Chairman,
Major General Peter Arnison AC,
CVO (Retd)
About CMVH
Centre for Military and Veterans' Health
The University of Adelaide Node
The Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health (CMVH) is an internationally-unique, academic community and military partnership which is dedicated to innovatively seeking solutions to military and veterans’ health issues through research, post-graduate education and professional development, e-Health and public debate.
The University of Adelaide Node of the CMVH directed by Professor Sandy McFarlane, is part of the independent university consortium which harnesses the resources of the University of Queensland (UQ), The University of Adelaide (UA) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) in order to improve health outcomes of serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and veterans. The Centre has been in existence since 2004 and is jointly funded by the Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
CMVH brings together military and veterans’ health experts - researchers, health practitioners and serving ADF personnel and Reservists - who, through their combined talent, expertise and experience, seek to better understand and propose practical solutions to the health issues facing Australia’s serving and former military men and women.
The Centre actively works towards a healthier future for Defence personnel and veterans through best practice information sharing, innovative and inclusive research, strong and meaningful dialogue with ex-service organisations and veterans generally.
The CMVH includes the following four business units:
Professor Alexander McFarlane
Director,
University of Adelaide Node
Biography - Professor Alexander McFarlane MBBS (Hons), MD, Dip. Psychother, FRANZCP
Director – University of Adelaide Node
Professor McFarlane is currently the Head of the University of Adelaide Node of the Centre of Military and Veterans Health. He is an international expert in the field of the impact of disasters and post traumatic stress disorder. He is a Past President of both the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He is the recipient for the Robert Laufer Award for outstanding scientific achievement in the study of the effects of traumatic stress.
Professor McFarlane is currently the Senior Adviser in Psychiatry to the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. He holds the rank of Group Captain in the RAAF specialist reserve. He has acted as an advisor to many groups in post disaster situations, including the Kuwait Government, and the United Nations. He has lectured and run workshops in Europe, United States of America, Asia and South Africa.
Apart from his interest in post traumatic stress disorder in relation to disaster victims, military personnel and other civilian accidents, Professor McFarlane has broadened the relevance of this knowledge to the area of those suffering severe mental illness. His research has focused on the epidemiology and longitudinal course of PTSD as well as the neuro-imaging of the cognitive deficits in this disorder. Professor McFarlane has published over 200 articles and chapters in various refereed journals and has co-edited three books. He is a member of several international advisory boards in the field of traumatic stress. He frequently appears in the media as a commentator on the impact of war and disaster.
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