The Society was delighted to learn that Society Fellow, Professor Muireann Irish FRSN FASSA, an ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience one the School of Psychology and the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney, has been inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in November 2023.

The Academy citation notes:

Muireann Irish is an expert in the cognitive neuroscience of ageing and dementia. Her innovative research program explores how cognitive processes change across the healthy adult lifespan and break down in neurodegenerative disorders. She is internationally recognised for her landmark studies demonstrating that, in parallel with difficulties remembering the past, people with dementia experience an impaired capacity to envisage the future. By articulating the cognitive and neural mechanisms driving these impairments, Irish’s work prompted a paradigm shift in the field and led to the reconsideration of how episodic and semantic memory might work together in synergy. Irish has developed a suite of novel tools to probe these cognitive functions, which are now in use internationally. She has worked closely with aged care providers to translate her research findings into new educational toolkits to improve the care of people living with dementia, both at home and in the residential aged care sector.

The Council of the Society extends its sincere congratulations to Professor Irish on this further recognition of her outstanding research career.