Symposium keynote speakers 2018

Open scientific practices: Restoring trust in science

Dr Rebecca Willén

For a few years now, research quality in the life sciences and social sciences have been under scrutiny as never before. It is true to say that most published scientific findings in these disciplines are unreliable and inaccurate.

It can be disheartening to find investigators have ‘tortured’ their data to find statistically significant results and then published only positive results. Among other questionable scientific practices, this lack of transparency makes it almost impossible to distinguish the ‘good’ science from the bad just by reading the published results. But an academic revolution is casting the spotlight onto questionable practices and providing new ways to deliver transparency in scientific practices and reporting.

In this keynote presentation to Western Alliance’s Symposium, Dr Rebecca Willén will provide an overview of the ongoing crisis and interventions to overcome it and develop a culture worldwide of scientific openness and transparency.

Rebecca is a researcher in psychology and metascience, focusing mainly on research ethics, psychological methods and investigative (forensic) psychology. After completing her PhD at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2016 she founded the Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE), an independent research institute dedicated to improving the quality of science, science education, and quality of life for scientists, students and their families. Rebecca resides with her family in Europe and Indonesia.

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Clinical research in regional Victoria: An opportunity for all

Clinical Associate Professor Ian Collins

We are delighted to announce Associate Professor Ian Collins as one of our keynote speakers this year. Ian will talk about some of the cancer research he has been involved in and ways that research can be a part of the ‘standard of care’ for all health workers, to enhance patient care now and in the future.

Ian works as a medical oncologist in Warrnambool and Portland.
He is a Clinical Associate Professor at Deakin University,
Deputy Regional Oncology Lead with the Victorian Comprehensive
Cancer Centre (VCCC) and has significant involvement in cancer research.