Invitation to Attend
It is our pleasure to invite you to the Australasian Society of Psychiatric Research conference to be held in Dunedin from December 6 to 8 2011, with workshops being offered prior to the Conference.
The theme of the Conference 'From Idea to Implementation’ is very relevant in this period of difficulty and uncertainty. In times of budgetary restraint, the ability to be effective and efficient in both clinical and public disciplines of mental health is dependent on high quality research informing practice. Mental health disorders remain common throughout the age range and are one of the main causes of disability in Australia and New Zealand.
The Australasian Society of Psychiatric Research is truly multidisciplinary, bringing together researchers from biological, clinical, epidemiological, psychological and social fields with an interest in mental health. This meeting will build on the traditions in the ASPR of encouraging early career researchers to present and allowing presentations on the whole range of approaches to psychiatric disorders.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. Situated around an caldera, it is the home of the University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university.
On behalf of the conference organising committee.
Dr Christopher Gale
Senior Lecturer, University of Otago
Conference Convenor, ASPR 2011 Conference
ASPR Call For Nominations of Awards 2011
Founder's Medal
This award was named in honour of the four founders of ASPR: Professors Scott Henderson, Issy Pilowsky, Graham Burrows and Peter Beaumont. The medal is awarded to persons who, over their entire careers, have made a contribution of significance to psychiatric research.
Eli Lilly Oration Award (previously Novartis Oration)
This Oration is given at each conference by a member of ASPR who is prominent or rising to prominence in the Australian and New Zealand psychiatric research community.
Lundbeck Institute Award
The Lundbeck Institute Award is intended for ASPR researchers whose work is beginning to make a significant impact on the national and international scene, reflecting either scientific excellence or public impact (or both) - the "rising stars" in mental health research. The successful applicant will receive a plaque, a certificate and $1000. In general, the award is made to researchers up to and including 35 years of age. However, researchers over the age of 35 may make an application on the basis of early career status.
Australian Rotary Health (ARH) Knowledge Dissemination Award
ASPR has a number of awards acknowledging excellence in research. However, there is often a gap between knowledge gained through research and the dissemination of that knowledge to clinicians, consumers and carers, and its implementation into policy and practice. ARH has therefore established an annual award to recognise excellence in knowledge dissemination and research translation.
ASPR Consumer-Researcher Award
The ASPR Consumer-Researcher Award has been set up to encourage the involvement of consumers as investigators in psychiatric research as well as encourage consumer-oriented research. In 2010, ASPR will award the Consumer-Researcher Award on the basis of research posters submitted to the 2010 ASPR Annual Conference. ASPR will invite representatives from a consumer organisation to take a prominent role in judging the posters.
ASPR-Schizophrenia Fellowship Consumer-Researcher Award
The conditions of this award are the same as the conditions of the ASPR Consumer-Researcher Award. This award is offered to the second place getter.
Depression & Anxiety Consumer Research Unit (CRU) Medal
The CRU Medal has been established to promote and recognise the contribution of consumer researchers to field of depression and anxiety disorders. In 2010, this award will be presented to the consumer-researcher who is judged to best meet the selection criteria based on a short written submission to the judging panel. The panel will be comprised of consumers with lived experience of a depression or anxiety disorder and will be Chaired by the Director of the Depression and Anxiety Consumer Research Unit at CMHR, ANU.
Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Research Trust Fund Bursary
The award is open to all young researchers, engaged in or just completed promising research and may need assistance to be able to attend the ASPR conference.
AFFIRM Early Career Scholar Award
This award is for a researcher early in their career to enable attendance at an overseas conference at which they will be presenting research or to facilitate an overseas study opportunity.
Best Poster
All posters presented at the conference will be considered.
Click here for more information on these awards and to apply.
Applications close COB Friday 30 September 2011.
Dear Colleagues,
2010/2011 have been exceptionally difficult years for parts of Queensland and of course Canterbury in New Zealand.
This years ASPR Annual Meeting is to be held in Dunedin, just 4-5 hours by road and 45 minutes by air from Christchurch which was hit by earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. I hope as many of you as possible can be at this meeting. Your attendance there will certainly support the economy of the South Island in general and therefore indirectly Christchurch.
In addition, perhaps one of the most useful and practical things you could do to support Christchurch is to consider adding a short, and I am sure highly enjoyable, side trip to your itinerary. Perhaps a night or two in Christchurch and a visit to Kaikoura further up the coast, to watch whales, dolphins and seals, or a "swim with the dolphins" trip from Akaroa just 90 minutes from Christchurch. Currently, across Canterbury tourism operators are on average 75% down on business but are eagerly awaiting your visit.
As researchers, your grasp of odd ratios will tell you that any risk involved is minimal, and by December the recovery will be well established and Christchurch will be returning to what we call the "new normal". While parts of the City Centre will still be off limits, beautiful suburban areas are becoming busy and livelier than ever. Every little helps and I urge you to come and enjoy the Canterbury hospitality.
For more information on accommodation, things to do and where to book see
www.christchurchnz.com.
Richard Porter
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Otago, Christchurch
