News and Events

Congratulations to our recent THRI PhD graduates! We wish you all the best with your future endeavours!

Professor Robert Gorkin has been appointed as the Co-Director (Impact, Innovation, and Partnerships) to work alongside Professor Janette Perz, the Co-Director (Research).

Associate Professor Ann Dadich and Associate Professor Genevieve Steiner-Lim joined Maggie Beer at Nourishing Health: VIVID Ideas 2023. The event was a vital discussion about how profoundly a good meal and good company can positively impact our physical and mental health, supporting healthy ageing.

Western Sydney University, together with Maridulu Budyari Gumal (SPHERE) partners, will trial an innovative app assisted “model of care” following a grant of $744,873 from the Australian Government’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, delivered by MTPConnect for the Medical Research Future Fund.

View the recent highlights from THRI members.

The recording is now available for the NHMRC Emerging Leadership Grants Information Session held by the Health & Medicine Cluster & THRI. This information session was for WSU researchers looking to submit/re-submit an application for the NHMRC Investigator Grant scheme at the Emerging Leadership levels.

The School of Medicine & THRI are seeking to appoint two research professionals to support an evaluation project, QUEST PHC (Quality Equity and Systems Transformation in Primary Health Care) at the General Practice Unit based at Campbelltown Campus.

Western Sydney University is inviting all staff, students, family and friends to join our Dry July Team! All funds raised with your help will go towards free oncology massage, acupuncture and yoga specifically for people with cancer, or people in remission from cancer.

A Western Sydney University study led by Professor Jane Ussher has found that transgender women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are more likely to be the victim of sexual harassment and violence than other women in Australia.

Congratulations to THRI members and their colleagues who have recently received funding for their research.

Congratulations to Prof Craig Gonsalvez; Dr Steven Frost and Dr Evan Alexandrou; Aunty Francis Bodkin; Beatrice Venkataya and Kyar Wilkey for their recent achievements.

The new Strategic Research Initiative Transforming Early Education and Child Health (TeEACH) was launched during Research Week 2019.

Congratulations to THRI Members Caroline Smith and Dr Felix Ogbo for their outstanding research achievements recently acknowledged in The Australian's Research magazine.

Western has secured $1.4 million to lead an NHMRC Partnership Project focused on tackling the diabetes epidemic within Sydney’s Pasifika communities.

The Comorbidity of Gambling research team was recently awarded an Office of Responsible Gambling grant to develop guidelines for gambling screening and referral pathways that are appropriate to the hospital environment.

THRI Alumni, Dr Rachel Westcott recently attended and presented at the 6th International Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference.

A graduation ceremony was held at Campbelltown Campus last week to mark the conclusion of the course work component, and to wish our Fellows well as they embark on the delivery of their research projects.

Nikita Roy, THRI's inaugural Fulbright Scholar, is wrapping up her term at Western Sydney University.

Western Sydney University has joined a strong and united stem cell community to welcome $150 million in Federal Government funding, over the next ten years, towards research into new ways to treat congenital heart disease, blindness, stroke, dementia and kidney disease.

New research led by THRI Biostatician Dr Haider Mannan suggests that infants in South Western Sydney introduced to formula and solid foods within the first four months, could be twice as likely to suffer from childhood obesity.

Dr Olayide Ogunsiji has been awarded the inaugural Highly Commended award at the 2019 Blacktown Woman of the Year awards in recognition of her significant contributions to the health of migrant and refugee women and girls in the Blacktown City Council area.

THRI Fulbright Scholar, Nikita Roy is currently featured on the homepage of the Australian Fulbright website. Nikita is a graduate student and Fulbright Scholar at the University of Connecticut pursuing her Master’s degree in Public Health.

Western Sydney University will be running the Graduate Certificate in Person Centred Diabetes Care and Education commencing in Spring Session (July) 2019. This clinically focused course is designed for multidisciplinary clinicians who would like to specialise in diabetes clinical care and education.

Applications are now open for the Cross Cultural Public Health Research Award which supports research students investigating health issues affecting Indigenous Australians, refugees or recently arrived migrants to Australia. This year the award will fund 2 categories each worth $5,000 in total.
Applications close COB Friday 22 March 2019

Congratulations to the seven THRI PhD candidates who graduated in December!

THRI Members have recently featured in the media including has recently featured in global, national, state and local media including The Sydney Morning Herald, SBS Insight, ABC Radio, The New Daily.

Assoc. Prof. Ajesh George (SoNM, THRI) and the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Translational Research Unit (DOMTRU) both won awards at the Ingham Institute’s 6th Annual Awards Night.

A new model of dementia care led by Western Sydney University is set to revolutionise diagnosis, treatment, and care for people with a decline in their memory and thinking.

Health and wellbeing are complex phenomena shaped by a wide range of factors including institutions, health systems, socio-economic resources, cultural attitudes, gender, and age. Read more about this year's Health and Wellbeing White Papers.

Beatriz Martin Monzon was recently awarded the Early Career Investigator Award for her abstract submission for the 2018 Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS) Conference.

Congratulations to SOM/THRI’s Dr Penny Abbott for her recent award of a Churchill fellowship to research access to primary health care for people in contact with the criminal justice system.

Congratulations Dr Shameran Slewa-Younan for receiving the significant contribution award from the APS Division of Psychological Practice at the 2018 Australian Psychological Society Congress!

Felix was recently acknowledged in The Australian Special Edition: Research as the leading Early Career Researcher in the Medical & Health Sciences field in Australia.

Western was recently successful in some large scale academic units with SWS Local Health District. Four Academic Units (AUs) were approved, of which Western has a significant involvement in three.

THRI member Dr Genevieve Steiner, has been awarded the prestigious 2018 Young Tall Poppy Science Award.

Congratulations to Prof. Andrew Page in securing a NH&MRC grant of $233,914 in collaboration with researchers from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.

THRI recently awarded travel grants to four early career researchers who travelled to Queen Mary University of London to attend a workshop entitled: Translational research: How to produce research that makes a difference!

SPHERE is now a little over 12 months old. With SPHERE activities gaining momentum and having not only approved plans but also tangible achievements across the Partnership, it is a good time to highlight activities and achievements.

The Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) has announced the Australian Government’s new Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) will provide funds of $6 million over three years for SPHERE and the other National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Accredited Centres.

We are pleased to announce the publication of: Gay & Bisexual Men Living with Prostate Cancer: from diagnosis to recovery, edited by Jane M. Ussher (SOM & THRI), Janette Perz (THRI), B.R. Simon Rosser.

South West Sydney Research (SWSR) has recently announced the SWSR Small Grant Scheme awardees for 2018. Congratulations to THRI Member Genevieve Steiner and the TEACH-PD research team who have received one of the three research grants!

Professor Jane Ussher recently joined a panel of other experts to discuss some of the possible effects of a prostate cancer diagnosis on sex, intimacy, and relationships.

On Friday May 25th Professor Hay hosted an inaugural Forum at Campbelltown Campus Western Sydney University. This program is inter-disciplinary and over 30 experts in psychology, nursing, medicine, business, public health and beyond, including people with lived experience and key community Stakeholders attended.

Congratulations to Samantha Ryan and Lena Hattom who were both awarded the University Medal for Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at their graduation last Friday.

The Federal Government has announced it will invest $55 million through its Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program to further develop Australia’s growing Digital Health technology and services industry.

NICM and THRI member Dr Genevieve Steiner recently appeared on Channel 9’s lifestyle breakfast program, the Today Show, discussing dementia and the MCI clinical trial she is running.

A team of researchers led by Dr Michael O'Connor is on track to significantly improve the lives of children and adults with cataracts thanks to their development of a world-first process able to generate light-focusing lenses from stem cells.

Professor Hannah Dahlen was recently interviewed by ABC News Radio on what factors contribute to babies being born before arrival at hospital.

A team of researchers, including THRI PhD student Farshid Hajati and his supervisors, Asoc. Prof. Federico Girosi and Dr Evan Atlantis, have discovered that one fifth of patients on medication to lower cholesterol are receiving too many, unnecessary tests, while half are not having their blood cholesterol levels sufficiently monitored.

Monday 26 March
Soup Kitchen is Back! Please, come and join THRI members and students for a $5 bowl of homemade soup or curry.

Professor Jane Ussher was recently interviewed on SBS World News Radio on how cultural taboos can leave many unaware of endometriosis and delay diagnosis.

5 March 2018
LitAssit aims to assist you in tracking details of your literature evaluations to keep you, the researcher, organized and focused. It is recommended as a tool for completing dissertation and thesis literature reviews, as well as assisting advanced researchers who want to stay organized when conducting research for articles or books.

2-4 August 2018
THRI will be hosting this year's ASPOG conference: Women’s health, life and rights. ASPOG invites critical health psychologists, obstetricians, gynaecologists, general practitioners, sexual health providers, allied health professionals, trainees and women’s reproductive health researchers to present and attend the conference.

23 Feb 2018
THRI invites all computer scientists, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, and public health researchers across the University to showcase current research and identify potential collaborations in the application of technology, data science, big data, and systems science methods to population health problems.

Prof Jane Ussher, Prof Janette Perz, Dr Chloe Parton and Prof Kerry Robinson have recently been awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project grant for 'Out with Cancer: LGBTI experiences of cancer survivorship and care'. This study aims to gain a better understanding of how cancer is experienced within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

Professor Jane Ussher was interviewed on “Talking Lifestyle” National Breakfast this morning on the reluctance of men to talk about health issues.

Professor David Simmons, THRI member and head of DOMTRU, launched an Australian-first program aimed at reducing malformations in babies born to mothers with diabetes.

Auntie Fran Bodkin an Adjunct Fellow at THRI was recently interviewed by Richard Fidler on ABC Radio.

Dr Shameron Slewa-Younan, a Senior Lecturer in mental health at THRI and in the School of Medicine has recently been awarded two research grants.

Clinical Nurse Consultants at Liverpool Hospital (including THRI’s Evan Alexandrou) have developed and evaluated a difficult venous access (DIVA) pathway to reduce the burden of difficult access for patients with the use of ultrasound guidance.

Professor Jane Ussher has been accepted into the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts commencing in 2018.

Gabriela Uribe, a PhD Candidate at THRI has received the 2017 Mental Health Matters Award for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities.

Jane Ussher, Professor of Women's Health at THRI, was featured in the latest episode of the ABC Radio program Ladies, We Need to Talk

22-23 November
The SPHERE 2017 International Symposium aspires to become synonymous with healthcare innovation and solutions that the world will strive to emulate.
Register Now

21 | 25 September
Western health and medical researchers are invited to attend a presentation on impact, hosted by the Translational Health Research Institute.

14; 17; 21 August 2017
NHMRC and ARC assessors share their insights into assessing funding submissions. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

Professor Jane Ussher, the lead investigator on the 'Sexual and Reproductive Health of Migrant and Refugee Women' study has recently received media attention after releasing the report: Sexual and Reproductive Health of Migrant and Refugee Women.

Capital Markets CRC is offering a PhD Scholarship on the topic Digital Health for Chronic Disease Management

8th - 11th May, 2017
This course introduces public health researchers and practitioners to tools, practical skills and the conceptual background required to collect and analyse mobile data on health behaviour collected using smartphones.

PhD Student Gabriela Uribe presented her PhD project Important considerations when providing mental health first aid (MHFA) to Iraqi refugees: development and pilot evaluation of a tailored program to community-based workers in Australia at the 5th Cross-Cultural Health Care Conference in Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i.

PhD student Beatriz Martin Monzon attended at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS) in New York. She presented her study Recovery of grey matter volume in Anorexia Nervosa. A preliminary study.

PhD Candidate Gabriela Uribe, supervised by Senior Lecturer Dr Shameran Slewa-Younan and Professor Anthony Jorm has received a Certificate of Commendation from WayAhead - Mental Health Association NSW 2016 for her research project on mental health first aid (MHFA) for Iraqi refugees

4-8 July 2016
WSU Campbelltown Cultural Events Committee have selected a range of film segments to be introduced, screened and discussed in light of this year's 2016 NAIDOC Theme Songlines: The living narrative of our nation.

We are delighted to congratulate Deborah Randall, Anthony Burton, Kate Churruca and Lauren Kadwell on the completion of their PhD and recent graduation.

Over the weekend, several THRI PhD candidates and researchers successfully showcased their research at the 42nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the ASPOG (Australian Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology) in Hobart.

The fortnightly 'Soup Kitchen' received some great media exposure recently with articles published in the Macarthur Chronicle and WSU News.

June 1st - July 31st 2016
We are collecting donations of towels and bedding for Brand New Day - a women's DV and health network and referral agency serving Macarthur that we support through the fortnightly 'soup kitchen'.

The RAF is a twice-yearly meeting between researchers and end-users. Project leaders presented updates on their work, and met with end-users formally and informally over two days, exchanging and matching priorities.

Felix Ogbo was awarded the OMICS International Best Young Research Forum Award for the quality and significance of his research paper which he presented at the 2016 World Congress on Public Health and Nutrition.

Professor Jane Ussher talks about her research on sexual health and wellbeing in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Professor Jane Ussher talks about sexuality and cancer on ABC.

A short video documentary has just been released to accompany a new research paper 'Climate change and health vulnerability in informal urban settlements in the Ethiopian Rift Valley'

Western Sydney University is a university partner of the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC) which has been awarded more than $32M of funding over the next five years from the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centres program.

PhD student Maria Uribe Guajardo received the Cross Cultural Public Health Research Award for her work on her PhD project.

Amy Dryden received the Elaine Dignan Award from the Australian Psychological Society's Women and Psychology Interest Group for her honours thesis, publication and poster.