An important WHO appointment for resident disaster response expert Professor Leonard Notaras AO (pictured) leads recent successes for Flinders people, which also includes kudos for an rising researcher, a national health board appointment and a cultural safety expert recognised in awards.
Disaster response expert takes key WHO role
Professor Leonard Notaras AO, former Flinders staff member and current academic status holder, has been appointed Chair of the World Health Organisation’s Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Strategic Advisory Group (SAG).
Professor Notaras is the strategic founder and current Executive Director of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC), and has a long history in disaster response, having coordinated the Royal Darwin Hospital response to the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, along with events at Ashmore Reef in 2009.
The role of the NCCTRC, working out of Darwin, includes coordinating and deploying the AUSMAT (Australian Medical Assistance Team) capability, as well as providing extensive training and research opportunities in response to major national and international disasters.
SA representation on national health panel
Dr Jacqueline Stephens, from the College of Medicine and Public Health, has been elected to the Australasian Epidemiological Association as Membership and Special Interest Group Officer, and as Strategic Planning and Advocacy Assistant. Dr Stephens is the first South Australian to be included on the panel for several years, and will use her platform to introduce SA-specific issues at a national level.
Cultural safety awarded at inaugural awards
Congratulations to Roland Wilson, Lecturer in Public Health Indigenous Health, who was recently announced as the inaugural winner of the LIME CONNECTION Dennis McDermott Memorial Award for Excellence in Cultural Safety. Mr Wilson was recognised for exemplifying and personifying the notions of cultural safety, being innovative and for instilling transformative and transferable information in demonstrating best practice in cultural safety.
The Award is named in honour of the late Professor Dennis McDermott, a Koori psychologist who conducted research on how to teach Indigenous cultural safety to medical and allied health students. Professor McDermott was Director of the Flinders University’s Poche Centres for Indigenous Health and Wellbeing in Adelaide and the Northern Territory, and also served as Associate Head of Faculty for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health at Flinders.
Kudos for sleep researcher
Dr Tom Altree, PhD Candidate in the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute: Sleep Health, has been awarded the New Investigator Award at the Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand branch meeting in Adelaide for his presentation on sleep apnea pharmacotherapy. Dr Altree (second from left in the image) was presented the award by Arash Badiei (President-elect of TSANZ SA/NT Branch), Debra Sandford (President TSANZ SA/NT Branch) and Sue MacIntosh (Rep for event sponsor GlaxoSmithKline).
Award for teacher at Indigenous early education school
Flinders University education graduate Ashley Gregory, a teacher at Flinders Children’s Centre and Tji Tji Wiltja Preschool, won the 2021 SA Public Education Early Years Teacher of the Year. The award judges applauded Ms Gregory for nurturing positive and supportive relationships between children, families and educators at her children’s centre, where 98% of enrolments are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Using up-to-date research to create responsive learning environments and culturally inclusive practices, her work has helped increase attendance from 63% in 2018 to 78% in 2021 and has also seen a significant increase in children’s use of tier 3 and conversational language. Full details about the award winners can be found here.