Ruth Hubbard

Biography

Dr Ruth E. Hubbard is a Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Queensland, Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine (CRGM) and Consultant Geriatrician at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. This position was made possible by a Queensland Health Office for Health and Medical Research Fellowship awarded jointly to PAH and UQ. Dr Hubbard qualified from St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London and trained in general internal medicine and geriatric medicine in Cardiff, Wales. She previously worked as a Consultant Geriatrician and Physician at University Hospital Llandough and Barry Community Hospital. She has always combined clinical practice with an interest in teaching and research, completing an MSc in Medical Education in 2005 and an MD on pathophysiological changes in frail older people in 2009. Following her doctoral work, she was awarded a travel fellowship by the Peel Medical Research Trust to pursue her frailty studies at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia with Professors Ken Rockwood and Arnold Mitnitski. Here, she was able to test hypotheses regarding determinants and manifestations of frailty, the difficulties of measuring frailty in clinical practice and the relationships between frailty and obesity, smoking, SES, and exercise. Dr Hubbard has an international reputation for her work on frailty in older people. Based on the number and nature of her publications, she is currently ranked number 5 in a list of the world's leading experts in this field (http://expertscape.com/leaders/frail-elderly). She has been invited to give keynote lectures at several major medical conferences including the RACP Congress on Future Directions in Health and the ANZSGM Annual Scientific Meeting in New Zealand. She has made a significant impact on policy and practice having co-written the ANZSGM position statement on frailty in older people as well as presenting to the 2013 European Commission in Brussels (Frailty in old age, a public health concern at EU level).

Research Interest

She is an external reviewer for governmental funding bodies in Europe and Australia, an Associate Editor of 3 geriatric medicine journals and has supervised RhD students originating from a variety of multidisciplinary backgrounds as well as medical students and advanced trainees in geriatric medicine.