Centre for Health Research

This theme includes a range of work in the biomedical, behavioural, and social sciences in:

• ageing
• cancer control and survivorship - involves applied research to improve cancer control and cancer survival in regional communities.
• clinical education and practice
• communicable and non-communicable diseases
• molecular biomarkers

Contact: Professor Stuart Biddle.

Current projects

• Describing Variations in Outcomes: Regional vs Urban: to identify and describe inequitable outcomes in people living with cancer in rural areas, and factors associated with these inequities
• Increasing Participation in Bowel Cancer Screening: to facilitate early detection and survival of bowel cancer, particularly in regional and remote Australia through understanding and improving participation in the NBCSP
• Travelling 4 Treatment: to understand the experience of, and improve outcomes for, regional and rural cancer patients

Health Economics and Technology involves a range of health and healthcare delivery issues, including carrying out economic evaluations of health interventions and measuring and valuing health outcomes. This research aims to inform policy-making decisions and industry practice at local, national and international levels.

Our research areas include:

• Health Economics and Policy, led by Professor Khorshed Alam and Professor Jeffrey Gow. Current research areas include:
  • economic evaluation of healthcare interventions and programs
  • socio-economic determinants of health
  • health insurance and finance
  • health policy
  • non-communicable diseases including cancer, obesity, diabetes and mental health
  • socio-economic burden of diseases
  • health technology assessment
  • health inequalities and inequity.

• Health Economics and Healthy Start to Life, led by Associate Professor Rasheda Khanam. Current project include:
  • the economics of child health and wellbeing
  • inequality in health
  • the economics of child and maternal health
  • health, socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors
  • economic evaluation and health
  • impact of health on education and labour market outcome
  • health, nutrition, fertility and mortality in developing countries.
• Health Informatics, led by Professor Jeffrey Soar. Current projects include:
  • data analytics and sentiment analysis
  • mobile phone avatar for guided self-care
  • enabling evidence-based medicine
  • agile and lean methods in healthcare
  • mental health distress prediction
  • diabetic management
  • markov modelling
  • cancer prediction.

• Artificial Intelligence in Health, led by Professor Yan Li. Current projects include:
  • EEG based brain activity decoding for clinical instrumentation and neurological disorders early detection
  • human head modelling
  • developing an Auto Transcranial Doppler ultrasound probe using machine learning algorithms
  • developing an Intelligence Method for Realistic 3D modelling of the human cerebral blood vessels from Magnetic Resonance Data
  • developing decision support systems to help dental clinic use text mining and knowledge engineering techniques, and an ensemble machine learning model to help heart disease patients in tele-health environment.
    

Health and Social Justice

This program team brings together cross-disciplinary researchers working in partnership with affected community members and industry partners. We address current health issues to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes among priority populations in chronic disease and health/well being through rigorously evaluated applied research and translation science.  

Health and Social Justice research themes include:

• Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
• First nations
• Neurodiversity
• Sexuality & gender.
  

Mental Health

Mental Health research themes include:

• child and adolescent mental health
• suicide behaviours and prevention
• technology, mental health & well-being.

Occupational Health

Work includes organisational psychology, occupational health and retention of its professionals, and on how healthy nurses promote positive patient outcomes. Research also includes physical activity and health in shift workers.

Contacts: Assoc Prof Erich Fein or Assoc Prof Tracy Kolbe-Alexander.

Physical Activity and sport

Physical Activity and sport research themes includes:

• clinical exercise physiology
• physical activity & public health
• sport & exercise science.

Within Physical Activity & Sport theme, the physical activity and public health strand includes The Physically Active Lifestyles (PALs) research group. Research projects involve the study of:

• sedentary behaviour and screen time
• muscle strengthening exercise: prevalence and health outcomes
• holistic movement practices (e.g. yoga)
• mental health
• behaviour change
• physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the workplace.

Contact: Assoc Prof Tracy Kolbe-Alexander.