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Understanding implementation effectiveness of school-based physical activity interventions in Australia and internationally

This project will identify key factors contributing to implementation effectiveness at scale, using pooled data from Australian and international school-based interventions. Key barriers and facilitators to implementation, as well as adaptations and identification of core program elements related to effectiveness will be compared.

HDR Scholarship – Advancing the evidence on feeding practices and their impact on child diets, particularly related to snack-times (Deakin-Aston cotutelle PhD)

Young children’s diets are important determinants of their health but are sub-optimal. The primary influence on young children’s diets is parents and home food environments, including parental feeding practices, i.e. how children are fed, not just what they are fed. Snacks are likely an opportunity in the day for improvements in intakes and feeding practices, but little is known about snack-time feeding practices, or about the acceptability and feasibility of modifying snack times for parents. This project is a unique opportunity to work with expert supervisors at both Deakin and Aston Universities, and build international networks. There is opportunity to analyse comprehensive existing data and to collect novel data, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

HDR Scholarship – Advancing understanding of eating behaviour phenotypes during childhood to promote healthy eating (Deakin-Aston cotutelle PhD)

Food environments are characterised by an abundance of attractive, unhealthy foods; yet not all children consume unhealthy diets. There is a lack of research understanding how children’s unique patterns of eating behaviours (their eating behaviour phenotypes) can help protect them from unhealthy food environments or make them more susceptible to them. The proposed PhD student will work at Deakin University (Australia) and have a period of study at Aston University (U.K.). The candidate will draw on existing data sets and collect new data to understand child eating behaviour phenotypes and relationships to diets and weight. The project offers a unique training opportunity, enabling the candidate to launch their research careers with world leading teams in the UK and Australia.

Understanding children’s eating patterns

This project aims to understand children’s eating patterns and their associations with diet quality and health outcomes.

Understanding temporal eating patterns

This project aims to examine temporal eating patterns and their associations with other lifestyle factors, diet quality and health outcomes in adults.

Understanding school lunches in Victorian primary or secondary schools

This project aims to examine the school food environment and current school lunch practices in Victorian schools to better understand the perceptions, enablers, barriers and perceived healthiness of school lunches.

HDR Scholarship – Implementing “sit less, move more” in healthcare

Physical activity is one of the most powerful modifiable risk factors for chronic disease, yet its adoption in Australian healthcare remains low and evidence-based physical activity interventions have rarely been implemented in primary care and clinical settings. There is an opportunity for a PhD student to join the Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes for this scholarship opportunity to implement and evaluate a “sit less, move more” intervention within the healthcare setting.

HDR Scholarship – Health impact of working from home

The new “working from home” model has created much needed flexibility for workers in the face of COVID restrictions. However, it has also cut opportunities for active commuting, incidental physical activity, and social interaction associated with face-to-face meetings. It is unknown what the toll of this will be on metabolic and cognitive health. This PhD scholarship opportunity, with the Baker-Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes, will investigate whether the working from home model poses a health risk to portions of the population due to changes in the pattern of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and social interaction throughout the day.

Implementation and scale-up of interventions targeting physical activity, nutrition and sleep: An exploration of leverage points and strategies

The aim of this project is to identify leverage points and strategies that relate to, and may enhance, implementation and scale-up of interventions population wide. The project will also lead to the development of an evidence-based resource on leverage points and strategies that can assist others wishing to scale public health interventions in the future.

HDR Scholarship – Reducing drowning: understanding factors which contribute to risk and targeting those at risk

Can dietary supplementation with Krill-Oil improve ME/CFS symptoms?

We are exploring the impact of krill oil supplementation on symptoms of fatigue and pain in patients with CFS/ME.

Understanding resistance to sustainable travel

This PhD project will explore community resistance to policies and initiatives that promote and support sustainable travel (walking, cycling and public transport).

Can exercise training improve intervertebral disc health?

The overall aim of this PhD is to explore whether exercise training can improve intervertebral disc health and reduce the burden associated with low back pain.

A Smart-Heart ecosystem to improve self-management behaviours in people with heart failure

As part of an NHMRC-funded IDEAS grant, we are seeking PhD candidates to join the digital health team to design, develop and evaluate a Smart-Heart ecosystem to support self-management for people living with heart failure.

Engaging with the public to prevent dementia

This project will focus on how to engage Australian adults, across a range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, to reduce dementia risk

Using novel telehealth strategies to change the delivery of nutrition care in community living older adults with malnutrition

This PhD project aims to determine whether personalised dietetic interventions delivered via telehealth are effective for improving dietary intake (including energy and protein intake), nutritional outcomes (including weight, BMI and hand grip strength), as well as measures of sarcopenia and quality of life.

Perceptions of personalised nutrition among stakeholders

Personalised nutrition involves leveraging human variability to provide tailored dietary advice to optimise heath. It is also one of the four pillars of the decadal plan for the science of nutrition in Australia. Using the biological and behavioural characteristics of a person to design dietary messaging may be more effective for improving dietary patterns than “one size fits all” approaches. However, our understanding of how to design and implement personalised nutrition approaches is limited.

Information Technology for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease

Patients with CVD require support at home and out of hospital settings where they spent most of their time. However, such interventions are often difficult to implement and expensive. Using information technology, we aim to improve risk factors monitoring, self-management and develop a new model-of-care for secondary prevention of CVD in Australia and globally.

Understanding healthy fat consumption in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Diet is one of the cornerstones of type 2 diabetes management and healthy dietary fats are known to provide several metabolic benefits. However, the relationship between recommendations from healthcare professionals, patients’ perceptions and consumption of healthy fats is not well understood.

Exploring how exercise, oxidative stress and antioxidant treatment regulate insulin action in type 2 diabetes mellitus

The impact to society and health implications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) are well-characterised, yet the specific mechanisms behind T2D development, disease progression, and treatment strategies targeting the root aetiology remain elusive. Excess oxidative stress has been linked to impaired insulin action (the body’s ability to respond to insulin and metabolise glucose) and the subsequent development of T2D.

Using the Youth Activity Profile tool to determine just how active children really are

It is important for government, schools, teachers, parents and others to capture accurate estimates of children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Australia. It is also of benefit to compare how Australian children are tracking compared to other countries such as the US, UK and Europe. The Youth Activity Profile (YAP) has been shown to accurately estimate US primary school children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour and provides the potential to monitor compliance with physical activity guidelines.

Cognition and Ageing

Cognitive frailty is an emerging concept which refers to the presence of both frailty and cognitive impairment. Currently the mechanisms which may link cognitive impairment to physical decline in muscle mass, strength and function are poorly understood. This project aims to improve our understanding of the risk factors and underlying physiological changes which contribute to concurrent decline to brain health and mobility.

Is park visitation associated with reduced stress levels?

We are currently undertaking research on park visitation in urban environments and we are interested in measuring the impact of park visitation on stress levels.  In this project, the PhD student will start by undertaking a systematic review of the literature on the impact of exposure to natural outdoor environments on physiological and psychological stress levels.  The student will then design and conduct one or more experiments among park users.

Improving management of debilitating spinal pain

This project will investigate the effect of contextual factors for reducing pain and disability in adults with chronic non-specific low back pain attending exercise therapy.

Novel telehealth approaches for delivering lifestyle programs for older adults with chronic disease

A number of chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and sarcopenia (the age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass and function), contribute to loss of independence and poor quality of life in older adults. Current guidelines endorse the prescription of exercise and nutrition interventions to maintain health and independence, however older adults with chronic diseases are among the least likely to engage in these recommendations.