University of Tasmania, Australia

Carolyn is the Understanding Dementia MOOC course co-ordinator, a lecturer in the School of Medicine and a Wicking Dementia Centre Research Associate. She has a PhD in Neuroscience and her research interests include the biology of dementia, therapeutic approaches in dementia, as well as the scholarship of learning.

James completed a BSc (Hons) at the University of Tasmania, a PhD at the Flinders University of South Australia and was awarded a DSc from the University of Tasmania in 2005. He has previously held NHMRC CJ Martin, RD Wright and Senior Research Fellowships and currently holds the Chair of Pathology at the University of Tasmania.

James has prime research interests for the Wicking Dementia Centre in the areas of the pathological basis for nerve cell degeneration in neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and structural plasticity. He is also involved in projects related to the integration of health care services for dementia care.

Fran is a registered nurse, sociologist and Wicking Dementia Centre Research Associate. She holds postgraduate qualifications in nursing, education, social science, and public health, and is Chair of Aged Care at Australian Catholic University and Mercy Health. Her research interests include dementia care, social constructions of death and dying, and the nexus between aged and palliative care.

Andrew established a thriving multi-disciplinary aged care research program in Tasmania, which has received more than $16 million of competitive funding since 2002. In 2008, Andrew established the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre with Co-Director Professor James Vickers. Since its inception, the Centre has made significant progress in establishing an innovative translational research program, with a national and international reach. The Centreis now the largest health research group in Tasmania and one of the three biggest dementia research centres in Australia.

Matthew completed his PhD in neuroscience in 2001 and taught at Newcastle and UNSW before returning to the University of Tasmania in 2007, where he is now a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience. His research interests include the cellular structure of neurons and the organisation and function of the cerebral cortex, including the evolution of human and other mammal brains. He is also extensively involved with neuroscience education in tertiary, secondary and community settings, and has co-authored an introductory textbook on brain anatomy and function.

Mathew is a registered psychologist and Member of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. He is a practising clinical neuropsychologist with 15 years of clinical experience. Mathew is a research fellow with the Wicking Dementia Centre and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Tasmania. He currently supervises seven postgraduate research students, conducting research into neuropsychological effects of ageing, amongst other topics.

Jane has worked as a teacher, student counsellor, respiratory physician and geriatrician, and has been the Director of Aged Care at the Royal Hobart Hospital since 2006. Jane's current goal is to develop a statewide plan for the management of dementia in Tasmania, to support those with dementia, their families and carers, while increasing community literacy about dementia by educational programmes and breaking down barriers between the different providers of services to older people.

Jenny was a Foundation Director of one of the three National Dementia Collaborative Research Centres established under the Australian Governments National Dementia Initiative and was Queensland's first Professor of Nursing (Aged Care). She is the author of the Abbey Pain Scale, the pain scale most widely used in Australian Residential Care facilities to assess pain for people with dementia who are unable to verbalise their needs in a meaningful way. Jenny now sits on the National Ministerial Dementia Advisory Committee, the South Australian Guardianship Board, consults to the aged care industry, and holds adjunct academic positions in Brisbane, Hobart and Adelaide.

Martin is a Psychiatric Geriatrician with nearly 20 years' experience in the diagnosis and management of dementia. He works for the Older Persons Mental Health Service in Hobart, Tasmania.

Kate commenced her professional career as a nurse, specialising in dementia and aged care, and then operating theatres, and is now an advocate and activist for dementia and aged care, and is also an author, poet and speaker. She was diagnosed with younger onset dementia when she was 49, and post-diagnosis completed a BA and BPsych and is still studying. Her daily blog has been archived in the PANDORA collection of the SA and National Library, and is an academic resource used around the world.

Irene was a senior technician at the University of Tasmania's School of Medicine for many years, where she was the electron microscopist and photographer for Professor James Vickers's neuroscience group. She is now a fulltime carer for her husband who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

Andrea is a registered nurse with postgraduate qualifications in mental health, health services management, and aged care nursing, and has completed a Master of Nursing. Her primary professional interest is in the care of people who are living with dementia. She has been working in aged care for more than 20 years in Australia and England, and has recently been appointed as a lecturer in the Associate Degree in Dementia Care with the Wicking Dementia Centre.