Dr Sarah Russell is the Director of Aged Care Matters. Sarah trained as a critical care nurse before completing a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a PhD at the University of Melbourne. She has been the principal researcher at Research Matters since 1999. Her work has focused on public health, mental health, ethics and aged care. In 2012, Sarah’s parents moved into an aged care home. Although staff treated her parents with respect and love, Sarah observed the systemic failures in the aged care system. Sarah has published 80 opinion pieces and numerous letters to The Age. Her persistent advocacy over the past decade for some of the most vulnerable people in our society has won her widespread respect for her independent analysis.