Research Projects
Social support for perinatal mental health in Northern Queensland: A pilot randomised controlled trial
The Bamboo Parenting Program is an online social support program for first-time mothers in the perinatal period. The program has been designed to prevent and reduce mental illness during this vulnerable period, and by leveraging social support, Bamboo targets one of the most significant predictors of mental health for perinatal women. The program pairs first-time mothers with volunteer mothers or with mother-nominated individuals, with support training provided in program. Pairs work together to navigate the critical and difficult perinatal period. Funding from this seed fund contributes to the evaluation of a pilot randomised trial in Northern Queensland.
Using new technologies to assess the health, connectivity and movements of dugongs in northern Australia (Old ID 30031)
In this study we propose to: Activity 1. Dugong genomic work i.e., facilitate the collection of dugong samples in collaboration with Indigenous groups and create capacity to analyse samples from stranded dugongs. Activity 2. Dugong body condition work i.e., facilitate the collection of close-up aerial images of dugong in collaboration with Indigenous groups. Activity 3. Dugong tracking apparatus testing to enable the longer and safer tracking of dugongs to better understand the evolution in their inshore-offshore habitat use/large scale movements/movements as result of stress (including areas used at night).
The acute effect of occlusion exercise on muscle performance in patients with severe osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis worldwide, causing pain, limited mobility, and reduced quality of life. Strengthening exercises are commonly used to manage osteoarthritis, but their inappropriate application may exacerbate symptoms. Emerging evidence suggests that blood flow restriction (BFR) exercises offer optimal training benefits with minimal symptom aggravation. However, research on acute BFR exercise responses in patients living with osteoarthritis is limited. Understanding acute BFR responses can guide exercise selection for osteoarthritis management and research direction. This study aims to investigate the impact of BFR exercises on muscle function and blood metabolites in knee osteoarthritis, contributing to better management approaches.
HeARTS: pHysical Activity factoRs among people living with mulTiple sclerosiS. A global study
This survey coordinated by the European Network for Research and Best Practice in MS Rehabilitation (RIMS), aims to understand what is the self-reported physical activity level in persons with MS across all disability levels and across Countries within and beyond Europe. We would like to learn more about whether people with MS are physically active or not, and topics related to this such as living context, work activity, and individual motivation. These aspects will help health professionals to better understand factors associated with physical activity in MS in order to promote and facilitate it among people with MS by creating more realistic and more useful programs.
Pushed out learning: LMS mobile applications, push notifications and learning behaviours
We have received this research grant of AUD$5,000 from HERDSA and ethics application is undergoing at the University of Melbourne.
Below is the abstract:
Pushed out learning: LMS mobile applications, push notifications and learning behaviours
Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have been a core feature of higher education (HE) worldwide for over two decades, with Australia as one of the prominent adopters. Today, an increasing number of students are accessing LMSs through purpose-built applications on their mobile devices. Although mobile LMSs (mLMSs) were introduced over a decade ago, there is little critical research into their use among university students. This is a critical gap, as many educators may be unaware of these apps, their features and how students interact with them (see Evans & Rivera, 2022). Push notifications, alerts sent directly to mobile devices, serve as a perceptible example of how mLMSs may be transforming learning behaviours. The project, thus, examines how push notifications and mLMSs, more broadly, shape Australian university students’ learning behaviours.
This study adopts a mixed-methods approach to, first, explore students’ interactions with mLMSs through the focus groups and, second, compare these interactions across three Australian universities through institution-wide student surveys. Each of the three universities – University of Melbourne (UoM), University of New South Wales (UNSW) and James Cook University (JCU) – employs a different LMS platform, widely adopted across the Australian HE sector. Exploring the differences between the selected institutions and their LMS platforms will enable a comprehensive understanding of students’ interactions with mLMSs and their push notifications, in particular. To that end, the study will inform sector-wide recommendations for teaching staff training and support, inclusive of both technical and pedagogical dimensions.
Strengthening rural healthcare delivery through value-based allied health rural generalism: A place-based, co-designed approach to inform workforce growth and support integrated healthcare
Growth and sustainability of allied health workforce in rural and remote Queensland have been ongoing challenges, contributing to reduced health service access and increased burden and financial costs on the rural health system. In a multidisciplinary place-based approach, this study aims to inform effective strategies to optimise Allied Health Rural Generalist (AHRG) training pathways, employment models and interprofessional collaborations in Northwestern Queensland.
Preparing 'Healthcare Scientists' for placement: Developing a -pre-placement training workshop to enhance graduate readiness in science-based allied health disciplines
This project aims to improve the readiness of healthcare science degree students, specifically in psychology and sport & exercise science, for placement and post-degree careers through a pre-placement training workshop. Based on interviews with students and placement supervisors, the workshop will address identified skill gaps (e.g., career awareness, communication, cultural responsiveness) currently missing in our academic curriculum. Information from these focus groups with students and placement supervisors will be incorporated into the pre-placement training workshop, and evaluated for its efficacy preparing students for placement. If successful, we will look to adapt the workshop for other healthcare or science-based disciplines.
NESP Project 5.11 Water quality trends analysis at key GBR basins (sediment and DIN)
Despite considerable government investment in Great Barrier Reef catchment area (GBRCA) water quality programs (>$2B) including on-ground works and regulation, this is the first comprehensive analysis of long-term trends in empirical water quality monitoring data to test and quantify any detectable changes. Building on the definitive compilation of four decades of historical water quality data for key river basins of the GBRCA (James at al., 2025), this project will examine long-term trends in Reef 2050 Plan priority constituents, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and suspended sediment. To compliment this evaluation, this project will compile and evaluate changes in fertiliser application amounts across the river basins of the GBRCA over the same time period. This compilation of land use specific fertiliser application data also provides a foundational record of long-term changes in land management over annual timesteps. This project will inform current and future Reef policy and on-ground investment programs, as well as support on-going catchment modelling efforts.
Leveraging AI simulations for allied health education: Pilot study for Psychology
IDA (Interactive Dialogue Agent) is a customisable LLM-powered virtual patient simulator with speech capabilities. IDA is specifically designed for healthcare education with built-in safety measures. This project will test IDA with psychology students to determine its effectiveness before expanding to other healthcare disciplines, ultimately providing students college-wide (and university-wide) dynamic and scalable simulations.