ON THE MOVE
campusreview.com.au
THE PERKS OF
BEING A DEAN
Once the head of the
George Institute for
Global Health, Professor
Vlado Perkovic is
now dean of medicine
at UNSW Sydney. A top specialist in
kidney disease, Perkovic has worked as a
nephrologist and general physician, and has
lead large-scale clinical trials. He replaces
Professor Rodney Phillips, who is moving into
the new role of pro vice-chancellor (health)
within the university’s Division of Enterprise.
“The role will offer many opportunities to
make a difference to people’s health and how
we train the doctors of the future,” Perkovic
said. “Some of the massive global challenges
we're facing in health and education – from
the epidemic of obesity to the need to
manage comorbidities as people live longer
– create enormous possibilities to make a
real impact.”
FRESH FROM RIO
A balanced diet has always been the
pathway to good health. Yet anxieties
about it have fuelled the unstoppable
growth of complementary medicines and
“functional foods”, called nutraceuticals
(the standard spelling) – rather than
nutriceuticals, as you might expect, if their
food value was really salient. The term
nutraceuticals covers several different
categories of item, including “isolated
natural substances” (e.g. “green-lipped
mussel extract”), food additives, and
dietary supplements such as vitamin pills.
The definition of nutraceuticals in the
Oxford English Dictionary online refers
to their beneficial physiological effects,
although their claims to promoting good
health are often dubious, not based on
double-blind testing of the product that
mainstream pharmaceuticals must go
through. All in all, they do not seem to
fit the categories of food or medicine.
Yet there’s room for new products that
might qualify one way or the other. For
example a powdered form of broccoli to
dust on your cappuccino, which offers a
way of ingesting the health benefits of a
brassica for those challenged by green
vegetables on the plate. It could usher in a
whole new category of “vegeceuticals”, to
be incorporated in breakfast cereals and
ensure people get their traditional “three
veg” at the start of the day.
Written by Emeritus Professor Pam
Peters, researcher with the Linguistics
Department at Macquarie University.
28
Dr Xiaoling Liu has
been announced as
QUT’s new chancellor.
A former president
and CEO of Rio Tinto
Minerals in the United
States, gaining her PhD at Imperial College
London and completing her Bachelor of
Engineering in China, Liu has returned home
to deepen her connections to the Brisbane
and QUT community.
“Her industry experience across several
continents provides her with a diverse and
global perspective that aligns perfectly with
the aspirations of many QUT students and
graduates,” said vice-chancellor Professor
Margaret Sheil, who also praised Liu’s
“understanding of higher education as an
agent for deep and abiding social change”.
CFO FOR JCU
She studied at James
Cook University, and
now Danella Forster
has returned to take
on a new financial
role at the university
as JCU’s chief financial officer. Forster
holds qualifications as a CA, is a member
of the Institute of Chartered Accountants,
a certified internal auditor (CIA) with the
Institute of Internal Auditors, and a has
Bachelor of Commerce from JCU.
She has over 20 years’ experience
spanning leadership and management,
operations, finance, IT, HR, marketing, work
health and safety, quality management,
risk and compliance, with 13 years of that
experience in the higher education sector.
FEMALE-STRONG
LEADERSHIP
RMIT has announced
the appointment of
Professor Martie-
Louise Verreynne
as its new deputy
pro-vice-chancellor (research and
innovation) in the College of Business.
Her appointment brings the college
leadership team to an unprecedented eight
female executives out of 12.
“I see a significant opportunity for
researchers in the college to transform
business and society as they work with
researchers across the university to solve
the grand challenges we face,” said
Verreynne, whose remit is to strengthen
connections between the college and the
university’s innovation and entrepreneurship
offerings through its Activator startup hub.
“I believe that RMIT is well placed to
address these challenges,” she said.
GONSKI GOES
FOURTH
By unanimous decision,
USNW has extended
David Gonski’s term
as chancellor of UNSW
Sydney for another
four years. A household name advocate
of Australian education, and one of the
nation’s foremost business leaders and
philanthropists, Gonski is the first UNSW
alumnus to hold the position. He combines
the role with various others, including
chairman of the UNSW Foundation and
president of the Art Gallery of NSW Trust.
“We are fortunate that although the role
of chancellor at UNSW is an honorary
position without remuneration, David gives
it the highest of priorities,” said UNSW
vice-chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs.
A NATIONAL
CHANGE
The former deputy
leader of the NSW
Nationals is now
professor of food
sustainability at Charles
Sturt. Niall Blair has decades of experience
in agriculture, working in the NSW upper
house to bring reform to water, fisheries,
and agricultural research and innovation.
“Farming systems are being disrupted
through technology and changes in
consumer behaviour, and Australia needs
to embrace these changes and seize on
the opportunities they provide through
innovation and research," Blair said.
His appointment has been cleared with
the NSW Ethics adviser.