Please join us for our very special 15th annual HDA Oration to be presented by former HDA Convenor, 2004-2011

The past two decades have been a time of profound geopolitical, economic and social change. Nations, regions and cities have faced major economic transitions as established industries have declined or moved offshore. Across this period, however, there have been regions where ‘rustbelts’ have emerged as ‘brain belts’ and where cities in decline have transformed to become ‘magnet cities’ attracting talented creative arts and STEM professionals.  Such transformations have been underpinned by the emergence of ‘leap frog’ technologies and convergence of research from different STEM disciplines to have major impacts on all aspects of our lives including health.

During the past 2 decades Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) has been a pioneer in harnessing the power of collaboration to translate innovation to benefit the health and wellbeing of women, babies and young people across the world. The next leadership role for HDA will be to deploy the convergence of disciplines and technologies from within and beyond health to address the intergenerational transmission of poor health and to ensure healthy development is distributed equitably across the globe.

SPEAKER:

Professor Caroline McMillen commenced in the role as Chief Scientist for South Australia in October 2018 after serving as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle from 2011.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and a Bragg Member of the Royal Institution, Australia. She holds a BA (Honours) and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and completed her medical training graduating from the University of Cambridge.

Professor McMillen’s research on how the environment in early development determines adult health has attracted national and international recognition. She has served on a range of industry boards including the National Automotive Industry Innovation Council, CRC for Advanced Automotive Technology, CRC for Rail Innovation as well as a range of national and state research, industry and government leadership groups. She is committed to building collaborations between research, government and industry to deliver economic, environmental and social impact. Professor McMillen was honoured at the end of her term as Vice-Chancellor to be presented with the Keys to the City of Newcastle in recognition of her leadership contribution to Newcastle and the region.