Innovative solutions to primary care management of back pain. Each year in Australia over $1billion is spent on low back pain treatment. Part of the reason for this massive expenditure is that back pain is extremely common. Most existing treatments involve highly skilled practitioners and considerable cost to the patient. This program of research will look at evaluating simple, low-cost care for patients with back pain. It will also consider the delivery of back pain care by community pharmacist ....Innovative solutions to primary care management of back pain. Each year in Australia over $1billion is spent on low back pain treatment. Part of the reason for this massive expenditure is that back pain is extremely common. Most existing treatments involve highly skilled practitioners and considerable cost to the patient. This program of research will look at evaluating simple, low-cost care for patients with back pain. It will also consider the delivery of back pain care by community pharmacists, an approach not previously evaluated. Prevention of recurrent back pain will also be studied. Such methods of delivering care will provide enormous savings to the health system while still ensuring best practice care for the patient.Read moreRead less
Mathematical explanation. The best mathematical proofs tell us why some mathematical fact holds, not simply that it holds. However to understand how one piece of mathematics explains another piece of mathematics is poorly understood. This project will develop a philosophical account of mathematical explanation. In particular, it will show how mathematics can explain further mathematics as well as how it can explain physical phenomena.
The nature and consequences of environmentally-generated phenotypic variation in natural populations. The ambient environment can generate both heritable and non-heritable variation in individual traits, but the role of such variation in evolution is poorly understood. This project will use a powerful model organism, the Australian neriid flies, to elucidate the evolutionary implications of environmentally-generated variation.
Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of child ....Unravelling early self-regulation: A longitudinal study. National data show persistent issues in Australian children's social-emotional vulnerability. Research shows we have had limited success shifting these trajectories through current education and intervention efforts. In short, we understand enough about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully alter current trajectories. This project will develop a ‘big picture’ theory of children’s self-regulation abilities and change, supported by Australia’s first longitudinal study of early self-regulation, from preschool into early primary school (ages 4 to 6). This robust theory of change is expected to better position ongoing education and intervention efforts to succeed.Read moreRead less
Literature and Science in the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to investigate the interplay between early medieval science and the literary imagination. The project focuses on Anglo-Saxon England, which provides a fully developed and well-preserved vernacular literary record, beside a learned Latin literary culture. It aims to investigate an important reciprocal relationship at a transitional moment in Western culture: the ways scientific learning influenced the early medieval literary imagi ....Literature and Science in the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to investigate the interplay between early medieval science and the literary imagination. The project focuses on Anglo-Saxon England, which provides a fully developed and well-preserved vernacular literary record, beside a learned Latin literary culture. It aims to investigate an important reciprocal relationship at a transitional moment in Western culture: the ways scientific learning influenced the early medieval literary imagination, and how the literary imagination influenced early medieval science. Study of the relationship between science and literature provides an insight into how people have understood the world around them and their relationship with it, interpreted in the light of inherited knowledge and the imagination.Read moreRead less
Vesicles stabilised by compressed carbon dioxide as nanoreactors and templates for radical polymerisation. A new environmentally friendly method for synthesis of surfactant vesicles involving stabilisation using low pressure carbon dioxide will be applied to the synthesis of hollow polymeric nanoparticles and polymer of well-defined structure. The resulting polymeric structures will have applications in drug delivery and nano-engineered materials.
Engaging the forgotten public health workforce. This Fellowship project aims to provide the first in-depth, coordinated, critical public health examination and application of consumer behaviour-informed methodology to examine health promotion and complementary medicine. The project aims to build on novel analyses and critical engagement with community members, health professionals and policymakers to advance public health scholarship of health information-seeking and chronic illness prevention. ....Engaging the forgotten public health workforce. This Fellowship project aims to provide the first in-depth, coordinated, critical public health examination and application of consumer behaviour-informed methodology to examine health promotion and complementary medicine. The project aims to build on novel analyses and critical engagement with community members, health professionals and policymakers to advance public health scholarship of health information-seeking and chronic illness prevention. It seeks to identify challenges and opportunities to improve Australian health promotion initiatives; provide an evidence-base to inform coordinated implementation of the National Preventive Health Strategy; and optimise the primary care workforce to benefit health promotion for Australians.Read moreRead less
Enhanced algal biofuel production: optimising photosynthesis in Australian strains of marine algae. Algal biofuel produces a sustainable liquid fuel to help meet our future energy needs. This project will pioneer a multifaceted approach in molecular biology and photophysiology to engineer the best biofuel producers from Australian marine algae and will advance innovation in Australia's biofuel biotechnology development.
Data-driven modelling of complex reactive flows. Complex reactive flow is dominant in many chemicals, physical and biological processes and should be optimised online for operational efficiency and stability, yet it is hindered by the lack of reliable model techniques. The project tackles this challenge by developing a next-generation data-driven modelling approach via integrating continuum/discrete-scale fluid-particle dynamics with system/control theories, supported by lab/plant experiments. D ....Data-driven modelling of complex reactive flows. Complex reactive flow is dominant in many chemicals, physical and biological processes and should be optimised online for operational efficiency and stability, yet it is hindered by the lack of reliable model techniques. The project tackles this challenge by developing a next-generation data-driven modelling approach via integrating continuum/discrete-scale fluid-particle dynamics with system/control theories, supported by lab/plant experiments. Driven by online data, the generic approach can open up a powerful way to reliably describe the inner state of reactors and online predict operation anomalies. The outcomes can help transform a range of industries to smart manufacturing and design, which is vital to Australia's technological future.Read moreRead less
The nature and status of principles in early modern philosophy. One of the most contested issues in early modern thought was the nature of principles: what are the principles of reason, of nature, of morality, and why do we need them? This project will provide a comprehensive study of the nature and status of such principles in the 17th and 18th centuries charting the story of how their fortunes waxed and waned.