Dr Ashleigh Smith
University of South Australia Research Field: Neuroscience and Dementia Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australians; a new case is diagnosed every 6 minutes in Australia, and there is currently no cure. Remarkably, evidence is growing that suggests that if we stay physically active into old age we may be able to…
Read More »Dr Frances Corrigan
University of Adelaide Research Field: Neuroscience Concussions are relatively common in sports such as AFL, horse-riding and hockey, resulting in an estimated 3,000 hospitalisations each year in Australia but It is likely that the number of unreported concussions are 10 times higher than this. A history of repeated concussions may have long term consequences, such…
Read More »Dr Jayakumar Bose
University of Adelaide Research Field: Plant science / Plant physiology In Australia, soil salinity affects approximately 30% of all agricultural soil, and 69% of the wheat belt, causing up to $1.3 billion per year in lost yields. Our traditional food crops are not well-equipped to grow and produce food in salty soils. The salinisation of…
Read More »Dr Kate Fennell
University of South Australia Research Field: Behavioural medicine, psychological science One third of Australians live outside major metropolitan centres, and these rural communities experience worse health outcomes to urban city-dwellers. Farmers are also known to be at a higher risk of suicide. The reasons behind these big differences in health outcomes are not well understood….
Read More »Dr Laura Weyrich
University of Adelaide Research Field: Paleomicrobiology The human body contains over 1.4 kg of beneficial microorganisms (microbiota) which perform critical functions including digestion of food, production of vitamins, and protection against infectious disease. Changes in the microbiota are associated with a wide range of diseases linked with modern lifestyles such as obesity, diabetes, poor oral…
Read More »Dr Lisa Beatty
Flinders University Research Field: Psycho-Oncology Receiving a cancer diagnosis naturally causes considerable distress. Left untreated, this distress can have serious consequences, including lower quality of life, more treatment side effects and potentially reduced chance of survival. Despite this, less than 20% of distressed cancer patients choose to attend psychological therapy. Dr Beatty is exploring innovative…
Read More »Dr Zlatko Kopecki
University of South Australia Research Field: Wound healing Patients with genetic skin blistering diseases, such as Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), lack the proteins that glue the skin together, causing them to develop spontaneous painful blisters and wounds that do not heal, and often lead to the development of skin cancers. There is no cure, and current…
Read More »Dr Zoë Doubleday
University of Adelaide Research Field: Ecology While many longer-lived mammals, reptiles, birds and fish are already being negatively impacted by recent changes to the marine environment, growing evidence suggests that invertebrates like squid and jelly fish are instead thriving. These organisms, aptly named “weeds of the sea”, have every aspect of their physiology honed to…
Read More »