History of AS4SAN

AS4SAN Society rules

Our current rules of the society are HERE.

Formation of an official society

On 23rd September 2015 the Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience (AS4SAN) was officially recognised as an incorporated association. Original members included Pascal Molenberghs (President), Bernadette Fitzgibbon (Vice-President), Sarah Whittle (Treasurer), Michelle Kelly (Secretary), Fiona Kumfor (Media), Emma Burrows (Awards), David Andrewes (External Relations) and Julie Henry (Student-coordinator). At the same time, the founding committee members updated the name of the society, to recognise the inclusion of affective neuroscience research. The first annual general meeting was held on the 26th of June, 2016. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE. The second annual general meeting was held on the 16th of June, 2017. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE. The third annual general meeting was held on the 21st of June, 2018. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE. The fourth annual general meeting was held on the 19th of June, 2019. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE. The fifth annual general meeting was held on the 27th of May, 2020. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE. The seventh annual general meeting was held on the 10th of June, 2022. Minutes from the meeting can be found HERE.

Past meetings

The first Australasian Social Neuroscience Meeting was organised by Sarah Whittle, Nik Allen, Christopher Davey, Yoshihisia Kashima, Luke Smillie, Izelle Labuschagne and Cali Francine Bartholomeusz at the Melbourne Brain Institute on the 5th and 6th of March 2014. For an overview of the 2014 program click HERE. This meeting was a great success with 200 people attending the inaugural meeting. It was then decided to organise an annual meeting from then onward at a different location in the Australasian region. In 2015, the second Australasian Social Neuroscience Meeting took place on the 4th and 5th of June at the University of Queensland in the Queensland Brain Institute. The event was co-organised by Pascal Molenberghs and Eric Vanman. For the 2015 program click HERE. In 2016, Skye McDonald, Margaret Eagers (PCO), Cynthia Honan, Michelle Kelly, Fiona Kumfor, Steve Most, Olivier Piguet, Jacqueline Rushby and Branka Spehar organized the 3rd Annual meeting (now called Australasian Social and Affective Neuroscience Meeting) in Sydney on the 23rd and 24th of June 2016. For the 2016 program click HERE. The 2017 AS4SAN conference was organized by Emiko Kashima, Pascal Molenberghs, Bernadette Fitzgibbon, Sarah Whittle and Emma Burrows on the 15th and 16th of June in Melbourne at the Melbourne Brain Centre. For the 2017 program click HERE. In 2018, the conference was held in Brisbane and was organised by David Shum & Maryam Ziaei. For the 2018 program click HERE. In 2019, the conference was held in Newcastle and was organised by Michelle Kelly. For the 2019 program click HERE. The 2020 conference was postponed until 2021 due to Covid-19. The aim is to foster Social and Affective Neuroscience research in the Australasian region and beyond.

The current committee members are:

President: Sarah Whittle (The University of Melbourne)

Vice-President: Fiona Kumfor (The University of Sydney)

Treasurer: Pascal Molenberghs (The Institute for Social Neuroscience)

Secretary: Travis Wearne (University of New South Wales)

General members:

Michelle Kelly (The University of Newcastle)

Juan Dominguez (Deakin University)

Sherry (Yu) Chen (The University of Sydney)

Jessica Hazelton (The University of Sydney)

Stephanie Wong (Flinders University)

Nandita Vijayakumar (Deakin University)

Ute Kreplin (Massey University)

Alumni committee members:

Alan Pegna (University of Queensland)

Femke Buisman-Pijlman (The University of Adelaide)

Lincoln Tracy (Monash University)

Raymond Chan (Chinese Academy of Science)

Sally Grace (Swinburne University)

Bernadette Fitzgibbon (Monash University)

Despina Ganella (The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health)

Maryam Ziaei (The University of Queensland)

Emma Burrows (The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health)

Hannah Rosenberg (University of New South Wales / Eastern suburbs Child Psychology)

David Andrewes (The University of Melbourne)

Julie Henry (The University of Queensland)

Guy Prochilo (Monash University)

Linda Campbell (The University of Newcastle)