Welcome to the final Curtin Health Community eNewsletter in 2024.
As we reflect on an incredible year, we’re filled with gratitude and pride. We celebrated remarkable milestones, including 60 years of Excellence in Psychology and 50 years in Nursing. The nursing alumni reunion was a heart-warming occasion to reconnect, cherish shared memories, and shine a light on the exciting future of nursing education at Curtin.
Our commitment to community engagement continued at the Telethon7 Family Festival, now in its fifth year. This vibrant event beautifully embodies the generosity and community spirit of Western Australians while championing child health research.
We’re also thrilled to honour the outstanding achievements of members of our faculty through various awards. These accolades are a testament to the passion and dedication of our researchers and staff, who strive to improve health and wellbeing locally and globally.
None of this would be possible without your support. Your encouragement and belief in our mission helps drive innovative research, enhance student experiences, and contributes to making a difference in the world.
Thank you for being an integral part of our community. I wish you a joyful and healthy festive season and look forward to connecting with you in the New Year!
Warm regards,
Professor Carlo Marra
Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Congratulations to our 10 outstanding alumni who were celebrated at the 10th Anniversary of the Curtin Alumni Awards! It was wonderful to welcome many special guests to the John Curtin Gallery to honour graduates who are making significant contributions to society. Within the Health Sciences faculty, two recipients were awarded – Catherine Stoddart and Sanyulandy Leowalu.
Last month, we proudly celebrated 60 years of psychology at Curtin, reflecting on six decades of excellence in teaching, research, and service with staff and industry partners. Special thanks to Professor Barbara Mullan, Professor Lauren Breen, Professor Rosa Alati, and the School of Population Health team for organising this memorable event.
Last month, we welcomed our allied health graduates back to campus to celebrate 50 years since the first cohorts of undergraduate and post graduate students completed their degree and graduate diploma at Curtin, formerly WAIT.
There were plenty of smiles and laughs, as more than 20 alumni came together some travelling internationally and interstate, sharing many fond memories over lunch for such a special milestone.
The event was also attended by Emeritus Professor Lance Twomey AO and his wife, Meg. It was very special for the alumni to have their previous lecturer present at such as milestone occasion.
We look forward to staying connected with you all – here’s to many more amazing years and memories!
It was wonderful to be amongst so many children, parents, and carers in the heart of the city, sharing in the excitement and fun of Perth’s biggest fundraising weekend!
Whether it was making memory bracelets, playing guess the story, or spinning the emotion wheel and sharing your colourful strength rainbows – we loved seeing the smiling faces!
A special thank you to Channel 7 Trust and the WA community for their generous and continuous support. Your kindness supports many projects at Curtin University that make a difference to the health and wellbeing of children and their families in WA.
GUDRH Director, Professor Fiona Doolan-Noble spoke recently at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.’s What’s Down the Track Forum. Breaking out of the forum’s traditional themes of mineral wealth, gross regional profit, and land development opportunities, Professor Doolan-Noble instead highlighted the importance of building and retaining a sustainable, live-in, rural health workforce to support the Goldfields’ growing economy and community.
Delegates were invited to partner with the GUDRH via sponsorships, student experience offerings, and scholarships for our local nursing workforce. The event provided many valuable insights on a range of important matters in the region, with rural and remote health care identified as a key influencer impacting the Goldfields both now, and down the track.
Before coming to Kalgoorlie, Cooper wasn’t so sure about spending 10 weeks in the Goldfields – but after 5 weeks, he wasn’t ready to go home. Find out how community inclusion, unique downtime activities, placement support and a little bit of kangaroo tail can change everything…
Last month we celebrated the achievements and efforts of our enAble Institute researchers who are passionate about working with community for evidence-informed solutions.
Congratulations to all the 2024 winners:
Each Friday, the Speech Pathology student-led singing group supports residents in improving speech fluency, coherence, and volume. Sessions begin with vocal warmups like abdominal breathing, lip trills, and the crowd-favourite ‘party blowouts.
Congratulations to all our Curtin University graduates who excelled at the 2024 WA Excellence in Allied Health Awards!
A special mention to WAIT (now Curtin) graduate and current Head of Curtin’s School of Allied Health, Professor Angus Buchanan, for receiving the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Honour.
We also celebrated the success of our outstanding alumni awardees: Kim Hawkett, Parvan Gill, Paige Dhu, Pamela Laird, Katrine Nehyba, Elizabeth Oliver, Jazmine Morris-McCall, Kate Baumwol, and Dayna Pool.
The WA Excellence in Allied Health Awards highlight the exceptional work of allied health professionals, who form almost one-third of WA’s health workforce. We are immensely proud of our graduates for their dedication and impactful contributions across the state!
Exciting news from Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation Awards Day, with members of the Curtin community celebrated for research excellence:
A highlight presentation on persistent pain was given by Dr Robert Schutze and advocate Mr Ben Horgan.
These prestigious awards recognise the outstanding contributions and achievements of our researchers across various career stages.
Congratulations to Curtin Bachelor of Science graduate and three-time Olympian Zoe Arancini on being inducted into the Vice-Chancellor’s Elite Athlete Alumni at the Curtin University Sport Awards!
Zoe was recognised for her hard work and dedication as the captain of the Australian women’s water polo team, and was instrumental in helping Australia win silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Curtin students and Australian Olympic hockey players Renee Taylor and Blake Govers were crowned Sport Stars of the Year.
We are so immensely proud of all our graduates and students who were awarded for their excellence and determination at this years awards!
Read more about the winners here.
During a road trip to Broome at the height of the COVID pandemic, Curtin University graduates Nicolette Beard and Kate Raston birthed an idea that would change the way health education is delivered in Australia. Combining their 16 years of experience in teaching and health promotion, Nicolette and Kate launched not-for-profit organisation, We Are Womxn.
The Curtin Early and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Symposium recently brought together researchers from across the University’s faculties to showcase their research, with a focus on impact and innovative approaches. Hosted at the Tim Winton Lecture Theatre as part of Research Rumble, the winners of the best presentation awards for Health Sciences included:
The course is designed for practitioners, researchers and policy actors who do not have an existing specialism in the advocacy field but may have a responsibility or interest in the integration of advocacy into planning, projects, policy, and research dissemination.
Date: 11 – 14 March 2025
Time: 9:00am – 5.00pm daily
Location: AIM WA, 76 Birkdale St, Floreat
Associate Professor Brioni Moore from Curtin Medical School will perform a trial in Papua New Guinea to validate minimal transfer through breastmilk of the antimalarials primaquine and tafenoquine to enable access by postpartum women to radical malaria cure.
Professor Sarah Egan and Professor Lauren Breen from Curtin School of Population Health have developed a four week, self-help internet intervention for adolescent grief, which was co-created with a 15-member Youth Advisory Committee. The program, funded by the Kids Institute, features eight modules with videos of young people sharing their experiences, along with text, images, and exercises.
We’re thrilled to see Curtin University researchers featured in The Australian’s 2025 Research magazine! Shout out to School of Population Health, Professor Lauren Breen, for being recognised among Australia’s best.
Huge congratulations to Curtin University researcher Dr Kefyalew Addis Alene for being named the 2024 Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) Rising Star! Dr Alene and his team at The Kids Research Institute Australia are transforming tuberculosis control using geospatial modelling to identify high-risk areas for early diagnosis and targeted treatment.
Read about incredible Curtin research that helps our community
Read about incredible Curtin research that helps our community
Curtin University has announced the winners of its 2024 Research and Engagement Awards, celebrating exceptional research and media engagement.
An ingenious new approach to reducing Emergency Department waiting times was the main winner of the WA Health Hackathon 2024, which saw participants devise solutions to some of the challenges facing the state’s healthcare system.
A new Curtin University study has challenged the perception heavy social media use has a significant impact on mental health, finding little to no relationship between the two.
New Curtin University research challenges views on screen time, revealing factors such as parental mental health and the type of screen being used may have some impact on child development.
What do you think about Curtin Health Community and the stories we’re sharing? Have a story you’d like to share? Let us know.