Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and ....Improving productivity: theory and application to Australian hospitals. This project aims to improve existing methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of organisations. The new methods will be applied to Australian hospitals, to analyse their productivity and efficiency, identify the best-practices and their determinants and recommend improvements and necessary reforms. The high level of healthcare costs in Australia, about 5 percent of gross domestic product, as well as their rapid and accelerating growth, imply that application of methods developed through this project may save billions of dollars and, more importantly, thousands of lives. An expected outcome of this project will be superior theoretical and practical methods for analysing productivity and efficiency of economic systems, to enhance understanding of the potential for improvements and of the necessary reforms.Read moreRead less
Scalable and Robust Bayesian Inference for Implicit Statistical Models. This project aims to develop the next generation of efficient methods for fitting complex simulation-based statistical models to data. Practitioners and scientists are interested in such implicit models to enable discoveries, produce accurate predictions and inform decisions under uncertainty. However, the associated computational cost has restricted researchers to implicit models that must have a small number of parameters ....Scalable and Robust Bayesian Inference for Implicit Statistical Models. This project aims to develop the next generation of efficient methods for fitting complex simulation-based statistical models to data. Practitioners and scientists are interested in such implicit models to enable discoveries, produce accurate predictions and inform decisions under uncertainty. However, the associated computational cost has restricted researchers to implicit models that must have a small number of parameters and be well specified, impeding scientific progress. This project will develop new computational methods and algorithms for implicit models that scale to high dimensions and are robust to misspecification. Benefits will arise from the more routine use of implicit models in epidemiology, biology, ecology and other fields.Read moreRead less
Statistical Methods for Next Generation Genome-Wide Association Studies. This project aims to develop cutting-edge statistical methods to analyse large genomic datasets and identify genetic variants associated with inter-individual differences in various human traits. Knowledge of trait-associated DNA variants is instrumental in understanding how natural selection has shaped human traits. By integrating genomic data from diverse and underrepresented populations, this project further expects to c ....Statistical Methods for Next Generation Genome-Wide Association Studies. This project aims to develop cutting-edge statistical methods to analyse large genomic datasets and identify genetic variants associated with inter-individual differences in various human traits. Knowledge of trait-associated DNA variants is instrumental in understanding how natural selection has shaped human traits. By integrating genomic data from diverse and underrepresented populations, this project further expects to contribute to the equitable use of genomic technologies in humans, regardless of geographical origins. Expected outcomes of this research include novel analysis methods and software tools, which should broadly and significantly benefit gene discovery in other species, including those of agricultural relevance.Read moreRead less
Hybrid Imaging System for Breast Cancer Detection. Due to the ever increasing number of breast cancer mortalities in Australia, there is an urgent need for an efficient and reliable diagnostic imaging system. This research utilises a novel method to build an imaging system, which is accurate and reliable in the early detection of tumours. The work of this fellowship will improve quality of life of Australian women and put us at the international forefront of research in medical imaging, enhancin ....Hybrid Imaging System for Breast Cancer Detection. Due to the ever increasing number of breast cancer mortalities in Australia, there is an urgent need for an efficient and reliable diagnostic imaging system. This research utilises a novel method to build an imaging system, which is accurate and reliable in the early detection of tumours. The work of this fellowship will improve quality of life of Australian women and put us at the international forefront of research in medical imaging, enhancing our already significant international presence in the area. The project will potentially lead to valuable intellectual property for commercialisation opportunities besides strengthening key international collaborations.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bio ....Unlocking the potential of bacterial polymers by defining key determinants. Sugary structures that coat the surface of some bacteria, known as capsules, can be modified by bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) in the environment. For the bacterial genus Acinetobacter, this influences their use as naturally renewable 'green' biopolymers for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This project aims to characterise crucial capsule polymerase enzymes using a combination of bioinformatics and experimental methodologies to establish how bacteriophage influence Acinetobacter capsules. Outcomes include the development of an innovative genomics pipeline to detect capsule change, improving the use of living bacteria for bioremediation and sustainable rehabilitation of natural ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Frontiers in bone and joint regeneration. Key outcomes of this project will deliver innovative strategies for scaffold-based bone and cartilage engineering whilst contributing to the education of a new generation of bioengineers, biomaterial scientists and tissue engineers with a strong international profile.
Optomechanical metrology: pushing optical sensing to its limit. This project aims to pioneer technologies to observe and control the microscopic world with unprecedented precision, and apply them to realise practical sensors with unrivalled performance. Nano- and micro-scale sensors will be developed that resolve motion smaller than an atomic nucleus, in a classical spin-off from international efforts to study quantum physics at the nanoscale. Record precision will be achieved in thermometry and ....Optomechanical metrology: pushing optical sensing to its limit. This project aims to pioneer technologies to observe and control the microscopic world with unprecedented precision, and apply them to realise practical sensors with unrivalled performance. Nano- and micro-scale sensors will be developed that resolve motion smaller than an atomic nucleus, in a classical spin-off from international efforts to study quantum physics at the nanoscale. Record precision will be achieved in thermometry and magnetometry. New tools will be developed for lab-on-a-chip medical diagnosis and thermal imaging, that in future could allow femtolitre diagnosis of blood diseases such as malaria, on-chip genomic analysis, more efficient airport screening, and more precise satellite maps of global and atmospheric temperature.Read moreRead less
Solving the solvent problem in chemical modelling. This project aims to produce highly accurate, user-friendly chemical solvent models using interdisciplinary theoretical chemistry techniques. The benefits of these novel models are extremely broad since chemical modelling is more impactful than traditional laboratory based techniques in solving multi-faceted modern chemical problems. The proposed outcomes of the project are significant, as they will transform how applied research solves difficul ....Solving the solvent problem in chemical modelling. This project aims to produce highly accurate, user-friendly chemical solvent models using interdisciplinary theoretical chemistry techniques. The benefits of these novel models are extremely broad since chemical modelling is more impactful than traditional laboratory based techniques in solving multi-faceted modern chemical problems. The proposed outcomes of the project are significant, as they will transform how applied research solves difficult and expensive real world chemical problems by allowing researchers to reliably include solvents in their models. It will have economic benefits for the chemical, mining and materials sectors in Australia, which represent billion-dollar industries.Read moreRead less
A novel path to environmental and human health risk assessment of transformation products. Chemical pollution is a threat to our rivers and drinking water supplies. Degradation during water treatment and in the environment may lead to persistent and toxic transformation products. This project will provide a practical and cost-efficient risk assessment strategy for transformation products - to help ensure that our drinking water is safe.
Smart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents: from early detection to assessment of drug delivery mechanisms. 'Smart' contrast agents will be developed for enhancing the performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of diseases such as cancer by designing them to be triggered by biochemical markers for disease. This has the potential to aid in early detection which can lead to lower mortality rates and consequently a lower burden on the health system.