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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.
Project 2016002 - Protecting our chemicals for the future through accelerated adoption of best management practice (Old ID 23149)
A collaborative project with Sugar Research Australia to identify appropriate management strategies for pesticides to maximise efficacy while minimising pesticide losses off-farm. Key JCU-TropWATER roles in project include: 1. Expert interpretation of water quality data sets generated through rainfall simulation and other water quality monitoring activities. 2. Advice on experimental design and planning 3. Assistance in running rainfall simulation and water quality monitoring activities as required. 4. Assistance in communication of results and water quality issues, including presentation and discussion with growers.
Advancing Immune Discovery in Northern Australia with Spectral Flow Cytometry
JCU respectfully seeks support from the Ian Potter Foundation to purchase the Cytek Aurora Spectral Flow Cytometer. This instrument is used for identifying, and conducting detailed analyses of single cells. The Cytek Aurora will replace JCU’s current, outdated flow cytometry instrument in Cairns: the FACSCanto II 3-laser eight-colour Flow Cytometer. This equipment is 15 years old and no longer meets JCU’s needs.
PROVISION OF TRAINING SERVICES FOR AQUACULTURE FARMS FOR TWO YEARS
The Singapore Food Agency (or “SFA”) is inviting suppliers for proposals on the provision of training services to aquaculture (i.e. food fish) farms in Singapore to enhance farmers’ capability and skills on farm management and good aquaculture practices. To contribute to Singapore’s Aquaculture Plan, farms will need guidance to mitigate the increased risk of diseases as they intensify production on limited space. The services shall be provided over a period of 2 years.
She Flies Drone Camps: Building Northern Australia's Drone Ecosystem (Old ID 23163)
She Flies is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary programme across Northern Australia. While the She Flies brand will cover a range of national initiatives (http://www.sheflies.com.au), this particular application for funding will focus on the She Flies Drone Camps. This is a series of week-long camps aimed at teaching Northern Australian high school girls and their teachers or parents the possibilities of working with, and flying drones. From design and construction through to flying and finally using photography to create maps, She Flies Drone Camp will be hands on, practical, fun and safe. Importantly, it will also provide a career path opportunity that many young women probably never realised existed. With initial estimates suggesting that fewer than 1% of drone pilots in Australia are female, we need to encourage young women into this technology and its associated spatial sciences. This will ensure equity and diversity across the industry going forwards.
Combating antibiotic-resistant infections using a health system approach (Old ID 23169)
The march of antibiotic resistance across the globe is leading to what many are calling the “post-antibiotic era”. This puts a massive, preventable burden both on patients and Queensland’s health system, costing millions of dollars each year. North Queensland is geographically vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases, located at the tropical Indo- Pacific gateway, with the highest rates of resistant tuberculosis, and incursions of dengue virus, for example. This project will generate an evidence base for cost and risks of infectious diseases in North Queensland; by linking several health system datasets, to synthesise prospective and retrospective cohorts. Professorial and Infectious Diseases Units at TTH are co-investigators of the project investing personnel to perform the research. Further, TTH infection control and executive policy-makers are the target end-user for translation of the research.
SeaToMeat - Optimizing Seaweed Proteins to Cultivate Meat
The SeaToMeat (Optimizing Seaweed Proteins to Cultivated Meat) project aims to tackle challenges of the growing cultivated
meat industry by generating lower-cost, high-performance hydrolysates for cell culture media. In this innovative initiative
seaweed proteins are converted into high-value hydrolysates, supporting circular economy principles.
In collaboration with research institutions such as the Singapore Institute of Technology, James Cook University in Singapore
and Australia, and industry partner Umami Bioworks, the project employs advanced technologies to optimize hydrolysis of
seaweed protein from sustainable farms in Indonesia and Australia. This process produces hydrolysates optimized for
cultivated meat, providing a scalable, cost-effective, and serum-free culture media solution – a critical need for the sector.
Focusing on scalability and replicability, SeaToMeat is poised for significant regional and global impact, addressing market
demand for cultivated meat production. The project fosters collaboration between industry stakeholders and research
institutions, driving towards the common goal of achieving cost-effective cultivated meat.