Formulating New Goals For Global Health And Proposing New Governance For Global Health That Will Allow The Achievement Of These Goals
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$469,017.00
Summary
The Millennium Development Goals have guided global development since 2000, and are due for evaluation in 2015. Attention is now turning to New Health-Related Goals, with a governance structure to support their implementation. Australian researchers are joining a Go4Health consortium of 13 research institutions to research the development of these goals, examining the input of United Nations agencies and key donors into the process, together with communities, civil society and governments.
Working Longer: Policy Reforms And Practice Innovations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,162,805.00
Summary
A popular response to increased longevity is to suggest that older workers should work longer. But working longer involves changes to established policies, practices, and institutions, which are currently built around retiring earlier. The project will forecast demographic and health transition in Australia and develop capacity to analyze the likely economic and workplace adjustments that population ageing will generate. It will examine the extent to which ñworking longerî is an appropriate resp ....A popular response to increased longevity is to suggest that older workers should work longer. But working longer involves changes to established policies, practices, and institutions, which are currently built around retiring earlier. The project will forecast demographic and health transition in Australia and develop capacity to analyze the likely economic and workplace adjustments that population ageing will generate. It will examine the extent to which ñworking longerî is an appropriate response to this transition, and analyze how the labour market for older workers might evolve, taking account of individual circumstances (health, financial status, dependant care) and institutional practices (age discrimination, employment conditions, work organization), as well as regulatory and policy impacts. The overall objective of the program is to develop a multi-disciplinary knowledge base to inform integrated policy and institutional (or practice) improvement in the labour market for the elderly. Its contribution will be to improve the institutional and policy framework within which households and firms operate, with the aim of modifying workplace practices and policy and institutional constraints to encourage a more vibrant labour market for older workers. Specifically the program of research will: Assess the demographic and economic impacts of working longer under alternative policy and institutional (practice) scenarios; Provide alternative pension, superannuation, finance and taxation designs to encourage labour force participation of older people; Identify employment strategies to enhance the health and safety of older workers; Develop strategies to facilitate workforce re-entry of older workers, including gender-specific considerations; and Provide an integrated set of recommendations to create policy and practice partnerships which facilitate a labour market conducive to increased mature-age participation.Read moreRead less
LIFEPATH: Life-course Biological Pathways Underlying Social Differences In Healthy Ageing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$470,466.00
Summary
Healthy ageing varies across society due to environmental, behavioural and social circumstances that affect peoples’ lives. To improve our ability to change this we will investigate suspected biological mechanisms over the life course. Using repeated blood samples collected during a large prospective study, we will measure a very large number of biological markers and analyse these combined with lifestyle and behavioural information to identify the modifiable predictors of healthy ageing.
Developing A National Salt Reduction Program For India
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$935,028.00
Summary
Excess dietary salt is a leading cause of premature strokes and heart attacks around the world. India, the world’s second most populous nation has no coordinated national salt reduction program and lacks key data upon which to formulate a strategy. This research will bring together Australian experts in the field with leading Indian researchers to make the baseline assessments required to formulate and commence population-wide salt reduction efforts in India.
Dementia In People With Intellectual Disability: A Longitudinal Study With Focus On Translatable Outcomes.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$468,151.00
Summary
People with an intellectual disability (ID) may be more prone to dementia, especially at younger ages. Dr. Evans is a psychologist whose research background is in mental health in ID. This fellowship will allow her to expand her existing study of dementia in people with ID, to examine the usefulness of selected screening tools and assessments for dementia in this group, and to identify improvements in the way that people with ID who develop dementia receive help within health system.
Reducing Sugar Sweetened Beverages Consumption Among Young Adults
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$671,119.00
Summary
Reducing consumption of sugary drinks (or sugar-sweetened beverages) would improve the healthiness of young Australians’ diets and help protect them from obesity. Young Australians drink sugary rinks in high qualities, and they contribute a lot of ‘empty calories’ to the diet. They are also known to cause tooth decay, obesity and diabetes. This study will test the effectiveness of consumer information/warning labels at point of purchase and on packaging in reducing the purchase of SSBs.
Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral And Treatment For Common Mental Disorders In India - SMART Mental Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,957,608.00
Summary
An estimated 150 million Indians have mental health disorders and the vast majority receive no care whatsoever. We have developed a solution to strengthen India's primary healthcare system comprising village-based anti-stigma campaigns, and a workforce strategy that leverages the skills of doctors and non-physician frontline workers through use of mobile health technologies. It will be tested in North and South India in a large-scale trial involving 44,000 people and 20 primary health centres.
Cost Effectiveness Of Salt Reduction Interventions In Pacific Islands
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,045,593.00
Summary
This project will assess the impact and cost effectiveness of interventions to reduce salt intake in Fiji and Samoa. Precise data on salt consumption patterns amongst selected groups of adults at baseline will inform the development of subsequent interventions which will focus on changing both the food supply and consumer knowledge and behaviour. Repeat monitoring using the same indicators on completion of the intervention will enable quantification of the impact and examination of likely criter ....This project will assess the impact and cost effectiveness of interventions to reduce salt intake in Fiji and Samoa. Precise data on salt consumption patterns amongst selected groups of adults at baseline will inform the development of subsequent interventions which will focus on changing both the food supply and consumer knowledge and behaviour. Repeat monitoring using the same indicators on completion of the intervention will enable quantification of the impact and examination of likely criteria for successful interventions.Read moreRead less
Hendra virus (HeV) cause a disease transmitted from bats to horses which in turn infect humans and other horses. There are no drugs or vaccines for HeV. Since humans are infected by inhalation, a vaccine that can generate antibody in the lung and protect from infection will be ideal. We have found that a natural sugar called mannan used with virus proteins and administered via the nostrils to generate such responses. In this project we will prepare this vaccine and use it in a mouse model of HeV ....Hendra virus (HeV) cause a disease transmitted from bats to horses which in turn infect humans and other horses. There are no drugs or vaccines for HeV. Since humans are infected by inhalation, a vaccine that can generate antibody in the lung and protect from infection will be ideal. We have found that a natural sugar called mannan used with virus proteins and administered via the nostrils to generate such responses. In this project we will prepare this vaccine and use it in a mouse model of HeV infection to see if it can protect the mice.Read moreRead less
This proposal uses the zebra fish system, which it is uniquely suited to investigate the regulation of disease genes. In all of these diseases preliminary work has already been performed and screening assays have been developed in a previous project (ZF-MODELS). In addition, the project will investigate genetic abnormalities of the eye and visual processing, genetic pathways underlying tissue regeneration and repair, and homologs of human genes related to diabetes and obesity, as well as infecti ....This proposal uses the zebra fish system, which it is uniquely suited to investigate the regulation of disease genes. In all of these diseases preliminary work has already been performed and screening assays have been developed in a previous project (ZF-MODELS). In addition, the project will investigate genetic abnormalities of the eye and visual processing, genetic pathways underlying tissue regeneration and repair, and homologs of human genes related to diabetes and obesity, as well as infectious disease and cancer. The Australian component will perform a systematic characterisation of enhancer elements of potential disease genes. This characterisation will build on the concept of genomic regulatory blocks (GRBs) which contain highly conserved non-coding elements (HCNEs) acting as long-range enhancers of developmental genes (recently discovered by T. Becker in the ZF-MODELS project).Read moreRead less