As the first half of 2006 draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on the results of a busy and productive six months. We have all worked hard this year and are now seeing our efforts pay off in teaching and research. The release of our annual report at the end of May was a great event that not only helped build our national and international profile, but communicated news of our progress and achievements.
Much of our efforts in 2005 were directed towards improving the School's teaching program. Now we are seeing these changes implemented and look forward to the results of student evaluation that will help us monitor our progress. I would like to thank everyone for their commitment to the revised teaching program that is helping the School fulfil its vision of academic excellence in population health. Many of you will soon attend TEDI teaching workshops that will improve your own personal skills while further boosting the quality of our teaching.
Grant applications have been particularly successful this year, with an impressive number of short-listed applications. Many are the result of cross-divisional collaborations within the School. Congratulations to those behind these applications - we look forward to hearing news of your success soon!
In 2006, we have been fortunate to have many new staff members join us - their presence has already been felt. I would like to thank them - and all staff - for their contributions so far and encourage everyone to relax and take a break as first semester ends.
Best Wishes.
Alan Lopez
BREAKING NEWS
A MARRIAGE WITH A $1.8M DOWRY
A project to conduct parallel analyses of the Health in Men Study cohort and the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health oldest cohort - a project dubbed 'marriage'- was one of only 6 successful applications under the NHMRC/ARC Ageing Well, Ageing Productively program and has been awarded $1.8 million over five years
The research team lead by Professor Annette Dobson, includes the School's Professor Konrad Jamrozik and colleagues in Western Australia and the University of Queensland: Associate Professor Paul Norman (UWA), Professor Osvaldo Almeida (UWA), Professor Leon Flicker (UWA), Professor Wendy Brown (UQ, School of Human Movement Studies), Dr Nancy Pachana (UQ, School of Psychology) and Professor Graeme Hankey (Royal Perth Hospital and UWA).
PHILANTHROPIC AWARD OF US$3M FOR UQ-VIETNAM COLLABORATION
A proposal by Dr Peter Hill, and colleagues in the School and in Vietnam, to develop a collaboration between the University of Queensland and the Ministry of Health in Vietnam has been granted US$3million by The Atlantic Philanthropies to build local capacity for research that informs policy, including mortality analysis, burden of disease and cost-effectiveness analysis.
INTRODUCING.......
DR SONJ HALL, Program Coordinator
Dr Sonj Hall has recently been appointed Program Co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Health Sciences program , a cross-Faculty degree that is meeting industry demand for graduates with a broad knowledge of the health industry.
Dr Hall will lead the development of the program, which launched in Semester 1 2006, as it builds its profile, increases enrolments and launches new plans (majors) including Indigenous Health and Organisational Communication.
A 2005-06 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy, Dr Hall joined The University of Queensland from Washington DC where she worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, an organisation committed to research that contributes to the improvement of heathcare for all Americans.
She looks forward to improving the content, delivery and student numbers of the degree, which she said offers great opportunities for graduates.
"The Bachelor of Health Sciences has been developed in close collaboration with industry, so we can be confident our graduates will be welcomed by a health service facing complex challenges," she said.
Dr Hall has offices on Level 2 of the Public Health Building , Herston and at UQ's Ipswich campus.
THEO VOS DEFENDS HIS PhD IN STYLE
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In April Associate Professor Theo Vos returned to his native Holland to defend his PhD thesis. This traditional ceremony involved his suitably attired public defence of the thesis to a committee of eight Professors (insiders may spot Assoc Prof Jan Barendregt in robes amongst the panel).
Whilst largely ceremonial there was some serious challenging of the content of the thesis.
At exactly one hour from the commencement of the challenge an administrator thumps the floor loudly with his symbol of authority (a huge ceremonial staff) and calls "Hora est!" to indicate that one hour has passed and the challenge and defence is now over. Despite this, one of the challengers asked Theo for a one word response to a question he had asked, a Yes or a No, and Theo very cheekily responded "Possibly!" |
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The defence was held in a historic hotel (previously used as the docking station for emigrants departing Holland for the United States ), located in a scenic setting by the mouth of the Rhine River in Rotterdam and was followed by a party. At the event Theo met with many old friends and colleagues, some of whom he had not seen for over twenty years.
CLEMENTINA LWATULA DRIVEN TO HELP OTHERS
Clementina Lwatula, a medical doctor from Zambia, is undertaking the School's Master of Public Health program in her quest to help women and children in her homeland.
Dr Lwatula is the recipient of one of the six Australian Federation of University Women-Queensland (AFUW-Q) Fellowships awarded earlier this year to help women undertake postgraduate studies (Uni News report).
In her work as a doctor with the SOS Children's Village in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city with a population of 1.2 million, and looking after the needs of the village, with health care, education, skills training and so on, Dr Lwatula worked closely with the victims of HIV and AIDS. Zambia is struggling with HIV and AIDS epidemics with an estimated 20% of the population affected and Dr Lwatula is interested in studying HIV during her course to use her research back home, where she intends to put in place some kind of help, especially for the women and children.
PUBLICATIONS IN BIG-TIME
LANCET PUBLISHES MULTIPLE SPH AUTHORS JUNE-JULY
Multiple papers by school researchers and their colleagues were published in June-July editions of the Lancet, one of the world's most prestigous scholarly journals and considered by many to be the world's leading public health journal.
Associate Professor Michael Coory, with colleagues at QIMR, had findings from a matched cohort study investigating cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians published in the 3-9 June edition of The Lancet. A background of few existing comparative data to prove the disparity between the standard of health between Indigenous and Australians in general including worse outcomes for several diseases such as cancer, lead the researchers to assess differences in disease stage at cancer diagnosis, treatment and survival between these two populations in Queensland. The researchers studied 815 Indigenous and 810 non-Indigenous cancer patients and found that non-Indigenous cancer patients survive longer than Indigenous ones, even after adjustment for stage at diagnosis, cancer treatment, and greater comorbidity in Indigenous cases. They concluded with the belief that better understanding of cultural differences in attitudes to cancer and its treatment could translate into meaningful public-health and clinical interventions to improve cancer survival in Indigenous Australians.
Cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: a matched cohort study
The Lancet, Volume 367, Issue 9525, 3 June 2006-9 June 2006 , Pages 1842-1848
Patricia C Valery, Michael Coory, Janelle Stirling and Adèle C Green
A systematic analysis of population health data to calculate the global burden of disease and risk factors by Professor Alan Lopez and colleagues was published in the 27 May-2 June edition of the Lancet.
Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematic analysis of population health data
The Lancet, Volume 367, Issue 9524, 27 May 2006-2 June 2006 , Pages 1747-1757
Alan D Lopez, Colin D Mathers, Majid Ezzati, Dean T Jamison and Christopher JL Murray
Professor Wayne Hall's paper discussing conflicting claims about the effects that the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants have on suicide risk was published in the 17-23 June edition of The Lancet.
How have the SSRI antidepressants affected suicide risk?
The Lancet, Volume 367, Issue 9527, 17 June 2006-23 June 2006 , Pages 1959-1962
Wayne D Hall
Professor Konrad Jamrozik's paper discussing the epidemiology of colonialism was published in the 1-9 July edition of The Lancet.
The epidemiology of colonialism
The Lancet, Volume 368, Issue 9529, 1 July 2006-7 July 2006 , Pages 4-6
Konrad Jamrozik
HIGH IMPACT PUBLICATIONS IN UK AND USA
The most recent publications by researchers in the School include the following publications in high impact factor journals in the United Kingdom and the United States of America
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL (Impact Factor 9.032)
Unsafe driving behaviour and four wheel drive vehicles: observational study
BMJ, Jun 2006
Lesley Walker, Jonathan Williams, and Konrad Jamrozik
Estimate of deaths attributable to passive smoking among UK adults: database analysis
BMJ, Apr 2005; 330: 812
Konrad Jamrozik
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY (Impact Factor 5.062)
Does Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy Have a Direct Effect on Future Offspring Obesity? Evidence from a Prospective Birth Cohort Study
Am. J. Epidemiol., Advance Access published on June 14, 2006
Abdullah Al Mamun, Debbie A. Lawlor, Rosa Alati, Michael J. O'Callaghan, Gail M. Williams, and Jake M. Najman
Further information about these research findings are in the Research Spotlight below.
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
PREGNANT SMOKERS RISK FAT TEENS
Recent findings by researchers in the School and colleagues appeared in the following story in the Sydney Herald Morning on 21 June:
Children whose mothers smoked while pregnant are 40 per cent more likely to be obese by their early teens, a study has found, providing the strongest evidence yet that exposure to tobacco before birth directly causes unhealthy weight gain.
The University of Queensland survey - of more than 3000 14-year-olds born in Brisbane in the early 1980s - also found smoking mothers' children were 30 per cent more likely to be overweight, said the research leader, Abdullah Al Mamun, a population health expert.
Scientists had previously documented a link between mothers' smoking and fatter children, although it was believed this might be because of worse diet among poorer people, who are also more likely to smoke.
But the Brisbane study found the children of smokers who resisted cigarettes while pregnant were no fatter than those whose mothers had never smoked, increasing suspicions that smoking in pregnancy may directly cause childhood obesity.
The researchers also noted whether children were breastfed, what they ate, how much TV they watched and their participation in sport, and found these factors made little difference to the link between mothers' smoking and their teenagers' weight. The results "provide yet another incentive for pregnant women to be persuaded not to smoke and for young women to be encouraged to never take up smoking", wrote Dr Mamun in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
It was possible tobacco chemicals circulating in a developing infant's bloodstream might alter the way its body controlled appetite, but it would be difficult to tease out which of the more than 4000 might be responsible, said Dr Mamun, whose work was funded by the Federal Government's National Health and Medical Research Council. Recent evidence suggested nicotine might be a culprit.
An obestetrics and gynaecology professor at the University of Adelaide, Jeffrey Robinson, said genetic studies had shown wide individual variations in how tobacco exposure before birth affected people, and for many the obesity risk might be even more extreme.
A research dietitian at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sarah Garnett, said the link between maternal smoking and weight was significant but the increased risk was relatively small compared with other factors known to influence children's chance of unhealthy weight gain. If both parents were overweight, their child's chance of being overweight rose tenfold.
TEACHING AND LEARNING UPDATE
In April Greg Fowler was appointed for 3 years to lead the implementation of the teaching and learning reforms within the School. Greg is working with Teaching and Learning Committee and staff to build up the School's capacity to deliver programs and courses to an international standard. Professor Annette Dobson and Professor Richard Taylor have been appointed as Chair and Deputy Chair respectively for the T&L Committee. Greg has been employed within QADREC for some years, so has a first hand knowledge of the School and its programs. Greg advises that the School is blessed with good quality staff, that some our courses are excellent, and there are other courses that need some assistance. The T&L Committee is implementing a range of initiatives required by the University and determined by the Head of School, Professor Alan Lopez, as priorities. A number of management systems involving the development and delivery of our programs and courses are being reviewed. These review processes will involve all SPH staff at some level. The anticipated outcome will be enhanced capacity for SPH to delivery quality education to our students where ever they may be in the world. Building the skills and confidence of our teaching staff is essential to this achieving this outcome. One of the initiatives required by the University is the implementation of an electronic course profile system (ECPS) for all UQ courses. Course profiles are an essential teaching and management tool that clearly stat es what we expect a student to learning in our courses, how the course content relates to these learning objectives , and how we assess the achie ve ment s of students in reaching these objectives. Graduate attributes provide the broader framework in which the se teaching and learning processes occur .
All Course Coordinators have been busy over the last few weeks ensuring that their course profiles are entered in to ECPS web database at www.courses.uq.edu.au. Support staff have been assisting in this procees, ensuring the text of last semester's course profiles are updated and accurately entered. The School will replace all existing Course Profile documents with a print output from the ECPS. As the University updates its policies and procedures, these will be automatically changed in the eCourse Profile online. We are ensuring that at least minimum requirements are met for Semester 2 courses. Course Coordinators can progressively enhance their eCourse profiles to be comprehensive documents to guide their teaching and student's learning. The SPH can also ensure also ensure whole of school consistency in key areas of learning resources, assessment and policy/procedures.
T&L activities will be regularly reported in the SPH Newsletter and through Divisional meetings. Feel free to contact Greg if you have any questions on ECPS or other relevant issues. g.fowler@uq.edu.au
STUDENT NEWS
QUOTABLE QUOTES FROM COMPLETED PhD CANDIDATES
PhD candidates who completed in the last quarter are:
Nancye Peel
Thesis topic: The protective effect of healthy ageing on the risk of fall-related hip fracture injury in older people.
Jane Nikles
Thesis topic: Using N-of1 trials as a diagnostic clinical tool
Tanya Bell
Thesis topic: Risk Factors for Endometriosis
Kerrianne Watt
Thesis topic: The relationship between acute alcohol consumption and injury
The PhD graduands were asked for a 'quotable quote' on what they are now doing or the feeling of finishing........ and the following were received before this edition of the Newsletter was published:
Nancye Peel ".... I did enjoy the research. Now after being awarded a UQ Post Doctoral Fellowship I am continuing my research in promoting health and quality of life in our ageing population (myself included)."
Nancye is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the Australasian Centre on Ageing located at the St Lucia campus.
Kerrianne Watt "How do I feel? I'm excited! What am I doing? Cartwheels! What I'm really doing: My substantive position is the Clinical Research Co-ordinator, at the Australian Centre for PreHospital Research, Queensland Ambulance. I feel very privileged that I can apply the skills I have learned through my PhD at such a practical and meaningful level. This year however, I am managing the NHRMC-funded Pandemic Influenza Study (CI=Viv Tippett). This is something completely different, and I am enjoying the challenges the project provides on a daily basis. On a personal level, my partner Matt and I are (finally!) officially formalising our relationship at the end of July, in the company of our family and friends. We are also buying a house! It's all happening for me this year.
Other thoughts/comments: It has been a particularly long and arduous slog, but I suppose all PhD students say that. There was never a time when I didn't think I'd reach this point, but there were definitely times that I felt it would take forever! I am so very grateful to all those who helped along the way, in so many different ways. I am particularly grateful to my former colleagues at SPH, and within the faculty, many of whom have become firm friends. Whether they listened, understood, motivated, supported, cajoled, scolded, inspired, entered data, laughed, cheered, ate cake, or cried - it has always been noted, and appreciated. I would like to invite colleagues and friends, old and new, to call on me any time that assistance is required regarding alcohol-related injury (i.e. "How not to get plastered").. Teeeheheheheheh. My thesis was titled: The relationship between acute alcohol consumption and injury. The aim of the research was to quantify the association between acute alcohol consumption and risk of all-cause, all-severity injury in the context of other potential confounding variables (demographic variables; situational variables such as activity, location and companions at time of injury; risk-taking behaviour; and acute substance use). In addition, I also set out to determine whether, given an injury, the characteristics of injury (mechanism; severity; type) are differentially distributed as a fucntion of acute alcohol consumption.. Four papers have been published from this thesis, and a fifth has been accepted for publication. If anyone is particularly interested in my earth-shattering conclusions, then feel free to refer to the papers, or read my thesis (how else will I ever get people to read it??)."
Congratulations to the School's newest PhD graduands and Best Wishes with your future endeavours.
May the road rise up to meet you and the wind always be at your back....
2006 GARRY QUAYLE MEMORIAL PRIZE
The 2006 Garry Quayle Memorial Prize for the 'best team work in the fieldwork component' of the MPH degree plans in international and tropical health and nutrition has been awarded to:
Ms Thi My Hanh Hoang
Dr Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy
Dr Dr Pham Lan Tran
for their dissertation: Costs of Traumatic Brain Injury due to motorcycle accidents at Vietduc hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam .
The Garry Quayle Memorial Prize for Excellence in Student Research was established in 1993 in memory of Garry Quayle, an AIDAB Officer in the Australian Embassy in Beijing until his death in 1992. The prize is maintained by the income from a fund of $2,994 donated by his family and friends. Students enrolled in the Master of Public Health (Tropical Health) and Master of Public Health (Community Nutrition) are eligible for consideration. The Head, Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health and Nutrition submits the recommendation for the award to the University Senate. The prize is awarded to the best student team in the fieldwork component of the degree. The prize is books in the field of Public Health.
.STAFF NEWS
NEW STAFF APPOINTMENTS FOR QCTC
Queensland Clinical Trials Centre, based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, was pleased to welcome two new enthusiastic and cheerful (and much-needed!) staff members in May - Nishani Goonaratne and Charlotte Ng.
Nishani is currently studying towards a Master of Information Technology at QUT. She has over 5 years experience in IT, having previously been involved in designing and implementing software using various tools and methodologies, such as VB, Access, SQL Server and .NET. She is interested in database development and web based applications, and at the QCTC she has responsibility for the databases and the data integrity of trial data generated by a collaborative group of researchers at the hospital who are focusing on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Charlotte recently completed a Bachelor of Engineering majoring in Bioinformatics with first class honours at UNSW. She previously worked as a part-time Bioinformatics Assistant for two years. Her interests include database design, implementation and analysis, as well as data mining by classification and clustering. She is working with the oncologists in the PA-based Cancer Collaborative Group to help establish core data sets and centralised data management for their clinical trials data.
HAVE FUNDS WILL TRAVEL (TO DEVELOP COLLABORATIONS)
Dr Rosa Alati has been awarded a NHMRC travelling award and a UQ start-up grant to work together with a number of European colleagues in the field of the life course epidemiology of mental health. She will spend most of second semester 2006 at the Department of Social Medicine in Bristol, working with Professors Debbie Lawlor, George Davey-Smith and David Gunnell. She will also meet with research groups based in Dresden and Sweden to develop international collaborations.
Please send news items for the next edition of the Newsletter
to Kath Murrie-Jones, Research Development Officer, School
of Population Health, email k.murrie-jones@sph.uq.edu.au
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