Reports and Findings (Published Research)

Do Changes in the Local Food Environment Within New Residential Developments Influence the Diets of Residents? Longitudinal Results from RESIDE

There is limited longitudinal evidence supporting a link between food outlet locations and dietary outcomes to inform policy and urban planning. This study examined how longitudinal changes in the local food environment within new residential developments.

Aural toilet (ear cleaning) for chronic suppurative otitis media

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), sometimes referred to as chronic otitis media (COM), is a chronic inflammation and often polymicrobial infection (involving more than one micro-organism) of the middle ear and mastoid cavity, characterised by ear discharge (otorrhoea) through a perforated tympanic membrane.

Copeptin Kinetics and Its Relationship to Osmolality During Rehydration for Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Children

Copeptin is a surrogate marker for arginine vasopressin (AVP) release in response to hyperosmolal stimuli such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The objective of this work is to characterize kinetics of copeptin and osmolality, and their dynamic relationship during rehydration and insulin therapy in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and DKA.

Identifying young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in linked administrative data: A comparison of methods

In the ongoing debate on optimum methods for identification of Indigenous people within linked administrative data, few studies have examined the impacts of method on population counts and outcomes in family-based linkage studies of Aboriginal children.

Psychosocial disadvantage and residential remoteness is associated with Aboriginal women's mental health prior to childbirth

Optimal mental health in the pre-conception, pregnancy and postpartum periods is important for both maternal and infant wellbeing. Few studies, however, have focused on Indigenous women and the specific risk and protective factors that may prompt vulnerability to perinatal mental disorders in this culturally diverse population.

Antimicrobial stewardship in remote primary healthcare across northern Australia

The high burden of infectious disease and associated antimicrobial use likely contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. We aimed to develop and apply context-specific tools to audit antimicrobial use in the remote primary healthcare setting.

Machine Learning-Based DNA Methylation Score for Fetal Exposure to Maternal Smoking

Fetal exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with the development of noncommunicable diseases in the offspring. Maternal smoking may induce such long-term effects through persistent changes in the DNA methylome, which therefore hold the potential to be used as a biomarker of this early life exposure. With declining costs for measuring DNA methylation, we aimed to develop a DNA methylation score that can be used on adolescent DNA methylation data and thereby generate a score for in utero cigarette smoke exposure.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of folic acid supplementation beyond the first trimester on maternal plasma unmetabolised folic acid in late gestation

Taking folic acid containing supplements prior to and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Neural tube defects occur prior to 28 days postconception, after which, there is no proven benefit of continuing to take folic acid. However, many women continue to take folic acid containing supplements throughout the pregnancy.

Wellbeing study

Burns are a common cause of emergency presentations, and most burn injuries happen to children and adolescents.

Interventions to eliminate rheumatic heart disease

Funded by a 5-year NHMRC Investigator grant to implement a strategy to eliminate rheumatic heart disease (RHD) as a public health problem in Australia.