28 March 2017
Acknowledging a long career working to unpack the causes of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, colorectal cancer and hypertension and in research leadership, the University of South Australia will award Professor Richard Head an Emeritus Professorship on March 28.
Among his many leadership roles, Prof Head was appointed to steer UniSA’s Sansom Institute for Health Research in 2012 and in 2013 was appointed to the University’s senior leadership team as Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President, Research and Innovation.
Later he took on the important role of Foundation Director of UniSA’s innovative new Future Industries Institute.
UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says Prof Head is an outstanding researcher but also a creative thinker.
“Across his 40-year career in health science, Richard has been a champion for the importance of creative, collaborative research to tackle some of the big health challenges, from cancer to diabetes,” Prof Lloyd says.
“In his time as Director of the CSIRO’s Preventative Health Flagship he was responsible for driving a national research program focussed on early detection and intervention in chronic diseases and for integrating CSIRO’s fundamental and applied research in human health to support greater innovation.
“Richard brings together his personal knowledge of pharmacology research with his broader experience of government and international research, to build research environments that are outcomes-focussed.
“He has been an asset to UniSA and will continue to be an asset to health science in Australia for years to come.”
Prof Head was Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at West Virginia University Medical Centre, a Research Fellow with the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.
He has served on a host of advisory committees, including the Scientific Advisory Council for the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the Australian e‐Health Research Centre Board, and key international and national boards including Research Australia, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand and the International Ageing Consortia.
He was awarded the prestigious CSIRO Lifetime Achievement Medal in 2012
Media contact: Michèle Nardelli mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
