Cancers of the skin are the most common tumours in humans, and their diagnosis and treatment impose the largest costs on Australia’s cancer budget. While much has been learned about the roles of sunlight and skin type as risk factors for skin cancer, relatively little is known about the genes conferring risk. This study will compare the genetic profiles of over 6000 patients with skin cancer to 3000 people without skin cancer to pinpoint the genes responsible for skin cancer.
An Implementation Trial Of A Telephone-based Care Management Program For Patients Following Myocardial Infarction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$641,656.00
Summary
We are trialling the implementation of an innovative telephone-delivered program for managing people who have had a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation programs are generally based in hospitals in Australia and people have to be able to attend the programs when they are offered. Even though such programs have been shown to be very effective in improving outcomes after a heart attack, at least 85% of Australians after a heart attack are either unable to access and-or unable to attend such progra ....We are trialling the implementation of an innovative telephone-delivered program for managing people who have had a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation programs are generally based in hospitals in Australia and people have to be able to attend the programs when they are offered. Even though such programs have been shown to be very effective in improving outcomes after a heart attack, at least 85% of Australians after a heart attack are either unable to access and-or unable to attend such programs due to transport and many other barriers. So, there is an urgent need to identify new, effective, and affordable ways of delivering cardiac rehabilitation programs to people after a heart attack. The proposed telephone-delivered program will be particularly appropriate for disadvantaged people, such as those living in rural and remote areas as well as Indigenous Australians, who do not currently have access to hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation programs. People who have had a heart attack will be recruited from three of Brisbane's largest public teaching hospitals, and will then be randomly assigned to the telephone-delivered cardiac rehabilitation program (Care Management Intervention group) or to a control or Usual Care group. The Care Management Intervention group will receive regular telephone calls from a highly qualified 'Care Manager' based at the renowned National Heart Foundation of Australia telephone support service, 'Heartline'. The Care Manager will help people to manage their heart condition and prevent the reoccurrence of further heart problems. People will also be encouraged to make necessary lifestyle and behavioural changes with the assistance of the Care Manager and some Heart Foundation educational and interactive resources to record their progress. We expect that the program or Care Management Intervention group will have better health outcomes than the control or Usual Care group at 6 and 12 months follow up.Read moreRead less
Addressing suicides in public places that have become known as ‘suicide hotspots’ is critical. We will examine which interventions work at hotspots, how and why they work, whether particular features are key to their success, whether they work best in combination with other interventions, whether they have unintended consequences, and whether they are cost-effective. Our research will culminate in a resource that provide practical guidance about how best to deal with suicide hotspots.
Prevalence Of Dementia In The Torres Strait And Common Health Issues Of Later Life In The Torres Strait
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,000.00
Summary
The aim of the project is to assess the prevalence of dementia in people aged 45 years and over living in Torres Strait Islander communities and identify potential risk and protective factors associated with dementia risk. An additional aim is to revalidate a culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tool, the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) for use in the Torres Strait.
Novel econometric techniques for dealing with point processes in high frequency financial data with applications to financial risk management. The recent global financial crisis highlighted the inherent risk involved in investing in financial assets. This project aims to develop novel statistical methods for forecasting the onset of instability in asset prices. The outcomes of this research will lead to improvements in the management of financial risk.
Men, Women And Ageing: Predictors Of Ageing Well In The Australian Longitudinal Study On Womens Health And The Perth He
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,935,634.00
Summary
Maintaining health and independent living are high priorities for Australia’s rapidly expanding older population. This project capitalizes on two existing large-scale studies, to increase our scientific understanding of strategies for maintaining the health and wellbeing of older people living in the community. Two separate longitudinal research projects, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health involving over 12,000 older women selected from every part of Australia, and the Health in ....Maintaining health and independent living are high priorities for Australia’s rapidly expanding older population. This project capitalizes on two existing large-scale studies, to increase our scientific understanding of strategies for maintaining the health and wellbeing of older people living in the community. Two separate longitudinal research projects, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health involving over 12,000 older women selected from every part of Australia, and the Health in Men Study involving over 12,000 older men from Perth, Western Australia, have been following older Australians in order to determine what contributes to older people’s health and quality of life. The new project will combine data from these two studies. The two projects contain a breadth of data and can address the following questions: What health-related, personal, lifestyle and social factors predict survival and healthy non-disabled life in men and women aged 70-90 years? Do changes in lifestyle in older age (eg smoking cessation) affect length and quality of life? Who makes greatest use of health services, and who least, and how does this relate to health outcomes?How are health and lifestyle factors related to social connectedness and independent living in older age? What health and lifestyle factors predict positive mental health in older age? How are older men’s and women’s lifestyles and health status different, and how are they the same? Should health promotion programs in old age target men and women separately, or not?Read moreRead less
Limiting False Positives in Empirical Asset Pricing Tests. The project aims to address the issue of data mining in asset pricing tests using innovative interdisciplinary approaches that mitigate the occurrence of false positives. The expected outcomes include extended options in finance for alleviating data mining, as well as new guidelines for rigorously evaluating the explanatory power of risk factors on expected returns. The project findings are expected to significantly advance our understan ....Limiting False Positives in Empirical Asset Pricing Tests. The project aims to address the issue of data mining in asset pricing tests using innovative interdisciplinary approaches that mitigate the occurrence of false positives. The expected outcomes include extended options in finance for alleviating data mining, as well as new guidelines for rigorously evaluating the explanatory power of risk factors on expected returns. The project findings are expected to significantly advance our understanding of the pricing of risk. Additionally, the proposed tools are anticipated to have broad applications, such as corporate finance and fraud detection, and offer significant value to finance research and its stakeholders, such as the Australian asset management industry and government regulatory bodies.
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The Aetiology Of Alcohol Use Disorders In Adulthood: A Generational Perspective
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$630,927.00
Summary
This study aims to investigate the causes of alcohol problems in adult Australians. We will follow-up participants from a birth cohort study who are now in their thirties. We will assess long term outcomes from in-utero exposure to alcohol and biological, developmental and genetic predictors of alcohol disorders in adulthood. This study also aims to study genetic factors which may be important in the development of alcohol abuse and dependence.
Which Modifiable Risk Factors Actually Cause Cancer?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,076.00
Summary
Observational studies suggest that modifiable risk factors such as low vitamin D levels, coffee consumption, alcohol consumption and obesity may be important in cancer risk. However, observational studies can only demonstrate association between a risk factor and cancer, and association does not equal causation. We present an alternative approach to help determine which risk factors actually cause cancer.
Improving Patient Outcomes In Surgery: Implementing The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$174,107.00
Summary
Surgery is central to health care with an estimated 234 million operations being performed each year around the world. Over the past decade, the use of checklists in surgery has been seen as a way of reducing or prevention adverse events. However, there is inconsistent uptake and sustained use of checklists as a communication tool in surgery. The aim of this implementation project is to evaluate the feasibility of an intervention designed to increase the adoption and use of the WHO Checklist in ....Surgery is central to health care with an estimated 234 million operations being performed each year around the world. Over the past decade, the use of checklists in surgery has been seen as a way of reducing or prevention adverse events. However, there is inconsistent uptake and sustained use of checklists as a communication tool in surgery. The aim of this implementation project is to evaluate the feasibility of an intervention designed to increase the adoption and use of the WHO Checklist in clinical practice.Read moreRead less