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Developing Core Bioinformatics Capacity at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (Old ID 23197)
Cost effective next generation sequencing is now a reality, meaning the bottleneck for research projects has shifted from data generation to data analysis. Researchers at the Australian Institute of Health and Tropical Medicine (AITHM) are engaged in an increasing number of high-impact research projects that require timely access to high-throughput bioinformatics best-practices methodologies. This proposal outlines strategies to develop support for projects requiring bioinformatics within AITHM.
Development of a virtual wellness hub: A student well-being initiative for online learners
JCU 2024 Learning and Teaching Grant (Medium)
Understanding Population Structures of Chironex fleckeri
An understanding of population structures is fundamental to understanding threats, where do jellyfish come from and how far do they go? If there is great genetic exchange among local populations then the source of jellyfish may be distant to areas where swimmers are threatened. In contrast, if populations are geographically small and, are not connected to other populations then the ability to make predictions on likely threats would be more robust. Our focus is on the deadly stinger, Chironex fleckeri, the species that poses the greatest threat to humans in tropical waters of Australia.
Population connectivity is the exchange of individuals among geographically separated population units. Some local populations may be limited to a small geographic area such as a bay, estuary or island. It is also possible that local populations with little or zero connectivity could contribute to a mosaic of genetic diversity within a stock, and under the right circumstances could become a separate stock (Pineda et al 2007).
Jellyfish have historically been classified as plankton. Accordingly, it would be assumed that connectivity would be high among local jellyfish populations and that populations would vary little in both ecological and genetic clade-level differences over broad spatial scales (i.e., hundreds to thousands of km). However, findings on the behavior and swim speeds of jellyfish suggest they may have swimming behaviour that more aligns with nekton (McManus et al. 2012). Nekton can swim to either maximize dispersal or minimize it by remaining close to natal areas and these strategies can spatially broaden or restrict species population structures, respectively.
Cubozoans have a number of attributes that assist in restricting the dispersal of medusa from localized areas. Although cubozoans are generally small, they are generally highly mobile. The fifty known species of cubozoans range in size from those with a bell diameter of a few cm to about 20–25 cm and all of the species that have been observed swim well. Chironex fleckeri (size range: 4 to 12 cm IPD) have been measured to swim at speeds of up to 16.6 cm s−1 in the field (Schlaefer et al. 2018).
Cubozoans have excellent sensory abilities including vision provided by 24 eyes. More complex behaviours of cubozoans include responding to objects, conspecifics, currents, diel cycles, shadow and light, bioluminescent plankton, habitat type and small-scale geography (Kingsford et al 2021).. Accordingly, predictions for population structures of jellyfish based on passive dispersal are likely to be highly inaccurate.
Our objective it to use mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to identify intraspecific phylogenetic relationships among local populations along the coast of Queensland. We will use this approach to study the gene flow and connectivity of local populations separated by 10s to 100s of kilometres and this will include multiple locations used by swimmers. Using this approach we will determine scales of connectivity.
Mackay Box Jellyfish eDNA Detection
Chironex fleckeri poses the greatest threat to humans in tropical waters of Australia. This application is a follow up for a proposal submitted to LIONS in 2024. Our focus was, and continues to be, on the deadly stinger. There are four elements to the proposed study (1) determine the risk for envenomation near Eimeo Beach, Mackay where there was a fatality in February 2022. This would be done by sampling eDNA at locations we sampled in 2025; (2) sample near beaches, rocky headlands, and estuarine areas, within locations, to determine relative levels of risk; (3) compare our newly developed rapid tests with the established qPCR workflow; (4) expand our study of stingers in a replicate winter to determine the source of jellyfish from the Pioneer river (Mackay) north over a 20 km stretch of coastline that includes Eimeo Beach. With greater information on the polyp stage, we can determine if the source of jellyfish is distant to areas where swimmers are threatened. It is our view that an extra trip and treated analyses would make the study publishable and therefore widely accessible.
Building Research Confidence and Capability in Health Professional Educators: Evaluating Discussion Boards as a Community-of-Practice
This project evaluates the effectiveness of structured online discussion boards, designed as a community of practice, in developing research confidence and capability among postgraduate Health Professional Education students. Embedded within the HS5410 subject at James Cook University, the study adopts an explanatory mixed-methods design, combining pre–post survey data, learning analytics, and thematic analysis of reflective assessments. The project aims to determine whether participation in structured peer discussion and reflection supports the development of research skills, confidence, and scholarly identity. Findings will inform curriculum design and contribute to evidence-based strategies for research capacity building in health professional education, particularly in distributed and online learning environments.
NARDHC Digital Health Microcredential Development
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Education; Northern Australian Regional Digital Health Collaborative (NARDHC), this project involved curriculum writing and online development of a digital health course for the rural and remote workforce.
An investigation of multiple paternity in the endangered narrow sawfish, Anoxypristis cuspidata (Old ID 23312)
This genetics-based project will investigate multiple paternity in the endangered narrow sawfish for the first time. Sawfishes are arguably the most vulnerable of all marine fishes. Despite this, most aspects of their ecology and reproductive behaviour are poorly understood. A bycatch event of 25 pregnant females in Princess Charlotte Bay has provided a rare opportunity to explore multiple paternity in this species across a large number of litters. Using neutral molecular markers (microsatellites), this study will fill an important knowledge gap and provide information critical to effective conservation and management of this endangered species.
Ageing in place in rural Australia - An Embedded Collective Case Study (Old ID 24777)
This study aims to explore the perceptions of rural Australians and members of their social networks with regards to their expectations and strategies for preparing for healthy ageing in rural Australia. Previous studies on this topic in rural Canada have shown the importance of community feedback and the need for alignment with Government policies Herron and Skinner 2013). Relationships between family, friends and neighbours will be explored in this study as the importance of these informal networks in healthy ageing and their protective health effect are well documented. These relationships are the building blocks of the government's expectations of informal care, which it has used to inform its new policy "healthy life better ageing agreement" (currently informal care by elders is calculated to equivalent to 8 billion dollars) (ARC Centre of Excellence in population ageing research).
Improving the extraction process for QCIDE ™ oil (Old ID 26192)
This project involves data-logging to quantify process variables, and taking samples of hydrosol to determine the state of steam-biomass contact to determine oil yield and areas for process improvement.