Ita Buttrose appointed Chair of CHeBA Advisory Committee

UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing welcomes new Chair and Advisory Committee members.

After three decades of complementary and collaborative research, Professor Henry Brodaty AO and Professor Perminder Sachdev AM officially joined forces to mark a new direction in dementia research with the launch of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) on 22 October 2012.

Now, 11 years later, Ita Buttrose AC OBE newly appointed Chair of the CHeBA Advisory Committee, has paid tribute to the steadfast duo and their collective vision to change the future of age-related brain disorders, specifically Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Ms Buttrose said that CHeBA has already established itself as a pre-eminent centre in brain ageing research, and she was pleased to take on the role of Chair to support the vision of CHeBA’s co-directors and their research team.

“With the last decade indicating substantial developments in neuroscience, there is more hope given to the possibility that we may be in a position to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias,” said Ms Buttrose, who will lead an impressive committee and provide strategic direction to the Centre.

Chancellor of UNSW Sydney David Gonski AC said the appointment of Ms Buttrose to Chair marked an historic moment for CHeBA.

“I join with CHeBA’s co-directors, researchers and staff in welcoming Ita to this important role,” he said.

“We are at a tipping point in our population where, for the first time, there are more older Australians than children under 15. This is one reason why Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are a national health priority and it makes the work of CHeBA even more important than previously. This work will undoubtedly be assisted by a strong and active advisory committee which is greatly enhanced by Ita’s appointment.”

CHeBA Co-Director Prof. Brodaty said he felt privileged to have the support of Ms Buttrose at a time in history when advancing research into the ageing brain was fundamental to the future.

"By continuing to investigate strategies to understand the mechanisms underpinning cognitive decline associated with the ageing brain, how to prevent this occurring and how best to help people with dementia and their families, our ultimate goal is for people to achieve their full life span and enjoy a good quality of life unaffected by loss of cognitive abilities," said Professor Brodaty.

Co-Director Prof. Sachdev said, "The strength of CHeBA continues to be in its multidisciplinary approach, as it addresses ageing-related brain diseases through the latest work in epidemiology, clinical research, neuroimaging, genetics and genomics, proteomics and other innovative approaches. It also regards research as an international endeavour and has built consortia to bring the power of collaborative research to bear upon these challenging problems facing our society."

Ms Buttrose said it was her pleasure to introduce the new Advisory Committee members who “bring an extraordinary cross-spectrum of expertise to continue to advance the valuable work of CHeBA”.

The new members include: Barbara Cail AO, founding President, Chief Executive Women & Governor of The Smith Family; Joseph D’Agostino, Director D'Agostino Solicitors: Professor Kimberlie Dean, Head of UNSW discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health; John Gray, Senior Partner, Hall and Wilcox; David Greatorex AO; Peter Joseph AM, Chairman, Black Dog Institute and The Ethics Centre; Dr Dagmar Schmidmaier AM, publishing specialist, The Book Adviser; Prof. Peter Schofield AO, Honorary Professor, UNSW and NeuRA (Neuroscience Research Australia); and media executive, company director Anita Jacoby AM.

Photo (left to right): Professor Perminder Sachdev AM, Professor Henry Brodaty AO and Ita Buttrose AC OBE.