Centre for Military and Veterans' Health - The Charles Darwin University Node

The Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health (CMVH) is an internationally-unique, academic, community and military partnership which is dedicated to innovatively seeking solutions to military and veterans’ health issues through research, post-graduate education and professional development, e-Health and public debate.

The Charles Darwin University Node of the CMVH headed by Associate Professor David Cooper, is part of the collaboration of three major partners: the University of Queensland (UQ), Charles Darwin University (CDU) and The University of Adelaide (UA).

CMVH brings together military and veterans’ health experts - researchers, health practitioners and serving ADF personnel and Reservists - who, through their combined talent, expertise and experience, seek to better understand and propose practical solutions to the health issues facing Australia’s serving and former military men and women.

The Centre actively works towards a healthier future for Defence personnel and veterans through best practice information sharing, innovative and inclusive research, strong and meaningful dialogue with ex-service organisations and veterans generally.

The CMVH includes the following five business units:

Associate Professor David Cooper BMed, MMgt, MBA, FACEM

Director, Charles Darwin University Node

Associate Professor David Cooper is currently head of the Charles Darwin University Node of the Centre for Military and Veterans Health. He is also Co-Chair, Disaster Response and Preparedness of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC) located at Royal Darwin Hospital. Founded in 2006, the NCCTRC is a partnership between the Federal Government and Northern Territory Government. David’s is an expert in disaster management and is internationally recognised.

David is a specialist emergency physician by clinical training and has Masters degrees in Management and Business Administration from Macquarie University in Sydney. David has been the Director of the NSW Health Counter Disaster Unit, and has developed a number of plans and policies for both the NSW and Australian Governments, including the Australian Mass Casualty Burn Disaster Plan (AUSBURNPLAN). He was also responsible for the development of the Health plans for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He has been an expert advisor to the World Health Organization in mass casualty management and disaster medical assistance teams and has significant consultancy experience in the development of emergency management and critical care (EMS) systems both within Australia and internationally.

David has significant disaster field experience and led health resources during the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the Christmas 2001 bush fires, the post September 11 terrorist threats, the Waterfall train crash and both Bali bombings. Following the Asian tsunami disaster, he was responsible for the configuration and deployment of the first civilian medical teams to Banda Aceh (Indonesia), The Maldives and Sri Lanka. David also led the first AusAID medical team to Yogyakarta in Southern Java, following the devastating earthquake in May 2006.