Research Success

A narrative of self-determination (PDF File 74.9 KB) (opens in a new window)
Ms Alexis Wright of the Writing and Society Research Centre has been awarded a prestigious Discovery Indigenous Award to investigate the changing fortunes of Aboriginal storytelling in shaping Australia's indigenous policy landscape. The project is funded by the Australian Research Council and will be conducted in collaboration with Aboriginal leader and thinker Tracker Tilmouth, and Professor Ivor Indyk of the Writing and Society Research Centre.

The best measure of healthcare (PDF File 78.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Louisa Jorm from the Centre for Health Research in the School of Medicine is leading a team investigating the best way to measure quality and affordability of primary health care in Australia. The complex collaboration, examining potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) and involving international research units and three partner agencies, is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Help in bringing up baby (PDF File 86.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professors Hannah Dahlen and Virginia Schmied of the Family and Community Health Research Group, and Professor Cathrine Fowler from the University of Technology are investigating the links between complications and interventions in pregnancy and birth and the growing number of mothers seeking residential parenting services. This project is supported by the Australian Research Council in partnership with Karitane and Tresillian Family Care Centres.

Keeping information on track (PDF File 102.2 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Athula Ginige from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics has been awarded funding by Transport for NSW to investigate new ways of creating, managing and accessing the huge bank of content needed to keep the state on the move. With co-researcher Dr Yogesh Deshpande, Professor Ginige will devise a system that will serve customers, contractors and employees.

Helping hand in cancer treatment (PDF File 94.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Kelvin Chan and Dr Valentina Naumovski from the National Institute of Complementary Medicine, and Dr Srinivas Nammi from the School of Science and Health are investigating how a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from a mushroom interacts with two common cancer drugs. The project, supported by UWS and PuraPharm, forms part of a wider study to determine if the mushroom extract could be used as an adjunct therapy for cancer treatment.

Protecting the nest egg (PDF File 91.3 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Phoebe Bailey of the School of Social Sciences and Psychology is leading a team investigating whether some older adults are more likely to be financially exploited because of changes in the way social and emotional cues are interpreted. The Australian Research Council project will test a novel strategy for gauging trust and detecting deception during financial negotiations.

Waltz on, stay strong (PDF File 245.5 KB) (opens in a new window)
Associate Professor Dafna Merom of the School of Science and Health is leading a team to investigate whether dancing can prevent falls in older people. The project, supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, will test the effectiveness of a 12-month program of folk and ballroom dancing in reducing the risk of falling and the physiological risks of falls.

Speaking of babes and songbirds (PDF File 79.6 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Paola Escudero of the MARCS Institute is leading a multinational research team to investigate how human infants, human adults and songbirds crack the variability in the speech signal. The project, which is supported by the Australian Research Council, aims to unlock the secrets of speech comprehension, an important component of human thought.

A queer take on disaster response (PDF File 96.9 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Andrew Gorman-Murray from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology is leading an investigation into how sexual minorities fared during recent natural disasters in Australia and New Zealand. The project, which is supported by the Australian Research Council, will examine the vulnerability and resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

Clinical assessment underpins good healthcare (PDF File 92.4 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Wendy Hu from the School of Medicine is leading a team that is examining the healthcare settings of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry to assess workloads in clinical assessment of students. The project is supported by Health Workforce Australia, an Australian Government Initiative.

Private dollars for a public good (PDF File 94.0 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Phillip O'Neill of the Urban Research Centre is leading an international team investigating how private financing of public infrastructure projects is reshaping our cities. This ARC funded project, involving partner investigators from the Open University UK, aims to ascertain what influences are at work in reconciling society's desire for efficient and affordable roads, utilities and other public goods with the private sector's need to make a profit.

A frog's place makes an ideal classroom (PDF File 354.6 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Margaret Somerville from the Centre for Educational Research (CER) has been awarded funding to investigate how a hands-on wetlands project, studying frogs, birds, weeds and water quality, might foster school children's interest in caring for their local environment. The study, funded by AGL Upstream Investments, will also help to prepare teachers for the introduction of sustainability as a classroom focus.

Mummy, that lady talks funny (PDF File 208.4 KB) (opens in a new window)
Professor Catherine Best of the MARCS Institute and Dr Christine Kitamura from the School of Social Science and Psychology are investigating the role of accents in word learning among young children. The study, funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project, may shed light on the particular problems faced by children with developmental language difficulties.

Making barley more tolerant to salt (PDF File 126.7 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Zhong-Hua Chen of the School of Health and Science has been awarded funding to investigate the genetic factors that would promote the successful farming of barley in saline soils. The project has implications for Australia's domestic and export barley crops, as well as for countries that struggle to grow barley in salt-affected soils.

Bugs that ate a fragile woodland (PDF File 157.4 KB) (opens in a new window)
Dr Markus Riegler of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment will lead a team of researchers investigating what is killing Grey Box eucalypts on the Cumberland Plain in Western Sydney. With assistance from the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust and in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, the project aims to develop measures to try to conserve this once dominant tree species.