College of Medicine & Dentistry
Mal Fernando
- Adjunct Research Fellow
- mal.fernando@jcu.edu.au
Jemma King
- Lecturer, Public Health
- jemma.king@jcu.edu.au
Alan Clough
- Professor
- alan.clough@jcu.edu.au
Selina Taylor
- Senior Lecturer, Pharmacy
- selina.taylor@jcu.edu.au
Alanna Sorenson
- Senior Lecturer, Molecular and Cell Biology
- alanna.sorenson@jcu.edu.au
Priscilla Page
- Indigenous Health Academic
- priscilla.page1@jcu.edu.au
Cec O'Brien
- Associate Professor, Reproductive & Neonatal Health
- cecelia.obrien@jcu.edu.au
Parul Nigam
- Senior Lecturer
- parul.nigam@jcu.edu.au
Ernie Jennings
- Associate Professor, Anatomy
- ernest.jennings@jcu.edu.au
Kornelija Sfera
- Senior Lecturer, Oral Histology & Physiology
- kornelija.sfera@jcu.edu.au
Implementation of quality improvement in Indigenous primary health care: Leveraging Effective Ambulatory Practices (LEAP) (Old ID 23468)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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?
Diagnostic Approaches to Mental Health - The Allostatic Load (Old ID 27306)
The goal of this project is to establish allostatic load index as a predictive tool in psychiatry. I will study the role allostatic load index, a measure of multisystem adaptation to changing demands and stress/trauma, in predicting the development of serious mental illness by analysing a UK longitudinal data set.
Accelerating clean meat fish production (Old ID 28945)
Our aim is to build a new technology to mass-produce sustainable Clean Meat Seafood at low cost. This will enable us to: (i) feed the world’s population, (ii) prevent further exploitation of the world’s oceans and overfishing of endangered wild-caught species, (iii) to avoid the high environmental costs associated with aquaculture, and (iv) provide a sustainable and safe alternative of those species that cannot be successfully reared and grown in an aquaculture setting.
Integrated online platform for delivery of digital health services by a multi-disciplinary team of allied health professionals (Old ID 23626)
This project aims to create an integrated online platform for multi-disciplinary allied health professionals to provide evidence-based digital health support and services to communities, organisations and clients, especially those in rural and remote communities, vulnerable groups and/or those who would otherwise not be able to access quality health services within Queensland, Australia and other countries. This project provides solutions to challenges associated with a sustainable design for service delivery compared to current models that involve significant funding in order to access these populations. This project has the potential to reach these geographically dispersed communities while reducing costs through decreased travel.
HOT NORTH - Pilot Project - Round 4 - Cooking smoke and indoor air pollution : Impaired immunity to Tuberculosis at Australian's northern border? (Old ID 25026)
Middle Fly region of PNG has very high rates of TB and pre-existing lung disease may play a significant role in the acquisition and development of TB disease. Our study will determine the burden and characteristics of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and investigate the resultant lung immune response defects in this community. In doing so we will build local capacity in lung function testing and laboratory analysis and optimise a pipeline of sample analysis of lung immune responses from PNG to JCU, Townsville. Such information will complement existing TB programmes in South Fly region of the Western Province.
Title:
Men are shaving off their eyelashes on TikTok, here's why that might be a bad idea, The Conversation
Start Date:
14 May 2025
Start Date:
15 May 2025
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03 Jun 2025
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01 Jan 2012
Title:
Grants Review
Start Date:
01 Jan 2024
End Date:
01 Jan 2024
Title:
Public Health Advocacy
Start Date:
01 Jan 2024
End Date:
01 Jan 2024
Start Date:
16 Jun 2025