Dr Peter While
Applied Mathematics (Biomedical Engineering), University of Tasmania Dr While’s work involves the development of new methods for designing parts of Magnetic Resonances Imaging (MRI). This is a reasonably new technology used in hospitals around the world to take diagnostic images of soft tissue in the human body, such as muscles and organs. The hard part…
Read More »Dr Andrew Barron
Neuroethology, Macquarie University Andrew’s research is unravelling how drugs damage the brain and is revealing new avenues to prevent drug dependence. By studying the honey bee, Andrew has discovered that honey bees respond to cocaine just like humans do. This implies that the brain systems attacked by drugs through abuse include those responsible for reward…
Read More »Dr Michael Kasumovic
Evolutionary Biology, University of New South Wales Michael works with the famous Australian Red Back spider to explore the evolution of mating systems and more specifically, mating strategies in response to the social environment. His work has made important contributions to areas including; the maintenance of genetic variation, how environmental conditions change mate choice behaviour…
Read More »Dr Frances Kay-Lambkin
Co-occurring depression and alcohol/drug use problems, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle Frances leads an innovative research program into the understanding and treatment of people suffering from the combination of depression and alcohol/other drug use, the two most common mental…
Read More »Associate Professor Michelle Moulds
Clinical Psychology, University of New South Wales Michelle has made outstanding contributions to the understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that underpin depression. More specifically, her research investigates how rumination (when a person becomes stuck in a cycle of analysing their mood), prolongs depression allowing health professionals to better understand patterns of thinking that maintain depression…
Read More »Associate Professor Sharon Naismith
Neuropsychology and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Brain and Mind Research Institute at The University of Sydney Sharon’s interests are in evaluating risk factors and early interventions for dementia more recently Parkinson’s Disease. Her work incorporates multiple domains including genetic risk factors, neuroimaging, clinical assessments, public health and sleep disorders. It suggests that some risk factors for dementia…
Read More »Dr Richard Payne
Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Sydney. Richard’s research is focused on using organic chemistry to discover new therapeutics for the treatment of a number of diseases including tuberculosis (TB) and cancer. He has designed molecules which bind with and block proteins that TB needs to survive making them possible new TB drug candidates. Richard…
Read More »Dr Anina Rich
Cognitive Neuroscience/Psychology, Macquarie University Anina’s research is in the area of the senses. Her work centres on how we are able to receive so much information through our senses, balance it and integrate it to provide an experience. Another area of focus is the study of synaesthesia, where a stimulation of one sense (for example…
Read More »Dr Vanessa Venturi
Computational Biology, University of New South Wales Vanessa works to better understand how the immune system responds to infectious diseases. She combines her previous work in physics studying collisions between atoms with immunology to study specific aspects of how the immune system responds to infection. Her work currently focuses on how the immune system changes…
Read More »Dr Claire Wakefield
Behavioural Sciences/Health Psychology, University of New South Wales Claire is involved in better understanding the psychological issues affecting children, young people and the families of cancer patients. She has developed tools, including booklets and online resources, to help support them and enable them to make informed choices during the difficult times of the cancer journey….
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