Bioengineered bioscaffolds for Achilles tendinopathy treatment. The purpose of the project is to improve outcomes following the surgical treatment of Achilles tendinopathy. The expected outcome is the development in animals of new ways to design tissue engineered bioscaffolds for the surgical repair of Achilles tendinopathy.
Physical, Lifestyle And Psychosocial Determinants Of Spinal Pain Development In Adolescents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$682,800.00
Summary
This project aims to understand the development of back and neck pain in adolescence. By the age of 16 around half of all adolescents have suffered back pain and one third have suffered neck pain. For many adolescents this pain is disabling and over a third of sufferers miss school, miss recreation and seek medical help. The current understanding of back and neck pain in adolescence is quite limited - restricting the effectiveness of initiatives to prevent adolescents having to suffer spinal pai ....This project aims to understand the development of back and neck pain in adolescence. By the age of 16 around half of all adolescents have suffered back pain and one third have suffered neck pain. For many adolescents this pain is disabling and over a third of sufferers miss school, miss recreation and seek medical help. The current understanding of back and neck pain in adolescence is quite limited - restricting the effectiveness of initiatives to prevent adolescents having to suffer spinal pain and of treatment of those adolescents unlucky enough to have an episode. Better understanding and interventions for adolescent spinal pain will also have longer term implications by reducing adult spinal pain. Four out of 5 adults will experience spinal pain. In the USA treating adult back pain is the 4th largest health care cost. Many adults with chronic back pain had their first episode during adolescence. A better understanding of spinal pain in adolescence may help prevent it developing into a lifelong disability. We will collect information from 2,000 adolescents on their experience of back and neck pain and on potential physical, lifestyle and psychosocial risk factors. We believe factors such as their posture, muscle capacity, TV and computer use, mental health and social situation all combine to influence whether a person develops back or neck pain. The project is unique as it will not only collect a broad range of information during adolescence, but will also make use of a large database of health, developmental and psychosocial information already collected from these children since birth. With a better understanding of the development of spinal pain we will be able to develop guidelines to help prevent these problems. We will also be able to develop better treatment plans for sub-groups of adolescents with a particular combination of risk factors. Together these initiatives will assist in understanding and breaking the pathway to chronic spinal pain.Read moreRead less
Developing a disability policy model to target the prevention or reduction of limitations on functioning and wellbeing. With the ageing of Australian society the challenge for public health is shifting from preventing death and disease onset to supporting healthy and productive ageing. The disability policy model will allow cost-effective targeting of interventions to reduce or prevent onset of disability or reduce its severity particularly among older Australians.
Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of thi ....Global dementias: Examining structural vulnerability and dementia outcomes. This project aims to examine the social and cultural dimensions of dementia by using a comparative ethnographic approach to examine the experiences of people living with dementia in Australia, Malaysia and India. The project expects to generate new anthropological knowledge about structural inequalities by examining how dementia is responded to in diverse geographic, cultural and social settings. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of a new evidence-base on dementia and the production of briefing documents to guide global health frameworks. The project should provide significant benefits for people living with dementia by providing locally-relevant strategies to respond to dementia and resultant disability.Read moreRead less
Machine Learning for Fracture Risk Assessment from Simple Radiography. This project aims to develop a novel, reliable, low-cost system to detect poor bone health and assess fracture risk to help to prevent and manage osteoporosis-related fractures. Currently, osteoporosis-related fractures cost our health system millions of dollars annually and costs are increasing with our ageing population. Early detection of poor bone health will improve the effectiveness of preventive measures and ease this ....Machine Learning for Fracture Risk Assessment from Simple Radiography. This project aims to develop a novel, reliable, low-cost system to detect poor bone health and assess fracture risk to help to prevent and manage osteoporosis-related fractures. Currently, osteoporosis-related fractures cost our health system millions of dollars annually and costs are increasing with our ageing population. Early detection of poor bone health will improve the effectiveness of preventive measures and ease this burden. Current methods include unreliable, crude clinical and visual guides that suggest osteoporosis screening. The project plans to develop a novel system by applying machine learning algorithms to radiology data which is commonly captured for diagnosing other conditions.Read moreRead less