Dr Anita Goh and the Homeward Bound Program
University of Melbourne scientist as part of Homeward Bound: Global Leadership program for women in STEMM
Dr Anita Goh from the Academic Unit of Psychiatry of Old Age, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, has been accepted into the ground-breaking Homeward Bound Global Leadership program for women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine).
Homeward Bound is a leadership, strategic and science initiative and outreach for women. It aims to heighten the influence and impact of women with a science background to influence policy and decision making. Launched in 2016 and founded by Fabian Dattner (leadership activist and partner at Dattner Grant) and Dr Jess Melbourne Thomas (Antarctic Marine Ecological Modeler), Homeward Bound aims to recruit and network 1000 targeted women from around the world within ten years.
Dr Goh, one of only two successful candidates from the University of Melbourne this year (the other one being Professor Karin Verspoor from the School of Computing and Information Systems and Deputy Director of the Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre), receives a one-year mentorship program in the areas of strategy, leadership practices, science communication and the role of gender in leadership and science. “This program culminates in a 20-day trip to Antarctica for all the women across the globe in the program to come together to participate in a more intensive learning program” Dr Goh said.
Dr Anita Goh is a registered clinical neuropsychologist and research fellow and Huntington’s disease lab head at the Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, who believes that cognitive health, mental health, and quality of life should be optimised in ageing. Her role as a scientist-practitioner facilitates an interactive flow of ideas between the clinical and research domains, and her work focuses on psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases (particularly Huntington's disease), and also on healthy ageing and promoting cognitive health in older adults. Anita has won awards for her research and she is known for her dedication to partnerships, linkages, and collaborations, in addition to knowledge translation and engagement with those that stand to benefit most from her work- the families and communities who are at risk for or who are living with dementia.
Dr Goh said she was excited about the program, adding that the program will help her to make influential impacts in ageing policy and decision making. “Homeward Bound is about women leaders changing the world, and few trends are shaping the future of the world the way ageing is. Globally, the number of people over 60 years old will rise from 900 million to 2 billion by 2050,” she said.
“We need a commitment to action to invest in ageing well. The prevention and management of dementia and mental illness is essential for people to keep contributing to their families, communities, and to society.”
“Homeward Bound directly aligns with the University’s participation in the Athena Swan initiative, which aims to progress the participation of women involved in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine in universities. The program will allow me to develop skills in leadership that I can apply to my current position at The University of Melbourne. Homeward Bound is an opportunity for me to develop my skills from an incredible faculty, network with women in science from all over the world, and I am looking forward to learning a lot about myself and about effective leadership, and along the way, hopefully inspire and motivate myself and others.”
Dr Anita Goh
https://twitter.com/DrAnitaGoh