Breathe for Bub: A culturally safe framework for the clinical care of Aboriginal women with asthma during pregnancy

Asthma can get worse during pregnancy. Experiencing asthma during pregnancy can have a negative impact on the health of mothers and babies. Babies of asthmatic mothers can have breathing complications and a higher risk of developing asthma later in lif...

The role of Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners in the diagnosis, treatment, and referral to specialists for patients with otitis media

This qualitative research aims to enhance comprehension and recognition of the vital roles that Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners (AHW/P) play in caring for patients with otitis media. The approach of the study involves conducting semi-struct...

Analysing the effect of Indigenous status and geographic location on ENT and respiratory presentations at the John Hunter Hospital emergency department

Otitis media, affecting a significant proportion of children by age one, is particularly prevalent in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. This study at John Hunter Hospital (JHH) focuses on identifying primary ENT and respiratory conditions...

Seeds of growth and healing: Exploring the healing properties of Indigenous native plants

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have developed immense knowledge about the diverse Australian flora through being one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Similarly, the Mātauranga Māori is extensive, especially knowledge of Aotearo...

Enhancing Indigenous cultural capability and student engagement in science and health through collaborative learning and animated videos

Committed to Indigenisation of curricula and development of graduate attributes in Indigenous cultural capability, the School of Biomedical Science and Pharmacy (SBS&P), collaborating with Thurru Health Unit, Wollotuka and Office of Indigenous Strategy...

Genomic surveillance of bacterial strains causing ear disease and upper respiratory illnesses in Hunter New England children and young people

This project will establish an advanced genomic platform to enhance detection and prevention of bacterial infections in children and young people that cause serious morbidity and, in some cases, mortality, in children and young people. With state-of-th...

A treatable traits framework for chronic respiratory disease in rural and regional Aboriginal communities

Managing chronic lung disease (CLD) via a “treatable traits” approach allows care to tailored to the health needs of the individual. Regional Aboriginal communities have amongst the highest burden of CLD in Australia but providing treatable traits mode...

Audit of Hunter New England Ear, Nose & Throat Surgical Interventions

An extensive 5-year (2015-2019) database of ENT hospital admissions across HNELHD has been granted to our team to inform future research applications in ear and hearing health of children. Similarly, we have acquired a 5-year (2015-2019) database of E...

Establishing laboratory methodology for Indigenous ear disease; Advanced studies of the role of Alloiococcus otitidis in Aboriginal and Torres Strait children with otitis media

Children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent experience some of the highest rates of ear disease in the world. Chronic ear disease, known as otitis media with effusion (OME), typically results from an infection in the middle ear causing si...

Understanding the Role of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells in the Pathogenesis of Cystinuria and Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are a common urinary tract problem that increases the risk of chronic kidney disease later in life. Mouse models, such as the daily administration of glyoxylate intraperitoneally, have been used to understand the pathophysiological change...

Understanding How Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells in Early Life Regulate Postnatal Lung Development and Susceptibility to Chronic Lung Diseases

This research project investigated the role of type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) in lung development and respiratory diseases. Lung development continues after birth, with significant remodelling in the first two weeks of a mouse's life. During this ...

Understanding the role of group 2 innate lymphoid cells and mucosal cytokines in urinary tract injury and infection

Broadly, my PhD research focused on understanding the role of the mammalian immune system in the urinary tract. During my PhD I investigated several immune factors known as cytokines in pre-clinical models of sterile kidney injury resulting from blood ...

Understanding how immune cells repair the kidney after acute kidney injury

A newly discovered type of immune cells termed Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC2s) promote repair of structural cells after injury in multiple sites. The role of these cells in the kidneys is poorly understood; we believe these cells are pivotal in r...

Transcriptome analysis of developing mouse lung following early life infection

Transcriptome essentially refers to a collection of messengers (mRNA) within a cell; when quantified the transcriptome tells us how active genes are in a sample. Using microarray analysis tools, I’ve learnt to critically analyse and interpret alterat...