News

Congratulations to Professor Dawn Bessarab on her 2024 Fellowship nomination at the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Professor Bessarab's achievements to field of Indigenous health were recognised at the award ceremony in Adelaide.

Dr Kate Smith, Research Lead and Alex Lalovic from the DAMPAA team attended an Elders health lifestyle education and yarning event at partner organisation Moorditj Koort Aboriginal Corporation.

Congratulations to our Master's student Caleb Rivers on his first authored paper.  This is a substantial achievement in his research journey.  Thanks to all who supported him with this work. His paper titled "Best practice models of aged-care implemented for First Nations people: a systematic review aligned with the Good Spirit Good life quality of life principles", was published in BMC Geriatrics.

The University of Western Australia’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma has honoured inspiring researchers in the annual Research Awards.

New funding will enable researchers to undertake the first study of its kind to investigate how untreated hearing loss could increase the risk of mental-health issues and dementia in Indigenous people.

Congratulations to Lianne Gilchrist who is a finalist in the 2023 Western Australian Premier’s awards in the Aboriginal STEM Student of the Year category.

Our postgraduate research students and research trainee recently presented at the 3rd International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference in Cairns. Their research findings were very well received. Congratulations to Lianne Gilchrist Master student, Caleb Rivers Research trainee, Lyn Yappo Research officer and Kevin Taylor.

A national project team led by Dr Kate Smith have been awarded $1.97 million to support a vital health research project, under the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund.

Opportunities for emerging researchers to spread the good news at the Australian Association of Gerontology conference

The NHMRC National Institute of Dementia Research launched the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Roadmap for Dementia Research and Translation which was developed through extensive community consultation and through the leadership of co-chairs Dr Kate Smith and Professor Dawn Bessarab.

Research to improve the health and wellbeing of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received funding of $2.5 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council Centres of Research Excellence (NHMRC).

Dr Kate Smith and her colleagues from The University of Western Australia have launched a free resource package to support health professionals, aged-care providers and policy-makers to measure and optimise the quality of life of older Aboriginal Australians.

This research project is the first to address the needs of carers of older people with cognitive impairment and disabilities in remote Kimberley Aboriginal communities. The project found a significant decrease in carer’s depression scores when they participated in regular support meetings. Education session also improved wellbeing for unpaid carers.

A research team led by Dr Kate Smith at The University of Western Australia has been awarded $2.5 million in federal funding to reduce the prevalence of dementia in Aboriginal Australians