Leading on Indigenous health

Australia's national body dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, the Lowitja Institute, has a new board member - UNSW's Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver.

Professor Jackson Pulver joins five other permanent Board members at the Institute, which is the only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led, controlled and managed organisation devoted purely to funding health research.

Named after two-time Australian of the Year recipient Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue, the Institute hosts the Commonwealth-funded Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (CRCATSIH).

"The Cooperative Research Centre has always been profoundly important to how Aboriginal health researchers conduct their work outside of the usual research enabled by the NHMRC the ARC and others," says Professor Jackson Pulver, who heads the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit within the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

"Closing the Gap is no small task and it's going to require people to be thinking outside of the usual boxes and squares. The Lowitja Institute and the individuals involved with Lowitja have got an excellent track record already, not only acknowledging Indigenous world views but also making a real difference on the ground."

Professor Jackson Pulver describes the appointment as an "absolute honour".

"As a public health epidemiologist, as a Koori woman, as a researcher who is dedicated to a whole-of-life approach to Aboriginal health, I'm delighted to be able to participate and bring my skills set to such an esteemed group.

"Because the Lowitja Institute is Indigenous-led and Indigenous-guided, and the majority of us involved are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we will be able to bring a whole new way of looking at the way we do medical and health research in Australia."

For more information go to the Lowitja website.

Contact: Steve Offner, UNSW Media Office| 02 9385 8107