College of Healthcare Sciences


Lisa Shaw

Lisa Shaw

Stephen Yu

Stephen Yu

Karen Smith

Karen Smith

Chae Rose

Chae Rose

Helen Petsky

Helen Petsky

Lucy Bird

Lucy Bird

Alyssia Merrick

Alyssia Merrick

Quantifying the acute physical, cognitive and physiological responses of various training modalities in Australian Soldiers (Old ID 26736)
Wade Sinclair - Sports & Exercise Science
05 Feb 2020 - 31 Dec 2025
The project sets out to answer the following research question: What is the degree of stress, fatigue and recovery experienced by Australian Soldiers after bouts of occupationally specific physical activities? To answer this question, the project will develop an evidence-based assessment protocol to assess levels of fatigue and stress in Soldiers after bouts of occupationally related strenuous activities across various periods of employment. This will inform the chain of command on appropriate recovery times for different modalities of training, ensuring that soldiers remain combat-ready throughout their training cycles and minimise symptoms overtraining.
Quantifying the acute physical, cognitive and physiological responses of various training modalities in Australian Soldiers (Old ID 26736)
Anthony Leicht - Sports & Exercise Science
05 Feb 2020 - 31 Dec 2025
The project sets out to answer the following research question: What is the degree of stress, fatigue and recovery experienced by Australian Soldiers after bouts of occupationally specific physical activities? To answer this question, the project will develop an evidence-based assessment protocol to assess levels of fatigue and stress in Soldiers after bouts of occupationally related strenuous activities across various periods of employment. This will inform the chain of command on appropriate recovery times for different modalities of training, ensuring that soldiers remain combat-ready throughout their training cycles and minimise symptoms overtraining.
A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to examining the experiences and perceptions of nurses treating persons who self-harm.
Ylona Chun Tie - Nursing & Midwifery
30 Sep 2024 - 30 Sep 2025
Nurses are often the initial provider of treatment and care to persons who self-harm. However, research suggests that the attitudes and perceptions of nurses towards people who self-harm is quite negative. This project aims to investigate and understand the experiences of nurses at Cairns Hospital who have treated persons that have self-harmed to inform the development of a potential future education intervention.
A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to examining the experiences and perceptions of nurses treating persons who self-harm.
Natalie Conley - Nursing & Midwifery 1
30 Sep 2024 - 30 Sep 2025
Nurses are often the initial provider of treatment and care to persons who self-harm. However, research suggests that the attitudes and perceptions of nurses towards people who self-harm is quite negative. This project aims to investigate and understand the experiences of nurses at Cairns Hospital who have treated persons that have self-harmed to inform the development of a potential future education intervention.
A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to examining the experiences and perceptions of nurses treating persons who self-harm.
Tanya Park - Nursing & Midwifery
30 Sep 2024 - 30 Sep 2025
Nurses are often the initial provider of treatment and care to persons who self-harm. However, research suggests that the attitudes and perceptions of nurses towards people who self-harm is quite negative. This project aims to investigate and understand the experiences of nurses at Cairns Hospital who have treated persons that have self-harmed to inform the development of a potential future education intervention.
Predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes of moderate to late preterm (MLP) infants: biopsychosocial and cultural determinants
Connar McShane - Psychology
08 Feb 2022 - 08 Feb 2030
This prospective, cohort study aims to identify biopsychosocial and cultural factors associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes of moderate to late preterm (MLP) infants (32 weeks and zero days to 36 weeks and six days completed gestation). This area is largely underexamined compared to infants born at earlier gestations (Bills et al., 2021; Cheong et al., 2021). Neurodevelopmental outcomes of MLP infants will be screened and assessed using standardised psychometrics (e.g., Bayley-4 A&NZ; Bayley & Aylward, 2020), and biopsychosocial and cultural factors ascertained by validated scales (e.g., Parental Stress Scale; Berry & Jones, 1995). Multiple hierarchical regression will be conducted to develop a predictive model of neurodevelopment which may inform healthcare management approaches for MLP infants and their families. This project has received HREC approval, with project commencement pending approval of a SSA. The SSA requires the completion of a JCU/THHS research contract to be drafted by JCU Connect - of which this application has been lodged for.
The Impact of Daily Physical Activity and Sleep on Resting Heart Rate and Resting Heart Rate Variability in Individuals with High and Low Stress Load
Zoltan Sarnyai - Psychology
30 Jun 2024 - 29 Jun 2025
It is known that regular physical activity decreases resting heart rate (RHR) and increases resting heart rate variability (HRV), while chronic stress increases RHR and decreases resting HRV. Although it is recommended that stressed individuals exercise to reduce their stress burden, it is unclear if they benefit from exercise to the same extent as those who do not experience stress overload. A current gap in the literature is the lack of studies investigating cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning in individuals with different chronic stress loads. The current project aims to investigate the differences in long-term ANS responses to daily physical activity in people experiencing high versus low chronic stress. We hypothesize that individuals who experience chronic stress exhibit a blunted autonomic response (less decrease in RHR and less increase in resting HRV) to daily exercise due to an inability to regulate parasympathetic activation effectively. Therefore, in this regard they won’t benefit from regular exercise as much as those who don’t experience chronic stress, owing to their decreased autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity. In order to test this hypothesis, we would like to benefit from the Tesserae dataset.
The Impact of Daily Physical Activity and Sleep on Resting Heart Rate and Resting Heart Rate Variability in Individuals with High and Low Stress Load
Anthony Leicht - Sports & Exercise Science
30 Jun 2024 - 29 Jun 2025
It is known that regular physical activity decreases resting heart rate (RHR) and increases resting heart rate variability (HRV), while chronic stress increases RHR and decreases resting HRV. Although it is recommended that stressed individuals exercise to reduce their stress burden, it is unclear if they benefit from exercise to the same extent as those who do not experience stress overload. A current gap in the literature is the lack of studies investigating cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning in individuals with different chronic stress loads. The current project aims to investigate the differences in long-term ANS responses to daily physical activity in people experiencing high versus low chronic stress. We hypothesize that individuals who experience chronic stress exhibit a blunted autonomic response (less decrease in RHR and less increase in resting HRV) to daily exercise due to an inability to regulate parasympathetic activation effectively. Therefore, in this regard they won’t benefit from regular exercise as much as those who don’t experience chronic stress, owing to their decreased autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity. In order to test this hypothesis, we would like to benefit from the Tesserae dataset.
Effectiveness and reliability of a synthetic data generation
Zoltan Sarnyai - Psychology
01 Mar 2024 - 01 Mar 2025
Using YALE supplied data in order to reproduce a prior publication using a bootstrapping method for synthetic data generation.
Am I Talking to a Real Person? Experimental Investigations into Human Perceptions of Therapeutic Chatbots
Sam Teague - Psychology
28 May 2024 - 28 May 2025
Therapeutic chatbots could enhance the accessibility of psychological treatments, reducing wait times and costs; yet questions remain about user acceptance. Millet et al. (2023) highlight biases against AI-generated art, suggesting a similar bias may exist for perceptions of therapeutic chatbots. This program of experimental research will investigate whether therapeutic communications are perceived as less empathetic when attributed to therapeutic chatbots, as opposed to humans, across three populations: the general community; therapists/counsellors; and mental health app users. This research will inform future integration of chatbots into digital interventions, including their suitability across different contexts, and highlight targets for improved user experience.
Reseracher: Sam Teague (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2023
End Date: 01 Jan 2024
Reseracher: Sam Teague (Senior Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2022
End Date: 01 Jan 2026
Reseracher: Clint Knight (Lecturer, Psychology)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1989
End Date: 01 Jan 1993
Reseracher: Michael Crowe (Adjunct Senior Lecturer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1989
End Date: 01 Jan 1993
Start Date: 01 Jan 1994
End Date: 01 Jan 1996
Reseracher: Michael Crowe (Adjunct Senior Lecturer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2008
End Date: 01 Jan 2011
Reseracher: Jenny Kelly (Associate Professor, Nursing and Midwifery)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2011
Reseracher: Michael Crowe (Adjunct Senior Lecturer)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2014
End Date: 01 Jan 2019
Reseracher: Wendy Li (Associate Professor)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2019