ON THE MOVE campusreview. com. au
MACQUARIE PROF JOINS HEALTHCARE BOARD
Professor Jeffrey
Braithwaite from the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation has been appointed to serve on the board of the International Society for Quality in Health Care. Braithwaite expressed his excitement.
“ Representing the international community as we make the next set of gains in quality improvement and patient safety is indeed an honour,” he said.“ I look forward to working with my fellow board members and other stakeholders in emerging and developed economies who are striving to design better health systems and deliver better care to the populations they serve.”
CURTIN NURSING SCHOOL’ S DEPUTY CHIEF
Curtin University welcomes professor Ravani Duggan as new deputy head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine. Duggan has worked at the school for the past nine years in her most recent role, director of teaching and learning. She expressed her excitement about her new position.
“ I am looking forward to working with the new leadership management team and making a positive, effective contribution to the running of the school,” Duggan said.“ I am sure my previous experience in teaching and learning, research and management, together with the support of my colleagues within the school, will aid me with this new role.”
MELBOURNE DVC TO LEAD HIGHER ED NON-PROFIT
Sue Elliot, international deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Melbourne, has been appointed president of the Asia Pacific Association for International Education. APAIE is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to execute the internationalism of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe. Elliot mentioned that international education was an incredibly significant industry for Australia, earning the country’ s second-largest export income after resources.
“ I’ m grateful for the opportunity to share with colleagues in the higher education community the University of Melbourne’ s experiences and expertise in attracting international students while maintaining quality, diversity and equity.”
FED UNI NAMES DVC RESEARCH, INNOVATION
Federation University has offered professor Leigh Sullivan the role of deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation. Sullivan specialises in geoscience, beginning his career at Ballarat University College. He has obtained 22 Australian Research Council grants and has an international research reputation, specialising in acid sulfate soils.
At Southern Cross University, where his is currently dean of graduate studies, Sullivan has been instrumental in helping achieve excellence in research performance.
“ I am very much looking forward to being part of Federation University Australia,” Sullivan said.
UTAS PROF JOINS GLOBAL WETLANDS FORUM
Professor Peter Davies has been appointed to the International Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the secretariat for the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Treaty. Davies is the chief science adviser to the Murray Darling Basin Authority and focuses on managing environmental water.
He has a record in wetland policy, management and applied research and has served the National River Health Program for two decades as a science co-ordinator.
“ I’ m thrilled that a homegrown Tassie scientist can represent our region’ s wetlands in a global forum at this critical time,” he said.
ANU PROF SELECTED FOR UN CLIMATE PANEL
Professor Mark
Howden has been elected a vice-chair of Working Group 2 of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change( IPCC). Howden will play an influential role in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report that will be released between 2020 and 2022. Howden has given major contributions to the IPCC over 23 years.
“ I’ m passionate about connecting science with key decision-makers, with the ultimate goal of better managing climate risk and facilitating sustainable development. I’ m particularly keen to ensure an inclusive approach for IPCC member governments in our South-East Asian and Pacific region.”
STRICTLY SPEAKING | E-NUMBERS
The wrapper on the loaf of sliced bread assures us that it contains“ no e-numbers”. Clearly that’ s supposed to be a virtue, but what exactly are e-numbers? In lower case with a hyphen, e-number might refer to an electronic number – not something you might eat or avoid eating. Presumably what’ s meant on the loaf, however, is E-number, with a capital‘ E’, a code the European Union assigns to additives endorsed for use in European food products. Thus, E120( no hyphen) is code for cochineal, the red colouring that put Starbucks into headlines in 2012 for using it in its strawberry Frappucinos. INS120 is the corresponding code for the same food additive in the United Nations’ Codex Alimentarius. A120 is the Australian equivalent, though for the moment, numbers prefixed with E seem to be more familiar here. Like other chemical agents, e-numbers are treated with suspicion on popular health websites, either as unfailingly bad for those who consume them, especially children, or contrary to particular religious beliefs or cultural practices because they come from animals. Cochineal gained notoriety because it was extracted from a particular insect. Starbucks has now replaced E120 with E160d( i), a colour additive extracted from tomatoes, illustrating the fact that some of the 350 e-numbers are natural extracts that may indeed be good for you. Certainly they are not all badditives.
Written by emeritus professor Pam Peters, researcher with Macquarie University’ s Centre for Language Sciences.
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