School of Medicine & Dentistry Research Topics 2009

Research topics & areas are detailed below if you see a topic that you are interested in please contact the research area supervisor.

For General Enquiries about research opportunities within the School of Medicine

Contact: John McBride

Psychiatry Bernhard Baune

• Epidemiology and risk factor research of psychiatric disorders

• The genetic foundation of mood disorder and cognitive functions

• The involvement of the immune system in psychiatric disorders

• New treatment strategies in mood disorders and cognitive dysfunction

Women’s Health Ajay Rane

• Pelvic surgery for management of prolapse and urinary incontinence

Tropical Medicine John McBride

• Dengue fever

• Infectious diseases in Papua New Guinea

• Undiagnosed fevers in northern Australia

Colorectal Surgery Yikhong Ho

• Faecal Incontinence Management

• Colon and thyroid cancer (epidemiology and immunology)

Vascular Biology Unit Jonathan Golledge

1. Clinical Research

Arterial blockage

• Calcification of the abdominal aorta: accurate measurement and determination of risk factors.

• Assessment of the effect of medication on clot formation in association with artery disease.

• Assessment of the role of bone cytokines and fat hormones in artery blockage.

• Role of new agents in stabilizing atherosclerotic plaque.

• Assessment of the value of medical treatment of blocked peripheral arteries.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)

• Improved mechanistic insight into aneurysm development using mice models, human tissue and blood samples and genetic association studies.

• Improved understanding of AAA growth through development of an international growth cohort. Clinical risk factors, circulating biomarkers and genetic polymorphisms are being related to AAA progression.

• Improved identification of medications potentially suitable for patients with small AAA’s through animal studies and human association projects.

2. Development of clinical studies and trials

Professor Golledge has been integrally involved in the establishment of The Australian and New Zealand Joint Vascular Research Group. It is hoped that a clinical trials centre will be established in Townsville in the future. Ongoing multi-centre studies are important in building towards this goal. Present studies underway are as follows:

• The role of differences in circulating factors in the pathogenesis of vascular disease. This study explores the possible relationship between genes which control circulating factors in the blood and the weakening or blocking process in the vasculature.

• Biomarkers as determinants of successful endovascular aneurysm repair. This study looks at circulating levels of biomarkers of interest in patients undergoing open and endovascular aneurysm repair pre and post surgery and relates these to the outcome of the repair.

Rural Health & Primary Health Care Research

Sarah Larkins

• Health Care Research with Underserved Populations Cluster - improving the health of rural, remote, Indigenous and tropical populations

Sarah Larkins or Robyn Preston

• Primary health care research and research capacity building

Tarun Sen Gupta

• Medical education and primary health care research

Steve Margolis or Richard Murray

• Rural and remote workforce and training

Sarah Larkins or Steve Margolis

• Indigenous health clinical service delivery

Rebecca Stewart

• What motivates people to become volunteer simulated patients for medical education; and how does this motivation influence their confidence to provide feedback in teaching situations?

• Understanding patient attitudes to, and expectations of, the screening role and components of the “Well Woman Check”.

Medical Education

Kimberly Oman

• Human resources for Health, medical migration and medical education