Thursday 2 June | Can Aboriginal people save the world?
Presented by Professor Alex Brown

There is much to learn from the survival of the Aboriginal people of Australia. Despite shorter life expectancy, high rates of chronic disease, and the appearance of conditions like Rheumatic heart disease, long-eradicated from the general population, Aboriginal people have survived and are, indeed on some fronts, thriving. This talk will explore the challenges but also the salient lessons that can be learnt from the people who belong to the longest continuous surviving culture in the world.

About Professor Alex Brown

Professor Alex Brown, Deputy Director and Program Leader, Aboriginal Research, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is an Aboriginal doctor and researcher with extensive skills in Indigenous health research in rural and remote communities. He received his PhD in 2010, and in addition to his medical training has an MPH, FCSANZ and is an honorary fellow of the RACP.

Before starting in research for the Menzies School of Health Research, Professor Brown managed the local Centre for Disease Control in Alice Springs. He was later appointed to set up a research program in Central Australia with Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, with a focus on heart disease and diabetes in Aboriginal people.

In July 2012, Professor Brown joined SAHMRI to lead the Aboriginal Health Theme. He has established an extensive and unique research program focused on chronic disease in vulnerable communities, with a particular focus on outlining and overcoming health disparities. He leads projects encompassing epidemiology, psychosocial determinants of chronic disease, mixed methods health services research in Aboriginal primary care and hospital settings, and randomised controlled trials of pharmacological and non-pharmacological chronic disease interventions.

In November 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship to further his research into the impacts of psychosocial determinants on cardiovascular disease in Aboriginal communities.

Professor Brown now leads a team of over 50 people in SAHMRI, more than half of his staff are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and he is on track to build the largest, most sustainable cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and students focused on research to address the health inequalities of the Indigenous people of Australia.

Lecture Recording: Can Aboriginal people save the world?

Recorded 2 June 2016 at the University of Adelaide