Capacity Building In Childhood And Adolescent Obesity Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,080,191.00
Summary
As obesity prevalence in children and adolescents continues to climb, there is an urgent need to build Australia's ability to undertake solutions-orientated research across several fronts. This program covers the four areas of greatest need for building research capacity in obesity prevention.Whole-of-community intervention programs: These evaluate what works and what does not work in the real world of trying to get integrated action at the community level and how to get the maximum uptake by ch ....As obesity prevalence in children and adolescents continues to climb, there is an urgent need to build Australia's ability to undertake solutions-orientated research across several fronts. This program covers the four areas of greatest need for building research capacity in obesity prevention.Whole-of-community intervention programs: These evaluate what works and what does not work in the real world of trying to get integrated action at the community level and how to get the maximum uptake by children and adolescents, their families, schools and other community settings.Assessing the cost-effectiveness of interventions: This research combines existing and emerging evidence with new modeling techniques to estimate the costs, population impacts, and cost-effectiveness of a variety of interventions.Socio-cultural contexts for obesity prevention: This research seeks to understand the various attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values relating to food, physical activity and body size perception so that social marketing messages and intervention programs are socially and culturally appropriate and resonate with the variety of communities involved.Analysing policy processes and interventions: Policy changes are important early and powerful drivers of creating environments where the health choices are the easy choices, and the evidence base for such changes in obesity prevention is urgently needed.The four Lead Applicants in the team are all highly experienced researchers across the range of disciplines involved and are already working on a number of combined projects which will provide the research platform for the seven Team Investigators to build their skills. The Team Investigators are at various stages in their research careers and are already contributing to a significant extent. This capacity building grant will substantially boost this critical area of research by developing a team of cross-disciplinary researchers of international standing.Read moreRead less
The First Polynesians: Their Origins, Lifeways and Environmental Challenges. This project uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biological, cultural and environmental factors underpinning the Polynesian people through a study of their ancient homeland in Tonga. Early Polynesian society developed 2650-2350 years ago, but little is known about the people, their culture and how sea-level fall impacted subsistence and settlement. The proposed study’s goal is to fill this gap in human kno ....The First Polynesians: Their Origins, Lifeways and Environmental Challenges. This project uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biological, cultural and environmental factors underpinning the Polynesian people through a study of their ancient homeland in Tonga. Early Polynesian society developed 2650-2350 years ago, but little is known about the people, their culture and how sea-level fall impacted subsistence and settlement. The proposed study’s goal is to fill this gap in human knowledge about our Pacific neighbours using a unique skeletal assemblage, excavated cultural remains and advanced mapping of palaeo-sea-level markers that will improve understanding of the impact of environmental change on human societies in our region.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Resiliency In Responding To Bloodborne Viral And Sexually Transmitted Infections In Indigenous Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,833,739.00
Summary
HIV-AIDS has become one of the most important health problems in the world today. Like several other infectious diseases, it is mainly spread by behaviours that most people consider to be part of their private lives, such as sexual intercourse and drug use. In many societies, the search for ways to prevent and treat these infectious has been complicated by the fact that people find them embarrassing to discuss, or fear discrimination if they have them. While surveys of sexually transmitted infec ....HIV-AIDS has become one of the most important health problems in the world today. Like several other infectious diseases, it is mainly spread by behaviours that most people consider to be part of their private lives, such as sexual intercourse and drug use. In many societies, the search for ways to prevent and treat these infectious has been complicated by the fact that people find them embarrassing to discuss, or fear discrimination if they have them. While surveys of sexually transmitted infections have found high rates in some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, so far only Canada has seen increased rates of HIV-AIDS among Indigenous people. There is much we need to learn about prevention and treatment in Indigenous people. We are therefore proposing to set up collaborative studies in each of the three countries that will explore how Indigenous people are able to protect themselves against these infections. We are especially interested in finding out about their resiliency, the way in which they make use of their own and their communities� strengths to protect themselves and enhance their health and well-being. A good understanding of what resiliency is about will help us discover how Indigenous health programs can help all people in their communities to have the best chance of avoiding these infections, or getting the right kind of care, support and treatment if they do have one or more of these infections. The research will be done in full collaboration with Indigenous communities in every aspect, from planning through to regular reporting of results. The program will provide opportunities for Indigenous people in the three countries to develop and enhance research skills in this important area, and allow non-Indigenous people to share knowledge and experience with Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
Rehearsals in Colonialism: Tracking Transpacific Expressions of Indigenous and Settler Sovereignty, 1788-1900. In the 1800s a spate of Pacific monarchies declared pre-emptive independence amidst the upheavals of circling imperial interest. Kingdoms in Tonga, Hawai'i, and New Zealand lasted at least a century, but only years in Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji. Nevertheless they epitomised uncertain times when Indigenous and settler peoples alike focussed intensely on the sovereign status of subject people ....Rehearsals in Colonialism: Tracking Transpacific Expressions of Indigenous and Settler Sovereignty, 1788-1900. In the 1800s a spate of Pacific monarchies declared pre-emptive independence amidst the upheavals of circling imperial interest. Kingdoms in Tonga, Hawai'i, and New Zealand lasted at least a century, but only years in Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji. Nevertheless they epitomised uncertain times when Indigenous and settler peoples alike focussed intensely on the sovereign status of subject peoples in subject colonies. This project connects these moments of sovereignty for the first time in a unique opportunity to track the intellectual and social histories of contact in the transcolonial space of the Pacific and its settler colonial rim. Project outcomes will offer new insight into our colonial past and its legacies in the present.Read moreRead less
Warfare and the Archaic State in Oceania. The project aim is to investigate warfare in the ancient Tongan state through a study of earthwork fortifications. The conflict record for an Archaic state in Oceania that survived for 650 years contributes a new perspective to global research on warfare in complex societies. The effect of conflict is a prominent issue for Australia and long-term records of warfare in our region will improve our understanding of it. Intra-state conflict is the most press ....Warfare and the Archaic State in Oceania. The project aim is to investigate warfare in the ancient Tongan state through a study of earthwork fortifications. The conflict record for an Archaic state in Oceania that survived for 650 years contributes a new perspective to global research on warfare in complex societies. The effect of conflict is a prominent issue for Australia and long-term records of warfare in our region will improve our understanding of it. Intra-state conflict is the most pressing threat to political stability in South-East Asia and the Pacific and the project would benefit Australia by showing how changes to political systems are associated with phases of conflict and peace.Read moreRead less
Before, during and after Lapita: 5000 years of cultural continuity and transformation at Caution Bay, southern Papua New Guinea. Australia's closest Indigenous neighbours in southern Papua New Guinea have long been thought to have been in contact with long-distance seafarers only in the last 2000 years. This project will document recent archaeological findings that are causing a radical rethink of ancestral connections between Australia and southern Papua New Guinea.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100187
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$391,950.00
Summary
Ethnoarchaeological investigation of religious systems in Ancient Polynesia. This project aims to document and compare the long-term historical trajectories of Eastern Polynesian chiefdoms by developing a new perspective on ancient ritual practices and monuments. Using archaeological, historical and ethnographic material, the project expects to increase our knowledge of Polynesia’s archaeological history. Anticipated outcomes of this project include a better understanding of traditional religiou ....Ethnoarchaeological investigation of religious systems in Ancient Polynesia. This project aims to document and compare the long-term historical trajectories of Eastern Polynesian chiefdoms by developing a new perspective on ancient ritual practices and monuments. Using archaeological, historical and ethnographic material, the project expects to increase our knowledge of Polynesia’s archaeological history. Anticipated outcomes of this project include a better understanding of traditional religious systems in Polynesia, and the development of a theoretical and methodological framework for the study of ancient rituals. It should further create a new model of collaborative research with Pacific Islanders for whom their legacy of ritual monuments bear a critical cultural significance; it thus informs a better understanding of Australia’s role in Pacific studies.Read moreRead less
New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to ....New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to use them in an innovative return to the classical issues in Australian literary criticism and history. It will provide demonstration applications of data in new electronic archives.Read moreRead less