Nancy A. Pachana, Ph.D., Professor, The University of Queensland, Australia
The Importance of Psychology as a Discipline for Positive Longevity
Dr Nancy A. Pachana is a clinical geropsychologist and professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland, and is co-director of the UQ Ageing Mind Initiative, providing a focal point for clinical, translational ageing-related research at UQ. She has an international reputation in the area of geriatric mental health, particularly late-life anxiety and driving in later life. She has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books on various topics in the field of ageing. She has a passion for expanding research, teaching, international collaboration and early career scientist-practitioner support on mental health issues in later life. Nancy was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2014. In 2020 she was the recipient of the M. Powell Lawton Award for lifetime achievement in the field of clinical geropsychology from the Society of Clinical Geropsychology, part of the American Psychological Association. Originally from the United States, Nancy was awarded her AB from Princeton University in 1987, and her PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 1992. She is an avid bird watcher and a keen traveller.
John Dixon, Ph.D., Professor, The Open University, United Kingdom
Navigating the Divided City: Place Identity and Sectarian Segregation in Belfast
Having grown up in Northern Ireland and South Africa, John Dixon has a particular interest in the social psychology of intergroup contact, conflict, desegregation, and re-segregation in historically divided societies. He is also a firm believer in the idea that methods and concepts must be adequate to the complexity of psychological processes as they unfold in everyday life contexts. This has led him to explore a variety of methodological and conceptual frameworks, including frameworks ‘borrowed’ from other disciplines such as linguistics, geography and sociology. It has also led him to avoid the (for him fruitless) polarization of ‘quantitative’ versus ‘qualitative’ research in social psychology.
He joined The Open University in 2011, having previously lectured at Lancaster University and the Universities of Worcester and Cape Town. Since 2009, he has also acted as Editor (with Jolanda Jetten) of the British Journal of Social Psychology.
Guest of Honor
Collins Badu Agyemang, Ph.D., University of Ghana, Ghana
Psychology in Ghana: Challenges, Prospects and Milestone Interventions
Collins Badu Agyemang is a Licensed Industrial and Organizational Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon. He is the National President of Ghana Psychological Association and Coordinator of the Pan-African Doctoral Academy. He has done extensive research on emotions and how they affect peoples’ behavioural patterns in their everyday life. He has led many psycho-social interventions in Ghana and some West African countries. Collins is presently a consulting psychologist supporting Ghana’s National COVID-19 Response Team under the auspices of Ghana Health Service/Ministry of Health, to lead psychosocial interventions to reduce the devastating effects of COVID-19 on Ghanaians. He is also a member of private sector fund COVID-19 Anti-stigma Project committee in charge of training and research. He also provides psycho-business services to educational and sporting-based institutions in Ghana. He is the Lead Psychologist to Ghana Education Service sponsored National Science and Maths Quiz. He has presented several keynote lectures and papers on Psycho-business and academic-related subject matter at both national and international conferences and workshops. He is reasonably published and his research focuses on Occupational Safety and Health, Humanitarian Work Psychology, Organizational Behaviour and cross-cultural Psychology. He is a member of the Ghana Psychological Association and International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology.