Top UOW researcher to join ministerial advisory council

Aug 22, 2003

Leading University of Wollongong academic Professor Kathy Eagar has been named as a member of the newly formed Ministerial Advisory Council on Health and Medical Research, a new body formed to help steer the state's research strategy.

Science and Medical Research Minister, Frank Sartor, said he was pleased to announce that Professor Eagar had accepted his invitation to join the Advisory Council.

Professor Eagar has been the Director of the Centre for Health Service Development at the University of Wollongong since 1993, and brings to the Council a wealth of expertise in health management and planning.

"I'm pleased that Professor Eagar will be not only bringing her extensive expertise to the Advisory Council but will also be an important regional representative," Mr Sartor said.The Ministerial Advisory Council will harness the state's intellectual firepower to improve the focus and performance of medical research in NSW.

"The Council will play a crucial role in providing advice to the Government about how to amplify our medical research effort," Mr Sartor said.

"There's a lot of groundbreaking work being done in NSW across the field of medical discovery, but we want to do it better, this panel will devise strategies to do just that.

"We've deliberately cast the net wide so we can bring together the knowledge that's needed to deliver on a challenging task," Mr Sartor said.

The Council has been given a clear terms of reference including a brief to

* Identify and address any critical gaps in the NSW medical and health research effort

* Better leverage NSW medical research off interstate and international research work

* Achieve greater collaboration among researchers across disciplines, sectors and technologies

* Enhance the development and retention of a skilled research workforce

* Enhance the competitive advantage of NSW researchers

* Expand research funding sources.

Mr Sartor said membership of the Ministerial Advisory Council had been drawn from diverse areas including universities, medical research facilities such as the Garvan, and the Victor Chang institutes, and area health services.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128