Nutritional Psychiatry: Extending The Evidence And Ensuring Translation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,238,220.00
Summary
While poor diet is the leading contributor to illness and premature death globally, mental disorders account for the leading cause of disability. I have led the field internationally in establishing, for the first time, that diet quality and mental health are linked and have established a new field of research and clinical practice ‘Nutritional Psychiatry’. My program of research will now extend the evidence base and facilitate translation of this new knowledge into policy and practice.
There are many unresolved issues regarding nutrition in old age such as the obesity paradox, protein intake requirements, and dietary needs of obese and frail older people. We have developed a nutritional model, the Geometric Framework, which has the capacity to address complex questions about the relationship between nutrition and ageing and have an established cohort of older men that will allow us to investigate multiple factors involved in age-related changes in nutrition and obesity.
The Effects Of The Western Diet On Cognition In Rats
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,326.00
Summary
An unhealthy diet can affect how we think. This project will identify mechanisms by which a western diet impairs cognition, and test ways of intervening to reduce the impact of diet on the brain. We will examine changes in inflammation, and markers of nerve growth in a critical brain region, the hippocampus, in response to different periods of diet. We will also test if the diet and our interventions affect the gut biota.
Case-control Study To Promote Oral Health In Asthmatic Children:Natural Dietary Strategies To Conserve Teeth Erosion
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$112,500.00
Summary
Asthmatic children are at risk of dental corrosion, from medications that shut off saliva. Saliva protects teeth from acids in soft drinks and stomach-acid reflux. Dentist, William George Young and Nutritionist, Peter Davies, at the University of Queensland study children’s teeth, diet and lifestyles for the best natural methods to promote oral health. They will counsel parents and children on diets that conserve the teeth from dental erosion and decay by salivary stimulation. Patients need to s ....Asthmatic children are at risk of dental corrosion, from medications that shut off saliva. Saliva protects teeth from acids in soft drinks and stomach-acid reflux. Dentist, William George Young and Nutritionist, Peter Davies, at the University of Queensland study children’s teeth, diet and lifestyles for the best natural methods to promote oral health. They will counsel parents and children on diets that conserve the teeth from dental erosion and decay by salivary stimulation. Patients need to self-manage their asthma and diets to avoid negative outcomes and costs in acute medical and dental therapy for these two chronic conditions.Read moreRead less
CNS Peptides Involved In The Control Of Thermogenesis And Body Weight
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$405,750.00
Summary
There is currently an obesity epidemic in all industrialised countries which has an associated impact on cardiovascular disease and associated pathologies such as type 2 diabetes. Current therapeutic strategies have focussed on reducing food intake but, as evidenced by the continuation of this epidemic, these have had limited success. An alternative approach, which is the subject of this project, is to determine and modify the central mediators controlling energy expenditure. We will bring a raf ....There is currently an obesity epidemic in all industrialised countries which has an associated impact on cardiovascular disease and associated pathologies such as type 2 diabetes. Current therapeutic strategies have focussed on reducing food intake but, as evidenced by the continuation of this epidemic, these have had limited success. An alternative approach, which is the subject of this project, is to determine and modify the central mediators controlling energy expenditure. We will bring a raft of new technologies to examine this question and potentially identify new avenues for therapeutic intervention in obesity.Read moreRead less