Brian Draper MB BS, FRANZCP, MD
(Australia), Deputy Editor, IPA On-line

Brian Draper is a conjoint senior lecturer in the School of Psychiatry and School of Public Health & Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has been the Assistant Director of the Academic Department for Old Age Psychiatry at Prince of Wales and Prince Henry Hospitals, Sydney, since 1992.

Dr. Draper studied medicine at the University of New South Wales, graduating with honors in 1978. He later specialized in psychiatry and obtained his Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). He was awarded his MD (UNSW) in 2002.

Between 1985 and 1992 he was appointed to the St George Hospital, Sydney, where he established the psychogeriatric service. In 1989 he was appointed as the Foundation Director of Psychogeriatrics at St. George Hospital and at the Canterbury Hospital. From 1990 – 1991 he was the Acting Director of Psychiatry at St. George Hospital.

Since 1999, he has been the Foundation Chair of the Committee for Advanced Training in Psychiatry of Old Age, RANZCP and a member of the Fellowship’s Board of the RANZCP and was responsible for developing its curriculum and training program. He is also a member of the Executive of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age, RANZCP. He was formerly the secretary/treasurer and newsletter editor of the Section of Psychiatry of Old Age.

In 2001, he was appointed as the Assistant Editor (Internet) of the IPA Bulletin, writing a regular column on website reviews. Since 2001 he has been on the IPA Website Editorial Board and in 2002 was appointed Deputy Editor of the IPA Website.

Dr. Draper is on the Editorial Board of the Australasian Journal on Ageing and assessor for many national and international journals, publishers and granting bodies. He is a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel for Alzheimer’s Disease International. He has served on local, state and national committees for mental health services and provided consultations on psychogeriatric services.

Dr. Draper’s research interests are diverse. He has been involved in suicide research since 1993 with the publication of papers on attempted suicide in old age, suicide prevention in the elderly, suicidal ideation, and indirect self-destructive behavior in nursing homes. In recent years he has been running suicide prevention workshops for health professionals at conferences and seminars. Other research interests include behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, carer stress, depression in old age, psychogeriatric service delivery, and professional development. He has published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters on these topics. He is the co-editor of an Oxford University Press book on Geriatric Consultation Liaison Psychiatry. He is currently preparing a book on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias for the general public (due to be published in 2003) and is co-editing a book on psychogeriatric service delivery (due to be published 2004).

Brian Draper can be contacted at B.Draper@unsw.edu.au.

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