida Chair of Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Western Australia, Director of Research of the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing, and Consultant geriatric psychiatrist at the Royal Perth Hospital. He completed his undergraduate and specialist medical training at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and his research postgraduate training (PhD) at the Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, in London. The work arising from his PhD contributed to better characterise the psychotic states of later life and led to a series of manuscripts and invited editorials. This work further contributed to the development of new guidelines for the diagnosis of psychotic states in later life that were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2000. He has been a panel member of the NHMRC Project (2005, 2006) and Program Grants (expert, 2004), and has reviewed project and program grants for various national and international research agencies.

Winthrop Professor Marcus Atlas

Professor Atlas is a surgeon scientist specialising in ear and hearing disorders involving applied clinical and basic science research.  He holds the Foundation Chair in Otolaryngology at the University of Western Australia and is the Head of the Ear Science Centre (ESC) and Director of Ear Science Institute Australia (ESIA). Professor Atlas has received international recognition in the areas of ear and skull base surgery.  He was invited to join the Court of Examiners, Royal Australian College of Surgeons in 2006.  His innovative surgical education book and three volume DVD is used throughout the world to teach ear and skull base surgery and his hands-on surgical dissection courses have attracted international surgeons for over ten years.  Professor Atlas is the editor of the Australian Journal of Otolaryngology since 2001.  He has delivered over 100 invited lectures and produced over 75 peer-reviewed publications and authored two editions of a book. 

Associate Professor John Beilby

Associate Professor Beilby is a Principal Scientist in Clinical Biochemistry at PathWest and Adjunct Associate Professor with the University of Western Australia School of Surgery and Pathology Associate Professor Beilby established the routine molecular biology diagnostic testing laboratory at PathWest (Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre), including many diagnostic genetic tests. Associate Professor Beilby is founding member of the Cardiovascular Genetics Research Group (at QEII) and Pharmacogenomics Group and he is member of the WA Cardiovascular Consortium.

Dr Andrew Briggs

Dr Briggs is a physiotherapist and holds an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship with the School of Physiotherapy, Curtin University. Currently, he has a joint appointment between Curtin University and the Department of Health (WA), where he works as a Senior Development Officer. Dr Briggs’ research areas include spinal pain and bone health across the lifecourse. He has a strong track record in osteoporosis-related research, particularly in the context of spinal osteoporosis. His PhD and postdoctoral NHMRC fellowship programme have focussed on spinal bone densitometry and osteoporotic vertebral fractures, and the significance of this work was recognised by ‘Fresh Science’ where he was selected as 1 of 16 Australian finalists. In addition to clinical practice expertise in osteoporosis, Dr Briggs has worked with elderly cohorts in cross sectional and RCT studies related to osteoporosis. He has experience in working on population-based studies such as the RAINE study, Joondalup Spinal Health Study, and the national Australian Rheumatology Association Database.

Professor Yoav Ben-Shlomo

Professor Ben-Shlomo qualified in medicine from St. George's Hospital Medical School after having completed an intercalated BSc in psychology. He later obtained a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in clinical epidemiology and completed his MSc and then PhD at UCL. He moved to the department of Social Medicine, at Bristol University as a senior lecturer and was promoted to Professor in 2005. He is an international expert on life course epidemiology and is one of several PIs on the Halcyon programme for life course influences on ageing. He also has a long-standing interest in the epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular movement disorders and cognitive decline.

Dr Romola Bucks

Dr Bucks obtained her PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol in 1999.  Prior to moving to the University of Western Australia in July 2007, Dr Bucks gained extensive experience in the UK (1993-2001) in the diagnosis and neuropsychological assessment of cognitive impairment and dementia whilst running the Bristol Memory Disorders Clinic and Research Centre, University of Bristol. Currently in the School of Psychology at The University of Western Australia, her main research interests are in normal ageing and in degenerative conditions, particularly the dementias. Dr Bucks has established a successful research program examining the cognitive processes underpinning symptoms of dementia, with a particular focus on the cognitive mechanisms underlying lack of awareness, changes in the processing of emotions and in frontal or executive control, which is implicated in both awareness and emotion processing. Dr Bucks has published over 50 journal articles, book chapters, and neuropsychological tests.

Professor Ian Constable AO

Professor Constable is recognised as one of the world’s leading ophthalmic surgeons.  In 1975 he was appointed by the University of Western Australia (UWA) to the Lions Foundation Chair of Ophthalmology.  In 1983 Professor Constable established the Lions Eye Institute (LEI) to address the escalating incidence of blindness from a scientific base.  Until March 2009 Professor Constable was Head of the University of Western Australia Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science (COVS).  He was the inaugural Chairman of the West Australian State Science Council and chaired the State Science Future Directions Working Group. In 2000 Professor Constable was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal from UWA for service to the West Australian community.  In 2006 he received the Returned and Services League Anzac Peace Prize in recognition of his contribution to world peace. In 2008 he received the Inaugural Sir Charles Court Leadership Award for Western Australia.

Professor Timothy Davis

Professor Davis is a general physician, tropical medicine specialist and diabetologist at Fremantle Hospital, and Professor of Medicine, University of Western Australia. In diabetes, he is principal investigator of the Fremantle Diabetes Studies Phases I and II, a large-scale prospective study of diabetes in a community-based cohort which has also spawned the Busselton Diabetes study and the ongoing NHMRC-funded Fremantle Cognition in Diabetes Study. He is also an associate investigator on the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study. His research team is involved in a number of epidemiological and multi-centre pharmaceutical intervention studies including the Fenofibrate and Event Lowering in Diabetes Study, a Phase III study of inhaled insulin and ADVANCE. He is a member of the Australasian Advisory Committee for the international Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN) Study. He has been a councillor on, and is currently secretary of, the Australian Diabetes Society. 

Dr Amanda Devine

Dr Devine has been involved in research in the area of bone and calcium disorders since 1990 and she has co-authored 47 peer reviewed articles and 2 book chapters. She has co-authored more than 100 abstracts of which many she has presented at State, National and International Meetings. These publications and presentations have been in the area of nutrition, physiology and bone health.  Amanda is a senior lecturer in the Nutrition and Dietetics Program in the School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Science, ECU. She teaches several units related to nutritional assessment, nutrition through the lifecycle, trends in dietary patterns and exercise nutrition. She has Accredited Nutritionist status with the DAA and Registered Public Health Nutritionist with the NSA. She collaborates with the Bone and Mineral Research Group, UWA and is involved in clinical trials related to nutrition and bone disease. She is the Director of Nutrition Australia (WA Division). 

Adjunct Associate Professor Robert Eikelboom

Professor Eikelboom is a Senior Scientist at the Ear Science Institute Australia and the Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery UWA. With a background as a bio-engineer, he has spent over 20 years in medical research, with a particular focus on telehealth, and how it can improve the access for people in rural and remote areas to medical services. He has led the development of an ear telehealth system that has been implemented in a number of sites around Western Australia. A 2008/9 WA State Government funded study showed large economic benefits for the community when telehealth is used. He was recently awarded a $0.5mill Commonwealth Government grant to led a team in the development of an public education campaign in the dangers of overexposure to loud sounds from personal music players (iPods, iPhones).

Winthrop Professor Leon Flicker

Professor Flicker is WA Centre for Health and Ageing's director. He leads a productive research centre aimed at cutting edge translational issues focusing on the health needs of older adults. Professor Flicker's major research interests have been the general health of older adults, including bone and mineral metabolism, cognition, mobility and falls.  He is a member of numerous national committees and organisations. Professor Flicker has played a major role in implementing research outcomes into clinical guidelines regarding functional decline, delirium, redesign of the hospital environment (the Aged Friendly Hospital) and many others. As well as these research activities, he has led the reorganization of undergraduate and postgraduate education in geriatric medicine in Western Australia. He remains a practicing geriatrician and is Head of the Inner City Geriatric Services.

Clinical Research Professor Jonathan K. Foster

Professor Foster is a clinical neuropsychologist and cognitive neuroscientist. He is involved in a range of clinical research studies related to the neurological underpinnings of memory and cognition, and has a large array of national and international scientific collaborators. He has to date published 5 books and over 90 neuroscientific articles listed in the ISI Web of Science, has individually and jointly been awarded over $10 million in research funding, and currently has a scientific 'h' index of 16. He has been invited to serve on a range of clinical and scientific committees, including the National Executive Committees of both the British Neuropsychological Society and the Australian College of Clinical Neuropsychology. He is Consultant Neuropsychologist, a Fellow of the Royal Medical Society, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Chartered Psychologist (UK), a Chartered Scientist (UK) and a member of the Australian Psychological Society College of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Associate Professor Peter Friedland

Professor Friedland relocated to WA from Johannesburg, South Africa where he was Clinical Head of Department of Otolaryngology, Head Neck Surgery at Wits University. He was involved in rural projects developing schools and services for hearing impaired children, initiated voice and swallowing clinics and was instrumental in introducing new surgical ENT techniques and implants into South Africa. Since 2000, he has developed an electronic medical records and scripting program that is widely used in South Africa. In 2009 he was appointed as a consultant in the Department Otolaryngology, Head Neck and Skull Base surgery at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth and a Professor in the Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery at the University of Western Australia and is actively involved in teaching students and training postgraduate doctors and allied medical professionals.

Clinical Professor Graeme Hankey

Professor Hankey, MBBS, MD, FRCP (Lond), FRCP (Edin), FRACP is a Consultant Neurologist and Head of the Stroke Unit at Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, and Clinical Professor, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia. He received his undergraduate medical training at the University of Western Australia, and trained in neurology at the Royal Perth Hospital, Australia; Mayo Clinic, USA; and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK. Since 1992, he has held a full time hospital appointment as a consultant neurologist and tries to integrate clinical practice with clinical research.  He was a Director and Councillor of the Australian Association of Neurologists between 2004 and 2007. He was awarded the Western Australian Premier’s prize for achievement in science in 2006 and was nominated by the Premier of Western Australia for Australian of the Year 2008.

Professor Joseph Hung

Professor Hung has current appointments as Professor of Cardiology at the University of Western Australia, and Senior Consultant Cardiologist in Cardiovascular Medicine, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He has had a long standing clinical and research interest in the epidemiology, mechanisms, management, and prevention of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. He has been involved as a Principal Investigator and author of over 100 publications in these areas of investigation. He is a member of the Western Australian Heart Research Institute and contributes to the Cardiovascular Program specifically in the areas of Clinical Cardiology, Molecular and Vascular Biology, Novel Risk Factors/Inflammation, and Cardiovascular Genetics. He is currently a member of the Scientific Subcommittee and Board of the Busselton Medical Foundation, and has been involved in many clinical and scientific committees of the National Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Clinical Associate Professor Alan James

Associate Professor James is a consultant respiratory physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and at Hollywood Private Hospital. His research involves the investigation of genetic and environmental risk factors for respiratory disease in populations including the Busselton Health Studies and the characterisation of respiratory disease in remote indigenous communities. A/Prof James trained in respiratory medicine in Western Australia prior to taking up a position as a Canadian Research Fellow in Vancouver to study airway mechanics in asthma, the subject of his MD. He has established an independent research laboratory in the West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute and currently holds adjunct appointments for teaching and research at the University of Western Australia and the Notre Dame University in Perth and is also supported by a NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship. He has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and editorials.

Professor Matthew Knuiman

Professor Knuiman is a biostatistician/epidemiologist whose primary training was in the field of statistics. After three years in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University he returned to The University of Western Australia in 1988 to help establish the postgraduate program in public health. He has responsibility for biostatistics teaching and supervises a number of PhD and Master's level research projects. He was Head of Department of Public Health 1998-2002. His current research interests focus on the population and clinical epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. Since 1990 he has been the Biostatistician/Epidemiologist for the Busselton Health Study (BHS). He is the Chair of the BHS Research and Scientific Committee and is custodian of the BHS database. He has published 100+ peer-reviewed research articles/book chapters in the fields of biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, medicine and surgery.

Professor David Mackey

Professor Mackey has achieved international recognition as a genetic ophthalmologist.  His original research into the genetics of glaucoma and in the fields of optic atrophy and congenital cataract has received continued research funding support for the past decade.  Until early this year, Professor Mackey was Pfizer Australia Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Ophthalmology.  He also ran the genetic eye clinics at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne, visiting Tasmania for clinics and research sessions each month to participate in the 10-year Glaucoma Inheritance Study and the Twins Eye Study.  In March 2009 he took up appointments as Managing Director of the Lions Eye Institute and Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Centre for Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Western Australia.

Professor Barry Marshall AC, Nobel Laureate

(Photograph by Frances Andrijich)
Nobel Laureate Professor Marshall has received numerous awards including the Florey Medal (1998), the Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award (2001), the Inaugural Premier's Prize for Achievement in Science, Perth (2002) and the Japanese Keio Medical Science Prize (2002). He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1974 and trained as a physician at Royal Perth Hospital until 1983. In 1981 he began the collaboration with Robin Warren which led to the culture of Helicobacter pylori in 1982, and recognition of the association between H.pylori, gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer in the subsequent years. Dr. Marshall is Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the British Royal Society. He currently works as a microbiologist at the University of WA, part-time Gastroenterologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and has an H.pylori Research Laboratory on the QEII Medical Centre site.

Winthrop Professor Michael Millward

Professor Millward is the foundation Chair of Clinical Cancer Research, University of Western Australia. He has a strong track record in delivering clinical trial outcomes, particularly with novel therapeutics and phase I/II studies.  He is an international expert on thoracic malignancies and melanoma.  Since November 2008 he has been the President of the Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group.

 

Dr Sutapa Mukherjee

Dr Mukherjee is a respiratory and sleep physician with a strong research background in several diverse areas including epidemiology, lung malignancy and immunology. She currently holds clinical appointments as a respiratory and sleep physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia and runs her own private practice. She is employed as a respiratory and sleep physician at the WA Sleep Disorders Research Institute which is the largest Sleep laboratory in WA and provides a major focus for her research interests. She is the Chairperson of the Sleep Epidemiology Research Group in WA and has been successful at attracting in-kind funding to support the development of the WA Sleep Health Study database (WASHS) and biospecimen repository of which she is Director.  She was appointed as Chair of the Research Committee of the Australian Sleep Clinical Trials Network in 2006. 

Professor Peter O'Sullivan

Peter is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist who consults 3 days per week in a multi-disciplinary practice (bodylogicphysiotherapy.com), and is the Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy at Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia where he teaches at a post graduate level and conducts high impact clinical research. Peter has an International reputation for his ground breaking clinical research investigating the development, classification and management of chronic spinal pain disorders and the development of a new management approach to Non-specific chronic low back pain – cognitive functional therapy. He collaborates with a number of world leaders in spinal pain research. He has published over 80 papers with his team in international peer review journals, has presented the findings of his research at more than 50 National and International conferences and has run clinical workshops in over 22 countries.  Peter’s interest is the linking of clinical research to the clinical setting.

Professor Robert U. Newton

Professor Robert Newton is the Foundation Professor in Exercise and Sports Science, and Director of the Vario Health Institute at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.  Professor Newton’s research interests centre on applications of exercise for maintaining or improving human structure and function.  His publication record includes 1 book, 173 refereed scientific papers, 9 book chapters, 10 keynote presentations, 73 invited presentations, and 201 conference presentations.  Professor Newton is a frequent invited speaker both nationally and internationally particularly on the topic of chronic disease and the benefits of exercise medicine.  He has been a chief or co-investigator on successful competitive research grants totalling over $7.5 million.  

Dr Anne  Smith

Dr Smith is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Physiotherapy at Curtin University of Technology where she conducts high impact clinical research in musculoskeletal pain disorders. Dr Smith currently holds a Curtin University Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and has also undertaken postgraduate specialization in biostatistics. Dr Smith is a member of the Musculoskeletal research group of the West Australian pregnancy cohort (Raine) Study, and much of her research involves collaboration between Curtin University and the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research and The University of Western Australia through this involvement. Dr Smith also has collaborations with international leaders in spinal pain research and is a member of a number of national and state advisory panels. Dr Smith’s major research focus is the identification of psychological, social and physical trajectories that are associated with chronic pain and disability in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Professor Leon Straker

Professor Straker holds a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship and is Director of Research and Higher Degrees by Research at the School of Physiotherapy, Curtin University. He has degrees in Physiotherapy, Ergonomics and Occupational Medicine and his research focuses on the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and the impact of technology on health. His current projects include the impact of technology on physical activity in children and office workers, an overweight adolescent intervention, a universal preschool motor development intervention, familial spinal pain and transition from adolescent to young adult spinal pain. A key unifying feature of his research is the recognition of the importance of multi-disciplinary collaboration to understand complex health issues.
 

Clinical Professor Peter Thompson

Peter Thompson is a Clinical Cardiologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Mount Medical Centre, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Western Australia, Director of Research Development at SCGH, Deputy Director of the West Australian Institute of Medical Research and leads a clinical trials research team within the WA Heart Research Institute. He trained in Cardiology and Clinical Research in Perth, Melbourne and Boston. He is the editor of the text book (Coronary Care Manual) and author of 150 publications on coronary care and preventative cardiology. He holds an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Practitioner Fellowship to facilitate his research activities and maintains active clinical coronary care and consulting. His research interests have linked clinical cardiology, cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical trials and recently lead the Heart Foundation of Australia's national campaign to reduce pre-hospital delay for chest pain.

Winthrop Professor Grady Venville

Professor Grady Venville was appointed as the inaugural Professor of Science Education at the University of Western Australia in January, 2007. She is known internationally for her research in science education, particularly in the fields of curriculum integration and students’ cognitive understanding of complex scientific ideas such as genetics. She has published more than 35 papers in scholarly journals and is the co-author of the highly regarded “Let’s Think!” a cognitive acceleration program for Year 1 students in the United Kingdom. She also is the co-editor of the widely used textbook for secondary science teachers called, “The Art of Teaching Science” and recently published a new textbook for primary teachers called the “The Art of Teaching Primary Science”.