THIS FREE COMMUNITY EVENT IS PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY RPH RESEARCH FOUNDATION IN COLLABORATION WITH EAR SCIENCE INSTITUTE AUSTRALIA

Please arrive by 12.50pm to secure your seat in advance of the talk commencing at 1pm

Our Speakers

DR ANDREW FORD, MBChB, FRANZCP, FPOA, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Psychiatry at The University of Western Australia and a Consultant Older Adult Psychiatrist at Royal Perth Hospital and the East Metropolitan Health Service. He has a wealth of expertise and experience in researching, assessing and managing a variety of mental illnesses in later life, including dementia and delirium. Dr Ford’s research interests cover a wide area of healthy ageing and mental health outcomes in older adults. His main research interest is in cognitive and mood research and particularly in prevention and treatment of cognitive and mood disorders in older adults. Dr Ford was awarded NHMRC-Dementia Collaborative Research Centres funding in 2016 (RMC 16-669) to conduct a trial in people with Alzheimer’s disease with sub-syndromal depressive symptoms and their caregivers to investigate how to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms in these individuals and those who care for them. Dr Ford is a chief investigator on an NHMRC-Beyondblue funded (APP1150529) trial of Behavioural Activation (BAN-dep Trial) for the prevention and treatment of depression in older adults living in residential care facilities. Dr Ford completed his psychiatric specialist training in 2007.

DR DONA JAYAKODY is a Senior Research Audiologist and the Research Lead- Cognition and Hearing Loss Project at Ear Science Institute Australia and Adjunct Research Fellow at UWA. Dr Jayakody completed her PhD in Audiology at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. She is an internationally recognised researcher, leading large clinical trials and producing numerous outputs. Her work has been recognised by ten awards including Dr Harry Blackmore Award and John and Eileen Haddon Memorial Award. Dr Jayakody’s research success is evidenced through her success in gaining research funding. To date, she has received $3 million from national and international funding schemes including, Department of Health WA, Rebecca Cooper Foundation, Oticon, and Hear the World Foundations. She has presented her research findings at more than 70 national and international scientific sessions. Further, her reputation and expertise in this discipline have seen her receive eleven invitations to speak at national and international conferences. Dr Jayakody’s international collaboration spans across three countries where she is a co-investigator on several international initiatives in China, Singapore and Denmark.

Dr Jayakody’s research focuses on (i) identification of the causal association between hearing loss and dementia, (ii) development of central hearing assessments that would help to identify those at risk of dementia, and (iii) investigation of the impact of hearing loss rehabilitation, using hearing aids and cochlear implants, on cognitive function of hearing-impaired older adults. She is an associate and a review editor for Frontiers in Neuroscience and an international editorial board member for the Journal of Audiology and Otology.