Impact on dementia from changes in education: Public Lecture by Prof Fiona Matthews, Newcastle University, UK

Public Lecture by Professor Fiona Matthews, Newcastle University, UK

Date    Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Time    5-6 pm, followed by networking reception (refreshments will be served)
Venue    Seminar Room LG01, Colombo House (Gate 4 via High Street), UNSW Sydney

Abstract

Educational policies in the UK have been to extend the amount of time that is spent in formal education. Over the last two decades we have also seen a decrease in the prevalence and incidence of dementia from our population based studies. Using data from these studies conducted since the early 1990s, the presentation will investigate the relationship between these effects and see what impact this could have on the health of the older population in the future.

Fiona Matthews
Professor of Epidemiology
Deputy Dean Research and Innovation, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University

A statistician by training, Fiona Matthews has been involved in the design, implementation and analysis of epidemiological studies throughout her career. Initially working in cancer research in 1997, she moved to the MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge to work on the Cognitive Function and Ageing study (www.cfas.ac.uk) and is now deputy director and principal statistician on this suite of studies. Over the years she has developed a program of research around developing and using state of the art statistical methods to the issues of understanding ageing. Moving to Newcastle University in 2014, her research program covers both the development of statistical methods (complex synthesis, multi-state models and Bayesian models) and the use of techniques for estimates of public health importance (prevalence, incidence, understanding risk and protective effects and healthy life expectancy) across a range of outcomes from dementia and cognition through to frailty. 

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