A Randomised Controlled Trial Of An Online Intervention To Improve Healthy Food Purchases From Primary School Canteens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$725,373.00
Summary
Children use school canteens to purchase food more frequently than any other food outlet. Online canteens, where school lunches are ordered via the web, are increasingly prevalent in Australian schools. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of integrating consumer behaviour strategies (such as menu labelling, promoting and product positioning) into an online canteen ordering system in reducing the total energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium content of student lunch orders.
Can Preventive Care Activities In General Practice Be Sustained When Financial Incentives And External Audit Plus Feedback Are Removed? A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,201,443.00
Summary
There is increasing debate about the effectiveness of incentive payments and audit plus feedback on the clinical behaviour of general practitioners (GPs). Governments both in Australia and the UK are raising the threshold targets for payment eligibility making it more difficult for GPs to get payments. We will conduct a trial that will investigate the impact of removing financial incentives and/or external audit plus feedback on the preventive care activities of GPs.
A Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Web-based, Organisational Systems Change Intervention To Increase Childcare Service Adherence To Dietary Guidelines
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,044,145.00
Summary
To improve children's health, leading health agencies recommend that childcare services provide foods to children consistent with dietary guidelines. The majority of Australian childcare services however do not provide foods that meet these guidelines. Using the highest quality research design, this study will test the effectiveness of a web-based intervention in supporting childcare services to improve the nutritional quality of food provided to children in care.
Implementation Of A Novel Clinical Pathway Of Care For Common Musculoskeletal Disorders In Primary Care.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,525,730.00
Summary
This project provides a solution to the burden musculoskeletal disorders in Australia. We will implement a novel clinical pathway of care that uses simple questionnaires to determine whether people will recover simply or require complex care. If simple, we provide people and their healthcare practitioner with guideline-based information developed by our expert team. If complex, we refer them to an expert physiotherapist who can undertake more complex assessments and direct care appropriately.
CD4+CD8β+ Double-positive T-cell Regulation Of CD8 T-cell Responses
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,983.00
Summary
T-cells are a type of white blood cell that play an essential role in the immune system. CD4+CD8+ Double-Positive (DP) T-cells are a rare and poorly defined T-cell subset associated with skin disease - however their function and subsequently their contribution to disease is not known. Our preliminary data suggest that these DP cells may regulate the function of other immune populations in the skin. This project aims to deliver key insights into DP cells and their role in skin disease.
A New Mouse Model That Determines The Effects Of A Unilateral Vestibular Prosthesis On Vestibular Plasticity.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$455,678.00
Summary
Much like a cochlear implant restores auditory function, a vestibular prosthesis restores balance function. It is not clear whether the limited results from vestibular prostheses is due the device not stimulating one component (the otoliths) of the vestibular system essential for self-repair. We will test mutant mice that lack otoliths to determine the importance of stimulating the otoliths in restoring function. This work will shape the future direction of prosthesis development.
Neuronal Activity And Variability Underlying Perception And Action
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$349,802.00
Summary
Perception and behaviour are often unpredictable. We do not identically perceive repeated stimuli, and even professional athletes cannot precisely replicate their actions. This project compares variations in the activity of motion-sensitive neurons in the brain with variability in motion perception and eye movements. This should give insights into how neuronal activity underlies conscious perception and eye movements and may ultimately help treat conditions with impaired control of movement.
Can Systematically Developed Alcohol Health Warnings Reduce Drinking Intentions And Behaviours?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$782,617.00
Summary
This research will develop differently worded and formatted warnings about a wide range of harms of alcohol and assess adult drinkers’ responses to them, compared to current messages on alcohol containers. The study will use population surveys, discussion groups, message ratings and an experimental study with follow-up to determine the content and format of warnings with the greatest potential to encourage drinkers to reduce their alcohol-related risk.
How Chromatin Compaction Is Regulated And Its Link With Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$493,747.00
Summary
Chromosomes are constructed from very small particles called nucleosomes. How these nucleosomes interact with each other to build an entire chromosome is not known but elucidating this mechanism is critical in order to understand cancer when chromosomes become unstable. Furthermore, the strength of nucleosome-nucleosome interactions determines whether a gene is expressed or not. This study will elucidate the nature and the mechanism of how nucleosome-nucleosome interactions are regulated.
Attentional Processing In Developmentally Vitamin D Deficient Rats: Modelling The Cognitive Symptoms Of Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$252,911.00
Summary
Schizophrenia is a poorly understood but very disabling group of brain disorders. There is an urgent need for animal models of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. Based on clues from epidemiology, we have proposed that low prenatal vitamin D may be a risk factor for later development of schizophrenia. We propose to use a rat model with prenatal vitamin D deficiency to explore the neurobiological correlates of impaired cognition and as a platform to screen novel drugs to improve cognition.