Introduction

In the beginning - that is to say, at the creation of the Western Australian Institute of Technology in 1967 - the genesis of today's Faculty of Health Sciences could be found in the Division of Applied Science (Chemistry, Home Economics, Mathematics, Pharmacy - which housed Medical Laboratory Technology - and Physics) and in the Division of Commerce & General Studies (wherein lay some units in psychology).

Growth

With the assumption of university status in 1987, Curtin's Division of Health Sciences comprised the Centre for Advanced Studies in Health Sciences; the Schools of Community Health, Medical Technology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, and Psychology; the Departments of Home and Consumer Studies, Podiatry, and Speech and Hearing Science; the Addiction Studies Unit and the National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse.

Currently, the Faculty comprises the Schools of

• Biomedical Science,
• Nursing and Midwifery,
• Occupational Therapy,
• Pharmacy,
• Physiotherapy,
• Psychology and
• Public Health.

It is home to the National Drug Reseach Institute and WA Biomedical Research Institute and research centres for

• Behavioural Research in Cancer Control,
• Developmental Health,
• Environmental Health Impact Assessment,
• Health Promotion Research,
• International Health,
• Molecular Technology and Therapeutics,
• Ageing,
• Disability and Society,
• Applied Psychology

and the Curtin nodes of the Centres for High-throughput Agricultural Genetic Analysis, and Biosecurity.

In 2006

Curtin's Faculty of Health Sciences is one of the biggest health campuses in Australia, and in the South East Asian region. In 2005, approximately 6000 students were enrolled in the Faculty's 150+ award courses in the three major categories of Life Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Population Health Sciences. More than 700 students are from 50 other countries and about another 320 are studying health science courses in their home countries. Our students bring a diversity of backgrounds to the classroom, and they are from all age groups, with nearly half aged 25 years and older.

The Faculty's business is conducted by about 400 academic and general staff, in addition to a substantial casual workforce.

As befits an institution of this size and with aspirations to be a world-class university of technology, research interests in the Faculty are varied and growing, as is demonstrated by this list of major research areas.