U3A Bribie Island secures eminent speakers for conference

U3A Network Queensland State Conference 6 - 8 May 2025

The U3A Bribie Island conference planning team has secured excellent speakers for the U3A Network State Conference in May 2025. President Maree Mosslar said their presentations and workshops at the conference would be exciting and thought-provoking.

Here are backgrounds to three of the speakers:

Professor John Pearn
Topic: Life Long Learning

Major General Professor John Pearn AO RFD MD PhD DSc FRACP was a senior physician at the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane. He has served for more than five decades as a senior clinician, researcher in several domains in medicine including those of paediatrics, preventive medicine, neurology and medical genetics. In a second (parallel) career in military medicine, he served in various leadership roles including those of the national Director of research in military medicine and Honorary Colonel of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. He served on three operational deployments and finally as Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force for the triennium 1998-2000. He has published extensively in the domains of clinical medicine, medical research and medical and local history.

Dr Nancy Pachana
Topic: Socialising in the Third Age

Dr Nancy Pachana is Professor of Clinical Geropsychology in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland, and is co-director of the UQ Ageing Mind Initiative. Her main research interests include healthy ageing, facilitating meaningful retirement transitions, anxiety in later life, and driving safety and dementia. She has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books on various topics in the field of ageing. She is also an avid birdwatcher and traveller.

Professor Graham Kerr
Topic: The Importance of Exercise for Seniors

Professor Graham Kerr is a movement neuroscientist in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He leads the Movement Neuroscience group at QUT which embraces multidisciplinary approaches to understand the neurophysiological basis of human performance in health and disease. This research has advanced understanding of complex neural and physiological systems that underpin posture and gait instability due to fatigue, ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. Application of this research has been in predictive health diagnostics, neurological assessment toolkits, wearable technologies, and establishment of clinical outreach programs including exercise and dance. It has also informed development of smart footwear and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for enhancing human performance.

For the latest tourist information go to:
w: visitmoretonbayregion.com.au
e bribie.tourism@mbrit.com.au
ph: 07 3408 9026
Travel assistance is available for those taking the train. Contact U3A Bribie Island via email to: registrarconf2025u3aqld@gmail.com

For general enquiries email: conf2025U3AQLDBI@gmail.com
Tel: (07) 3408 1450