Healthy infant and young child diets from sustainable first-food systems. Breastfeeding, breastmilk and other first foods consumed during infancy and early childhood, are currently neglected in food systems research and policy action, despite their importance to establishing life-long dietary preferences, health and sustainability. This project addresses this gap, by developing a novel 'first-food systems' conceptual framework, describing global, regional and national changes in infant and young ....Healthy infant and young child diets from sustainable first-food systems. Breastfeeding, breastmilk and other first foods consumed during infancy and early childhood, are currently neglected in food systems research and policy action, despite their importance to establishing life-long dietary preferences, health and sustainability. This project addresses this gap, by developing a novel 'first-food systems' conceptual framework, describing global, regional and national changes in infant and young child diets, and generating end-user knowledge to generate political commitment for early-life nutrition. This research will deliver economic, social and environmental benefits for Australia and international communities, by helping to reduce the ill-health and environmental harms linked with unhealthy early-life diets.Read moreRead less
Building better: Neighbourhoods to benefit children with disability. This project aims to identify which neighbourhood features support wellbeing for children with disability. The project expects to advance innovation by combining Australian disability policy, children's lived experience of disability, and high-quality child development and built environment data. Expected outcomes of the project include new, co-created insights for how urban neighbourhoods can enable children with disability to ....Building better: Neighbourhoods to benefit children with disability. This project aims to identify which neighbourhood features support wellbeing for children with disability. The project expects to advance innovation by combining Australian disability policy, children's lived experience of disability, and high-quality child development and built environment data. Expected outcomes of the project include new, co-created insights for how urban neighbourhoods can enable children with disability to thrive and a suite of end-user indicator tools to monitor their progress. Expected benefits include improved policy options and tools for government and advocates to plan and deliver more equitable neighbourhoods, and ultimately better participation, inclusion, and wellbeing for children with disability.Read moreRead less
Generating evidence for nature-based strategies to reduce loneliness. While loneliness and despair are reportedly increasing due to social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are investing in urban greening. This project aims to help steer greening strategies to reduce loneliness and despair, to enable recoveries from COVID-19 that are more sustainable, equitable and nourishing. This project will: (1) engage with leading scientists within and outside Australia to f ....Generating evidence for nature-based strategies to reduce loneliness. While loneliness and despair are reportedly increasing due to social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are investing in urban greening. This project aims to help steer greening strategies to reduce loneliness and despair, to enable recoveries from COVID-19 that are more sustainable, equitable and nourishing. This project will: (1) engage with leading scientists within and outside Australia to formalise my draft conceptual model of pathways linking urban greening with loneliness and despair; (2) test associations and pathways with multiple sources of nationally representative data; (3) supervise a mixed-methods PhD project; and (4) share findings for building up knowledge capacities and guideline development.Read moreRead less
Developing a research focus on the health and quality of life of adolescents in the Northern Territory. The Youth Futures program will focus on the health and well being of adolescents in the Northern Territory, 40 per cent of whom are Indigenous. This project will provide an evidence base to inform health policy, identify transformative life skills and the ways to translate these into practice.
Cultural resilience and changing selves in Central Australia. This project will examine the current world picture and self-understanding of Indigenous Australians in a remote desert community. The purpose is to create knowledge and foster recognition of the cultural capabilities that exist across the generations, since life-enhancing changes for Indigenous people cannot succeed without such knowledge.
Stories from the past: the impact of industrialisation on the human microbiome. This project aims to explore the history and origin of ‘Industrial’ diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and autism. Non-communicable, ‘Industrial’ diseases are rising at an alarming rate in Australia, and changes to the beneficial microorganisms within the human body (microbiota) may be to blame. This project will explore how human microbiota have changed over the past 100 years in response to cultural, ....Stories from the past: the impact of industrialisation on the human microbiome. This project aims to explore the history and origin of ‘Industrial’ diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and autism. Non-communicable, ‘Industrial’ diseases are rising at an alarming rate in Australia, and changes to the beneficial microorganisms within the human body (microbiota) may be to blame. This project will explore how human microbiota have changed over the past 100 years in response to cultural, environmental, and lifestyle factors linked with Industrialisation. This approach will allow stories from the past to inform modern medical treatment strategies and public health decisions in the future. The project will identify changes in environment, diet, hygiene, and medicine that have altered human microbiota in the past and sparked the Industrial disease epidemic in Australia today.Read moreRead less
Closing the gap in Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes. This project will build the evidence base needed to design and implement effective strategies to close the gap in Aboriginal maternal and child health outcomes and reduce Indigenous disadvantage across the life course.
RNA-based analysis for prediction of islet death in diabetes. Death of insulin-producing cells is a common feature in diabetes. Presently, a blood glucose test remains the only blunt instrument to diagnose diabetes. The RNA-based analysis for prediction of islet death in diabetes (RAPID) study links with eight clinical trials to test this newly developed non-invasive assay for predicting diabetes. Early diagnosis will help to reduce diabetic complications in later life.
Enhancing linkage and exchange in a national research partnership to improve primary health care performance and outcomes for Indigenous peoples. This project will enhance current efforts to make high-quality primary health care services accessible to all Indigenous Australians. The work will result in widespread application of systematic and cutting-edge methods to enable health service staff and managers to review and continually work to improve the quality of their service.
Understanding and addressing racism in Australia. Despite the well recognised need to understand and address racism, it remains a globally significant issue. Encompassing a range of internationally novel research, this project aims to enhance conceptual understandings of racism and anti-racism and investigate empirical data on the health and social effects of racism. It will design, implement, evaluate and analyse findings from anti-racism interventions, examine the interplay between racism and ....Understanding and addressing racism in Australia. Despite the well recognised need to understand and address racism, it remains a globally significant issue. Encompassing a range of internationally novel research, this project aims to enhance conceptual understandings of racism and anti-racism and investigate empirical data on the health and social effects of racism. It will design, implement, evaluate and analyse findings from anti-racism interventions, examine the interplay between racism and the impact of organisational diversity and shape policy and practice relating to racism, anti-racism and diversity across various sectors. This multi-faceted approach will considerably enhance our understanding of, and capacity to address, racism both in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less