PROFILE
Professor Leon Flicker
Started at UWA: 1998
Leading expert in geriatric medicine
Professor Leon Flicker’s research within UWA’s Medical School focuses on the major health issues of older people, exploring general heath, falls, depression and cognitive impairment.
Professor Flicker is a key opinion leader in health and ageing and has been published in more than 390 peer-reviewed articles, and cited on over 18,000 occasions. He has received considerable support from the NHMRC through continuous project grants since 1996. Listen to Professor Flicker shares his tips to 'healthy ageing' on ABC's Drive radio show.
He has conducted numerous studies about frailty and successful ageing and also researched the health needs of older Indigenous Australians. This latter research led to the validation of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) tool, which is used throughout Western Australia, the Northern Territory and far North Queensland.
Through the use of the KICA tool, researchers have discovered a five-fold increase in the rate of dementia compared to non-Indigenous Australians. This population continues to be studied to help determine the modifiable risk factors to help prevent cognitive impairment and frailty in older Indigenous people.
Professor Flicker’s work on a pilot model of community services in the Kimberley was judged to be one of the 10 best National Health and Medical Research Council research projects in 2012. The impact of this research is continuing to be felt in these regional areas.
In 2017 Professor Flicker was honoured with an Officer of an Order of Australia for his contributions to geriatric medicine and dementia prevention and care.
We are never too old to improve our health.Professor Leon Flicker
Making a difference in the community
Funding
2019 – 2023
National Health and Medical Research Council
- MRFF - Maximising health for older Australians
- Flicker, L.
2018 – 2020
National Health and Medical Research Council
- BAN-Dep: A trial to decrease the prevalence of depression in Australian Nursing Homes
- Almeida, O., Etherton-Beer, C., Flicker, L. & Ford, A.
2018
WA Department of Health
- MHRIF Round 21
- Flicker, L.
Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation - The Ron & Peggy Bell Family Legacy
- Correction of hearing loss and cognitive function: a randomised controlled trial
- Almeida, O., Flicker, L., Ford, A. & Jayakody, D.
2017 – 2021
National Health and Medical Research Council
- Reaching the tenth decade of life in Australia – A 20-year longitudinal study of older men
- Flicker, L., Almeida, O., Etherton-Beer, C., McCaul, K. & Yeap, B.
2017 – 2020
University of Melbourne
- Improving Detection and management of dementia in older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders attending Primary Care (IDEA-PC)
- Flicker, L., Atkinson, D., Bessarab, D., Smith, K. & Thompson, S.
2017 – 2018
National Health and Medical Research Council
- Do sex hormones slow biological ageing to improve health outcomes in men?
- Yeap, B., Beilby, J., Flicker, L. & Knuiman, M.
2014 – 2018
National Health and Medical Research Council
- An Australasian, multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy of fluoxetine in improving functional recovery after acute stroke / Assessment of FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY)
- Hankey, G., Almeida, O., Etherton-Beer, C., Flicker, L. & Ford, A.