Partners behind the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine are pleased to announce the appointment of new national Director, Professor Bronwyn Graham from UNSW Sydney, together with Co-Directors, Deakin Distinguished Professor Rachel Huxley and Associate Professor Severine Lamon from Deakin University, to steer the next phase of the landmark initiative.
A clinical psychologist and behavioural neuroscientist based at UNSW Sydney's School of Psychology, Professor Graham has dedicated her career to improving women's mental health by researching how the female brain regulates emotions and translating the findings to clinical settings and beyond.
Professor Graham will be based at The George Institute for Global Health's Sydney office. The role, which sits under the UNSW Faculty of Science, involves leading the establishment and growth of the Centre.
Professor Graham will be supported by Executive Dean of Deakin's Faculty of Health, Professor Huxley, and Associate Professor Lamon, Deputy Associate Dean of Research and ARC Future Fellow, who are based in Victoria.
Launched in March, The Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine seeks to address the biases in healthcare that cause significant disadvantage for people based on sex and gender differences. These biases principally impact women and girls, people with variations of sex characteristics (intersex people), trans and gender diverse people, but also men and boys.
'I'm excited to join the team and to work with Deakin University and the Australian Human Rights Institute UNSW to realise the vision of the Centre,' Professor Graham said.
'I'm particularly looking forward to collaborating with the many people in Australia and around the world who have already been instrumental in integrating sex and gender considerations routinely across so many different areas, in research, practice, policy and at a community level.'
Professor Jane Hirst, Global Director of the Women's Health Program at The George Institute, said the Centre's collaborators were fortunate to secure Professor Graham for the newly created role of Centre Director.
'With her experience investigating sex and gender differences in the ways mental health manifests in women, and her passion for using that knowledge to educate others and ultimately change the system, Professor Graham is ideally suited to lead the establishment of the Centre,' she said.
'We are thrilled to have her on board to set the direction for the Centre's future work.'
A growing body of evidence shows sex and gender biases are baked into health systems, with far-reaching and devastating consequences for the health of individuals and society. When clinical guidelines and policies are based on trials that exclude whole groups of the population, people experience delayed or misdiagnoses, or inappropriate treatments, with significant personal, social and health budget implications.
The Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine is an initiative of The George Institute for Global Health, the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney, and Deakin University, with support from collaborative partners the Victorian Department of Health, and the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI). The launch of the Centre was supported by a Health and Medical Research Sponsorship grant from NSW Health.
Evidence and resources generated will directly inform government initiatives aimed at improving the health of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, including the activities of the National Women's Health Advisory Council, the National Women's Health Strategy, and the LGBTQIA+ 10-year National Action Plan (announced in 2023).
View the Centre's recent launch presentations and panel discussions.
