Issue: June 2004
News
Nanotechnology, divorce, health care
Institute Fellows share their expertise
Three leading international researchers in fields as diverse as nanotechnology, divorce and health care for the aged are among the latest Fellows to take up residence at La Trobe University's Institute for Advanced Study.
Officially opened in May, the Institute attracts scholars from Australia and overseas, granting them special research Fellowships. (See news story 1)
Among Fellows in residence at the Institute at the time of its opening were Professor Robin Williams, former Vice-Chancellor and Research Professor at the University of Wales in Swansea, UK; Professor Carol Smart, Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds where she is Director of the Centre for Research on Family, Kinship and Childhood; and Professor Marcia Ory, Director of the US 'Active for Life' National Program Office and Professor in the School of Rural Public Health at the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center.
Professor Williams is a leading figure in research into nanotechnology - the world of the 'ultra small' - which is pushing the boundaries of the physical and biological sciences. He says engineers are reaching the limits of conventional technology and scientists are exploring novel methods of making electronic devices with dimensions close to the atomic scale.
While at the IAS he worked with La Trobe physicists Professors John Riley and Robert Leckey on low dimensional structures, research that involves lining up atoms on metal surfaces. He also gave a public lecture reviewing the latest developments in nanotechnology. These include biological processes, for example making devices involving DNA.
Professor Smart is a leading researcher in post-divorce family life. She says adapting to changes in family life caused by high rates of divorce and separation is leading to the emergence of a new kind of 'etiquette'. Divorce touches almost all families in some way. With a 'cultural turn' against old ways of 'doing divorce', her research examines a range of different dynamics in families facing change.
She worked with La Trobe Head of Counselling and Psychological Health, Dr Lawrence Moloney, a practising psychologist who specialises in the area of children, parenting and family law.
Professor Ory, former Chief of Social Science Research on Ageing in the Behavioural and Social Research Program, National Institute on Ageing of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is acknowledged for her work seeking to improve research into long-term behavioural change.
One of her major concerns is studying the impact of social and behavioural interventions to increase physical activity in older people. Another is the relationships between doctors and older patients, exploring factors that affect lifestyle and health care.
At La Trobe she collaborated with Public Health researcher, Dr Colette Browning, whose work focuses on healthy ageing and improving the quality of life for older people, as well as consumer involvement in health care decision making.
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