Curtin starts hiring
Prof William Hart, Adj/Prof Janice Bell, Vice-Chancellor Prof Deborah Terry, Federal Minister for Education and Training, Mr Simon Birmingham and Acting Chancellor Ms Sue Wilson
The Curtin Medical School is gearing up for its 2017 launch with key appointments being made. WAGPET CEO Dr Janice Bell has been appointed chair of the school’s external advisory board which will “provide critical input and guidance” to the faculty. Janice has been an adjunct professor at the university since 2012 and will now take a key role in developing the school’s direction. More appointments will be made to the board in the coming months. The foundation dean is Prof William Hart, who has fought long and hard and withstood stiff opposition from AMA WA, to see the school finally win government approval.
Health Service Board Chairs
The five WA health services will launch on July 1. The Minister for Health, Mr John Day, has announced the boards. They are:
NMHS
Prof Bryant Stokes (chair), Dr Rosanna Capolingua, Dr Margaret Crowley, Dr Felicity Jefferies, Ms Michele Kosky, Mr Graham McHarrie, Ms Maria Saraceni, Dr Simon Towler, Prof Grant Waterer
SMHS
Mr Robert McDonald (chair), Adj A/Prof Robyn Collins, Adj A/Prof Kim Gibson, Prof Julie Quinlivan, Ms Fiona Stanton, Mr David Rowe, Ms Michelle Manook, Ms Yvonne Parnell, Mr Julian Henderson, C/Prof Mark Khangure
East MHS
Mr Ian Smith (chair), Mrs Suzie May, Mr Peter Forbes, Mr Ross Keesing, Mr Richard Guit, Ms Debra Zanella, Prof Kingsley Faulkner, Dr Hannah Seymour, Dr Stephanie Trust
CAHS
Ms Deborah Karasinski (chair), Prof Geoffrey Dobb, Dr Daniel McAullay, Mr Brendan Ashdown, Ms Kathleen Bozanic, Ms Anne Donaldson, Mr Peter Mott, Mr Andrew Thompson, Dr Alexius Julian
WACHS
Dr Neale Fong (chair), Ms Wendy Newman, Mr Michael Hardy, Dr Daniel Heredia, Dr Kim Isaacs, Mr Joshua Nisbet, Mrs Mary Anne Stephens
Flu shots good for mums
WA Health researchers, in collaboration with the Telethon Kids Institute, have discovered that pregnant women who receive the seasonal flu shot are less likely to experience a stillbirth than unvaccinated mothers. The retrospective study used records to examine nearly 60,000 local births between the 2012 and 2013 seasonal influenza epidemics. The cohort included 52,932 mothers who had not received the vaccine and 5076 mothers who had. The risk of stillbirth among vaccinated mothers was 51 per cent lower than the risk among women who had not been vaccinated. As a result WA Health will broaden its flu vax campaign promotion this year.