College of Medicine & Dentistry


Semagn Abate

Semagn Abate

Joseph Kamara

Joseph Kamara

Eric Kalo

Eric Kalo

Erin Waters

Erin Waters

Kannan Maharajan

Kannan Maharajan

Fahmida Begum Mina

Fahmida Begum Mina

Lynsey Brown

Lynsey Brown

Ali Isin

Ali Isin

Mila Grinblat

Mila Grinblat

Clinical and Economic Impact of Telemedicine in Management of Diabetes Foot Ulcer in Rural/Remote areas of North Queensland: A Pilot Study (Old ID 21930)
Venkat Vangaveti
01 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2016
Currently subjects with Diabetic foot ulcers living in rural/remote areas in the region have to travel long distances to Townsville Hospital Diabetes Centre (THDC) on a weekly basis for would care. The annual Medicare cost for care in patients with diabetes who have foot ulcer is 3 times, with inpatient care accounting for 70% of ulcer care costs. We aim to undertake a program that effectively manages foot ulcers and reduces hospital admissions could substantially reduce costs of care in diabetes. We plan to use telemedicine to help solve the scarcity of specialist diabetes would care in underserved communities.
The Metformin Aneurisym Trial (MAT) (Old ID 26382)
Joseph Moxon
01 Jan 2020 - 31 Dec 2027
20 million people worldwide and 100,000 Australians have an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The main complication of AAA, aortic rupture, leads to 200,000 deaths/year worldwide. AAA prevalence and mortality rates in Australasia are 4-fold higher than the world average, so research to improve management is a key priorty. Most AAAs are detected when theya re small, when an effective treatment would prevent the need for surgery. There is currently no effective drug therapy for AA, and 70% of small AAAs grow to a size requiring surgical repair which carries inherent risks of death and major complications. A large amount of observational data from patients and laboratory models suggest that metformin may be an effective drug therapy for AAA. The metformin aneurysm trial (MAT) will be a large-scale, multi-centre randomised trail done as a collaboration between investigators in Australia, New Zealand, Swden and the United Kingdom across 55 sites over a 5 year trial period. Patients with AAA measuring between 39 and 49mmm in diameter will be enrolled over 24 months, assiged at random to 1500mn of metformin extended release (XR) or placebo each day followed for a mean of 3.5 years. The primary outcome will be AAA rupture or repair. The sample size of 1,954 will provide 90% pwer (p=0.05) to detect a 25% or greater reduction in the relative risk of the primary outcome. A positive finding from MAT would identify metformin as the first effective medical treatment for AAA. Since metformin is low cost, safe and available worldwide, the trial will have direct clinical implications for tens of millions of people around the world for whom no preventative therapy is currently available.
Exploration of cultural safety training and culturally safe practices by GP registrars when consulting with Indigenous patients. (Old ID 27420)
Rebecca Evans
01 Nov 2021 - 20 Feb 2023
Developing a culturally safe workforce has been a long-held and enacted priority of JCU and JCU GP training to improve the health of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. JCU GP training program is committed to the national priority of closing the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. As such, JCU GP training deeply embeds the ACRRM Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander core curriculum across all elements of training and workplace learning. This project aims to explore the impact of the JCU GP syllabus on the development of cultural safety. This includes examining registrars ongoing critical reflection of knowledge, skills, attitudes, practicing behaviours and power differentials in delivering safe, accessible, and responsive healthcare free of racism. Outcomes of the study will inform syllabus review and development, and further strengthening of current, positively contributing elements. Furthermore, this project will contribute to a larger project on “How can cultural safety, as determined by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, be assessed amongst GP trainees?”
Exploration of cultural safety training and culturally safe practices by GP registrars when consulting with Indigenous patients. (Old ID 27420)
Emma Anderson
01 Nov 2021 - 20 Feb 2023
Developing a culturally safe workforce has been a long-held and enacted priority of JCU and JCU GP training to improve the health of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. JCU GP training program is committed to the national priority of closing the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. As such, JCU GP training deeply embeds the ACRRM Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander core curriculum across all elements of training and workplace learning. This project aims to explore the impact of the JCU GP syllabus on the development of cultural safety. This includes examining registrars ongoing critical reflection of knowledge, skills, attitudes, practicing behaviours and power differentials in delivering safe, accessible, and responsive healthcare free of racism. Outcomes of the study will inform syllabus review and development, and further strengthening of current, positively contributing elements. Furthermore, this project will contribute to a larger project on “How can cultural safety, as determined by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, be assessed amongst GP trainees?”
Implementation of quality improvement in Indigenous primary health care: Leveraging Effective Ambulatory Practices (LEAP) (Old ID 23468)
Karen Carlisle
01 Jan 2018 - 30 Jun 2022
Despite increased policy attention and funding, not all primary healthcare (PHC) services for Indigenous Australians show the desired improvements in quality of care. Practices which provide PHC services are complex systems and emerging evidence indicates many things affect quality improvement. There remains a knowledge gap regarding what is required for Indigenous PHCs to succeed in improving the quality of their services and, subsequently, health outcomes for their patients. This project will capitalise on emerging research and existing strong partnerships to provide a solid evidence base for interventions to improve quality of priority health services in Indigenous PHC settings.
Implementation of quality improvement in Indigenous primary health care: Leveraging Effective Ambulatory Practices (LEAP) (Old ID 23468)
Rebecca Evans
01 Jan 2018 - 30 Jun 2022
Despite increased policy attention and funding, not all primary healthcare (PHC) services for Indigenous Australians show the desired improvements in quality of care. Practices which provide PHC services are complex systems and emerging evidence indicates many things affect quality improvement. There remains a knowledge gap regarding what is required for Indigenous PHCs to succeed in improving the quality of their services and, subsequently, health outcomes for their patients. This project will capitalise on emerging research and existing strong partnerships to provide a solid evidence base for interventions to improve quality of priority health services in Indigenous PHC settings.
Precision medicine for North Queensland Liver Cancer Patients. (Old ID 27477)
Craig McFarlane
01 Jan 2022 - 28 Feb 2025
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive and poorly treated liver cancer that is rapidly increasing in incidence in North Queensland. Most patients are ineligible to have their cancer surgically removed, and new systemic therapeutics only extend patient lives by six to eight months. Thus, new treatment approaches are urgently required. Through the collaboration of surgeons, scientists and bioinformaticians we are developing Precision Medicine for North Queensland Liver Cancer Patients. Using bioinformatics and three dimensional culture models we will trial novel therapeutic approaches. This research will rapidly lead to new therapeutic approaches to treat HCC.
Community led development, climate resilience and conservation in East Malaita (Old ID 26903)
Michelle Redman-MacLaren
16 Jun 2020 - 31 Dec 2021
Baru Conservation Alliance (BCA) was established a registered Non-Government Organisation in 2019 by leaders from East Kwaio, Malaita, Solomon Islands to coordinate ecological and cultural conservation in their tribal lands. This includes the holistic health and wellbeing of plants, animals and people living in prescribed conservation areas. This project, funded by the Australian High Commission in Solomon Islands allows JCU and the Australian Museum to build sustainable scientific and management capacities with the fledgling organisation. The project will support a series of local JCU supported projects within conservation areas that include TB, water and sanitation, reproductive health, community education and reforestation.
Sequence identification of a new virus impacting the crayfish industry for RNAi intervention. (Old ID 22431)
Jenny Elliman
01 Dec 2015 - 31 Dec 2017
The crayfish industry is set to bloom as hatchery technology has started to sustainably produce craylings to stock farms. Both hatchery and table demand for crayfish are completely unmet with farm gate prices consistently at $34/kg with a huge potential market. The crayfish industry has a pressing issue of chronic, stress-related mortality events. We have identified a positive sense, single stranded RNA virus (+ve ssRNA) from partial sequences taken from these crayfish. Crayfish cannot be vaccinated against this virus due to a lack of B-cell lineage (antibody producing cells). However, we can use RNA interference (RNAi) to knock down the load of the virus to a minimum, manageable load. To do this, we need to know the sequence of the virus. Positive ssRNA viruses make up about 1/3 of the virosphere, so we cannot assume what virus are likely to have in our crayfish based on our preliminary viral sequence.
Exploring the Long-Term Effects of Probiotic Supplementation in Premature Infants (Old ID 27028)
Donna Rudd
19 Oct 2020 - 31 Oct 2021
Probiotic supplementation is now standard care for pre-term infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); significantly reducing the risk of Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC) and mortality. What is not known is the long-term impact of this probiotic treatment on the developing infant gut microbiome. Evidence from a previous study shows positive effects, however, two important questions remain. 1. Microbes from probiotic supplementation appear to colonize the infant gut, cause positive modulation and reduce the incidence of disease, does this effect persist over the first year of life? 2. Should the criteria for probiotic supplementation be expanded to include all infants?
Reseracher: Leanne Hall (Senior Research Officer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2003
End Date: 01 Jan 2006
Reseracher: Amanda Meyer (Senior Lecturer, Anatomy and Pathology)
Start Date: 28 Apr 2026
Reseracher: Lisa Simmons (Senior Lecturer, Health Professional Education)
Start Date: 10 Oct 2022
Reseracher: Amanda Meyer (Senior Lecturer, Anatomy and Pathology)
Start Date: 05 May 2026
Reseracher: Kimberley Owens (Senior Lecturer Curriculum Transformation Lead)
End Date: 01 Jan 2008
Reseracher: Kimberley Owens (Senior Lecturer Curriculum Transformation Lead)
End Date: 01 Jan 2001
Reseracher: Karen Carlisle (Associate Professor, Health Postgraduate Education)
End Date: 01 Jan 2008
Reseracher: Karen Carlisle (Associate Professor, Health Postgraduate Education)
End Date: 01 Jan 1997
Reseracher: Jane Harte (Associate Dean, Students)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2020
End Date: 01 Jan 2024
Reseracher: Jane Harte (Associate Dean, Students)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
End Date: 01 Jan 2025