Achieving impact in Occupational Therapy
Associate Professor Emma George is a leader in occupational therapy, fascinated by the role and importance of occupation as a right for health and well-being. Her research projects all explore the way we address health inequities among marginalised people and communities with a commitment to social and occupational justice.
Developing the nation’s first Health and Medical Research Strategy
Professor Steve Wesselingh serves as the CEO of NHMRC, having initially trained as an infectious diseases doctor. His career includes prominent roles such as Head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Alfred Hospital, Director of the Burnett, Dean of Medicine at Monash University, and the inaugural Director of SAHMRI. Under his leadership, NHMRC plays a critical role in funding health and medical research, allocating approximately a billion dollars annually to investigator-led projects, clinical trials, and various strategic initiatives. NHMRC also collaborates internationally with organisations such as the MRC and the EU, and manages grant allocation for the MRFF, which distributes $650 million each year.
Research finds many practitioners feel underprepared to navigate men’s distress
Movember’s Men in Mind expands nationally to equip mental health professionals with the tools to better connect with men before they reach crisis point. Research conducted by the Men’s Health Research team at Movember has found men account for three in every four suicide deaths in Australia, and more than 50% had sought help in the year before they died.
Reporting on Australian childhood visual impairment: the first 10 years
The Australian Childhood Vision Impairment Register (ACVIR), the first of its kind in Australia, captures uniquely Australian data which is used to improve services for children with vision impairment. The data is also available to researchers who work in the area of eye disease and disorders of vision.
Trends report identifies prototyping targets for breakthroughs in digital and hybrid futures
Vishaal Kishore, a Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at RMIT in Melbourne, serves as the Executive Chair of the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab and RMIT’s Director of Impact. Led by the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab, the National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) Health Alliance combines the best minds, technologists, industry capabilities and academic resources to solve pressing industry and social challenges through technology-driven innovation. The NIIN aims to pool insights and expertise to address national health challenges, marking its first vertical focus on health.
Understanding extracellular vesicles in cancer therapy research
Joy Wolfram is an Associate Professor at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland in Australia. Originally from Finland, she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology before transitioning to engineering with a PhD in nanotechnology completed in China. Wolfram has over a decade of experience working in hospitals in the United States before joining the University of Queensland.
Her research focuses on extracellular vesicles, which are crucial for cell communication both locally within tissues and over longer distances between organs. Her lab studies the roles of these vesicles in both health and disease, particularly in cancer. They investigate the harmful messages released by cancer cells that aid in tumour growth, specifically in breast cancer, while also exploring how to harness beneficial extracellular vesicles from healthy individuals as potential therapeutics.