Executive Dean, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences

Professor Don Iverson

Professor Iverson is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and Director of the Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, NSW.  In this position he has responsibility for a range of academic units including the Graduate School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, the School of Health Sciences and the School of Psychology.  He also oversees 12 research centres within the Faculty including: Biomechanics Research Laboratory; Brain and Behaviour Research Institute; Centre for Evidence-Based Practice; Centre for Health Initiatives; Centre for Translational Neurosciences; Clinical Simulation Centre; Eastern Australia Dementia Training Study Centre; Exercise Science and Rehabilitation Centre; Illawarra Institute of Mental Health; Metabolic Research Centre; National Centre for the Advancement of Functional Foods; and Smart Foods Centre.  In addition, since January 2008 he has functioned in the capacity of Interim Vice-President of the Division of Population Health within the Alberta Cancer Board (Canada).

Professor Iverson has held senior positions in government agencies (Associate Director of Cancer Control Science - U.S. National Cancer Institute within the National Institutes of Health; Special Assistant - Office of Health Information, Health Promotion, Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine in the Office of the US Surgeon General; Director of Preventable Diseases - Connecticut State Department of Health Services); in non-government health organizations (Director of Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation - National Cancer Institute of Canada; Director of Cancer Control Research and Deputy Director - AMC Cancer Research Center; Executive Director - the Rocky Mountain Foundation for the Advancement of Family Medicine and Primary Care; Research Director - the Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network); in business (Chief Scientific Officer, the optx Corporation; Director, Can-Am Health Concepts); and in academia (Professor – University of Toledo; Professor, Vice-Chairman for Research and Academic Affairs, Acting Chairman - Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; Adjunct Professor – Institute of Health Systems Leadership and Research at the University of Denver; Adjunct Professor - Department of Family Medicine, University of Toronto School of Medicine).

Professor Iverson has served on a number of governing/advisory committees including the Alberta Cancer Board (Member – International Advisory Committee), the American Cancer Society (Member - Risk Communication Committee), the Australian Research Council (Member - Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences Study Section), the Biological Sciences Curriculum Studies (Member - Board of Directors), the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Member - External Advisory Committee), the Self Care Institute (Member - Board of Directors), the World Health Network (Member - Board of Directors), Member of the NHMRC Measurement of Research Impact and Achievement (MORIA) Working Group, and the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (Member & Chair – Study Section).  He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Breast Cancer Centre of Australia, as a Member of the Education and Workforce Committee of the NSW Cancer Institute, as a member of the Research Committee of the Cancer Council NSW, as a Member of the International Advisory Panel of the Alberta Cancer Prevention Initiative and as a member of the Alberta Cancer Board’s International Advisory Committee on Research.

Professor Iverson is a Canadian citizen holding permanent Australian residency.  He earned a BSc from the University of North Dakota, and a MSc and PhD from the University of Oregon. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of Waterloo in 2007 (Canada). He has published on a variety of health-related topics.  His research interests include clinical, patient and delivery issues related to primary care medicine, cancer prevention and control issues, and health-related behaviour change strategies.

Telephone:  (61 2) 4221 4677

Fax:  (61 2) 4221 5850

Email:  iverson@uow.edu.au