In each issue of Inspiring Research we will be profiling recipients of the inaugural Flinders University Impact Seed Funding Grants – awarded July 2018.

Today we’re meeting Dr Catherine Attard, College of Science and Engineering, and highlighting aspects of her research project "Conservation genomics of the world’s largest animal, the blue whale" that has been awarded a 2018 Impact Seed Grant.

Catherine’s project will use cutting-edge genomic techniques to address ecological and conservation-orientated questions about the world’s largest animal, the blue whale. It aims to accurately determine the number, distribution, degree of connectivity and adaptive evolution of subspecies and populations in the species worldwide. The project will have a global impact by informing the national and international management of the species. Such scientific-based conservation is crucial to promote the recovery of blue whales from 20th century whaling.

More broadly, Catherine conducts genomic research to answer fundamental questions in ecology and evolution, and applies those answers to management and conservation. She is a key member of the Molecular Ecology Lab and the Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab at Flinders, where she works with research leaders Professor Luciano Beheregaray and Associate Professor Luciana Möller. Luciana and Catherine together developed a long-standing research program on endangered blue whales, with the Impact Seed Grant allowing Catherine to broaden its geographic scope and move it from genetic to more powerful genome-wide techniques. Among numerous other achievements, Catherine with the research team have developed and implemented advances to captive breeding and reintroduction programs; improved Australian fisheries management of the heavily-stocked and economically-important golden perch; and used DNA to uncover dangerous human impacts on multiple species.

Impact:

Catherine’s Impact Seed Grant research is expected to inform the management of blue whales by the International Whaling Commission, the Australian Government, and overseas nations. The latter includes management in the eastern Pacific and NZ through collaborations with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US Government, Oregon State University in the US (who conduct blue whale research in NZ), and the Centro de Conservacion Cetacea in Chile. Her research benefits the environment and, consequently, humanity due to the recreational, health, and economic value of the environment.

The project is anticipated to have widespread public and media impact. Testament to this is Catherine was recently granted a SA Tall Poppy Award for her extensive science outreach, and is a finalist for SA Tall Poppy of the Year with the winner to be announced at the SA Science Excellence Awards, Friday 10 August. Her outreach includes TV stories on 60 Minutes, ABC News 24 and children’s science show Scope, as well as numerous radio interviews. She has articles in The Conversation, popular science magazines Australasian Science, Wildlife Australia and Australian Geographic, and print newspapers The Australian, The Advertiser, and The Times. Altogether, her research has conceivably reached over one million people, and the Impact Seed funding will help continue this impressive research impact.

Flinders University Impact Seed Funding Grants provide an opportunity for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to develop their careers and enable key research projects or promotion of research outcomes. Flinders ECRs are in the right environment to breed success. Flinders University has partnered with our community of donors to provide the opportunity for ECRs to receive financial support to develop and fortify their skill sets. Our supporters want to make a difference by building our researchers’ capacity and capabilities to make a positive impact.

Researchers, policy makers, and older adults themselves agree that staying engaged with life represents a hallmark of ageing well. Various service providers and community organisations already provide a range of activity programs tailored towards older people. However the specific aspects of these programs that make them more or less effective are not well understood.

Dr Timothy Windsor’s (CEPSW) Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant Promoting engagement with life in older adulthood will investigate how activity programs can best promote engagement. Increasing older adults' engagement could directly benefit their social integration, well-being and improve their quality of life.

“Living the best life possible means engaging with life in ways that support connection with community, reduce social isolation and support self-determination. So, finding out how South Australia’s older people choose to engage with life is central to understanding how we can support them to maintain these activities throughout their lifespan,” said Leah Trotta, ECH’s General Manager Capability. 

Tim, Professor Mary Luszcz (CEPSW) and Dr Ruth Walker (CNHS) are collaborating with researchers from Oregon State University and Curtin University, as well as ECH Incorporated, the City of Onkaparinga, and the South Australian Office for the Ageing.

“We expect to generate new knowledge on what components of activity programs are key to their effectiveness, as well as evaluate a new tailored approach to promoting engagement that aligns with individuals' unique strengths, capabilities and values,” said Tim.

Expected outcomes of the project include an enhanced understanding of mechanisms contributing to the success of activity programs for older adults, and the development of a new activity program protocol and associated educational materials. The findings will provide benefits for community organisations and aged care service providers adopting innovative approaches to promoting ageing well.

Leah Trotta added, “ECH is excited to be partnering with Flinders and the City of Onkaparinga to learn about these activities and to develop an understanding of how to support or enhance engagement.”

The project is designed to create research and collaboration opportunities, producing academic outputs, and informing policy development.

Professor Corey Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Fellow in Global Ecology, has shared his mistakes in a major part of academia in a new book The Effective Scientist – A Handy Guide to a Successful Academic Career.

To help younger scientists,  Corey focuses in on writing, communicating and storytelling. The Effective Scientist can be purchased from Cambridge University Press and is illustrated by Flinders University PhD candidate René Campbell.

As Corey says, "most scientists haven't had proper training in English literature. The understanding of grammatical structure and the subtleties of the English language and the beautiful array of terminology we can use while trying to remain precise and to the point such that we can clarify very complex concepts to not only our colleagues but also to the rest of the world is not included in science training. This ability to communicate effectively takes an exceptional command of the English language to do properly."

The Science Show on Radio National interviewed Corey on exploring the importance of writing, communication and story-telling for academics, particularly scientists. You can hear the podcast on the ABC Radio website.

Flinders has recently submitted a Stage 1 proposal for the Cooperative Research Centres 20^th Selection Round. The Marine Bioproducts and Biotechnology CRC is a national and international collaboration to position Australia at the cutting-edge of a high-value new industry, led by Professor Wei Zhang.

The aim is to create new knowledge, technology and a skill-base to enable Australia to realise its potential in the blue bioeconomy by developing new marine bioproducts; creating new technologies for advanced manufacturing of marine bioproducts and ensuring our marine bioresources can be produced sustainably and profitably.

A blue economy is a "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, livelihoods and jobs, while preserving the health of ecosystems," according to the World Bank.

Australia has a compelling opportunity to become a major global force in the marine bioproducts and biotechnology industry its marine exclusive economic zone is the third largest in the world – over one-tenth of the Earth’s surface.

This territory spans the full range of climatic zones and is home to abundant, diverse and unique organisms. Coupled with these natural resources, Australia is ranked within the top three nations for marine biodiscovery research. However, Australia is underdeveloped relative to the size of its potential in the marine bioproducts and biotechnology industry.

This CRC will bring together 37 national and international industry partners and 8 of Australia’s leading research organisations to fully exploit its competitive advantages in developing a new industry and boost Australia’s economy through regional development.

“The fact that over $54M cash was committed by the Stage 1 submission highlights the strong support the MBB-CRC is getting from industry at creating economic impact for Australia via the marine biotechnology sector,” said Wei.

The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program aims to improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries, especially where Australia has a competitive strength, and in line with government priorities.

The Program will foster high quality research to solve industry-identified problems through industry-led and outcome-focused collaborative research partnerships between industry entities and research organisations. The Program aims to encourage and facilitate small and medium enterprise (SME) participation in collaborative research.

Compliant CRC applications are considered in two stages on merit and against all other CRC applications at each stage. At Stage 1 the applicant provides a statement of claims against the selection criteria and a description of the proposed research programs. Successful Stage 1 applicants will be invited to submit a Stage 2 application.

The field of artificial intelligence research poses the question: 'can you have a conversation with a computer? Can we get them to interact with people?’ Flinders and Clevertar have tackled the question on how this thinking can assist in virtual healthcare as well as other sectors.

Research conducted by Professor David Powers, College of Science and Engineering, and his team in the Flinders Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has led to a number of exciting developments in the field of human-computer interaction. This led to a spin-out company, Clevertar.

Identifying potential as an assistive technology for health, Clevertar developed a variety of engaging chronic condition management programs for mental health, chronic pain and heart failure.

Already enjoying market success, these programs can easily be applied in other industries where enterprises can take advantage of Clevertar’s platform to deliver service to their consumers they never thought was possible. The virtual agent can interact with consumers on a personal level, so it feels very human-like. It is an excellent way to deliver consistent customer service and collect data very accurately.

The technology’s ongoing appeal lies in its core concept of addressing a real-life issue: many people have a condition for which they need help but might not want to talk about it to a ‘real’ person and would like to do it from the comfort of their own home.

Clevertar’s technology assists with exactly those needs, by humanising the otherwise impersonal technology experience, with the virtual agents providing a person, who is not a ‘real’ person, for the client to interact with and who assists them in their day-to-day lives.

To read more on this, visit the Research Impact webpages.

Tim Hawke and Matt Francis from Clevertar participated in the Australian Telehealth Conference held in Sydney on 11 and 12 April to showcase the new ability beyond Licensed Coaches that Clevertar can provide to the community in virtual care and other sectors.

The conference focused on the evolving world of virtual care with a focus on design thinking in healthcare. Clevertar was represented as both an exhibitor and a presenter in the session on 'The promise of emerging platforms- and New Assistive Technologies – incorporating into service design'. Clevertar also contributed to the session titled: 'Virtual Care and Telehealth Platforms'.

The presentation, titled 'Relational agents – A better way of engaging consumers' focused specifically on the exciting work that Clevertar is undertaking in chronic condition management; with multiple projects taking place around the country.

In an exciting development, the Clevertar platform is now available for use by enterprises wishing to design their own programs. In their presentation, Matt and Tim discussed how enterprises can leverage the platform to create powerful Relational Agent business applications in hours or days instead of months. This is a big opportunity as the trend for consumer engagement is rising.

"How to tell their friends they saw her" - The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci being photographed in the Louvre through a crowd. Photo copyright - Image Perception.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) recently announced that Professor Julian Meyrick, Professor Robert Phiddian, Professor Richard Maltby, and Dr Tully Barnett, from Flinders’ College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, have been awarded a Linkage Project grant for a Laboratory Adelaide project investigating the public value of culture.

This follows on from Laboratory Adelaide’s preceding Linkage success in 2014 on the same research theme, building important momentum.

The 2018 – 2021 project aims to transform the way artists and cultural organisations communicate the value of what they do to governments, and how governments understand the value of culture.

"Value and how to demonstrate it lies at the heart of every major challenge facing arts and culture in Australia today," says Robert.

"In the age of big data, the trend towards reducing culture to metrics puts the cultural sector in a position where its activities are easy to misrepresent, misunderstand or dismiss. This project brings together Flinders researchers, arts industry professionals and a government arts agency to develop more effective ways of communicating culture’s value where it counts: in the annual reporting, grant application and grant acquittal documents that pass between cultural practitioners, governments and funding agencies."

The Laboratory Adelaide team were awarded $180,437 for their project Meaningfully Communicating the Value of Arts and Culture Through Innovative Reporting Frameworks that will apply humanities-based, trans-disciplinary research methods, drawing on the skills and industry connections of Flinders creative arts researchers.

In particular, it will investigate two innovative, socially responsible corporate reporting frameworks – Sustainability Reporting and Integrated Reporting – and create a dedicated framework for culture. These principles-based frameworks provide a new model for how the cultural sector can report its value honestly, holistically and effectively. They embed metrics in a more meaningful style of communication. This will lead to simpler reporting that provides room to talk about what really matters, making South Australia an exemplar nationally for the proper evaluation of arts and culture.

The partner organisations are Arts South Australia, the government’s main cultural agency, and Festivals Adelaide, the peak body for the ten major festivals that contribute so much to the state’s economy, vibrancy and civic society.

"The project is the fruition of four-years of relationship building and will contribute to further collaboration between Flinders-based creative arts researchers and South Australian cultural policy-makers," says Julian.

"It’s a shift away from rules-based assessment processes, which don’t work well for culture, to principles-based evaluation that is dynamic, stakeholder-aware and socially engaged. Over the last four years, Laboratory Adelaide has generated a significant number of new concepts that can be used to reform reporting. Given its multi-dimensional nature, the evaluation of culture has to be structured around informed dialogue between government, funding agencies and artists. This project seeks to equip, enhance and focus that dialogue."

The World Health Organization (WHO) can take you to a holiday destination, but rather than relaxation, be prepared for intense, valuable work experience. Such global opportunities have been a relatively hidden gem for current and recently graduated researchers, until now.

Flinders researcher and Doctorate of Public Health candidate, Elissa Mortimer, College of Medicine and Public Health, has used her peer networks to access a WHO Internship in tropical Fiji. For 6 weeks earlier this year, Elissa volunteered as an intern with the South Pacific WHO Representative Office in Suva, Fiji. 

The WHO internship program is open to recent or current students with an interest in global health. Elissa undertook two projects alongside of the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Technical Officer. 

“The experience was of immense value to me because of the opportunity to undertake and deliver on projects prioritised by both the WHO office and its external stakeholders, as well as apply and practise my skills in a global health setting,” said Elissa.

The first project related to development of an Implementation Plan for Front of Pack Labelling for processed and packaged foods manufactured in Fiji. Front of Pack Labelling systems such as the Health Star Rating system used in Australia, are being implemented more broadly owing to the increased accessibility of commercial food markets in low-middle income countries and the growing burden of NCDs. Front of Pack Labelling systems provide an easy to use, quick reference guide to assist consumers to make healthier choices at the supermarket.

The second project involved an analysis of data collected for the Health Promoting Schools program, being undertaken with around 200 schools throughout the main island of Fiji. Elissa conducted an analysis to determine if any relationship existed between variables measuring anthropometry (BMI-for-age) and anaemia status (haemoglobin) with survey responses measuring Diet and Physical Activity Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice.

Both of Elissa’s projects were related to NCDs, which are taking centre stage globally as the largest cause of morbidity and mortality. They are of particular relevance to Fiji, where around 80% of deaths are caused by NCDs. The bulk of funding to United Nations agencies, such as WHO, is now related to NCDs.

On Tuesday 21 August 2018, Southgate Institute for Health, Society, and Equity will be hosting a seminar by Elissa for her to share her experience on Global public health work with a UN agency. The seminar will be held from 1 PM in Rooms 1.23, 1.27 and 1.28 of the Health Sciences building.

Four projects led by Flinders University have received funding success in the recent Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant funding announcements. Flinders now has a total of 6 projects that have been funded through the ARC Linkage Projects Scheme in 2018, after two Flinders led projects were announced in the first release.

The project teams include researchers from Flinders’ Colleges of: Business, Government and Law (CBGL); Education, Psychology and Social Work (CEPSW); Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS); Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS), and; Science and Engineering (CSE).

Promoting engagement with life in older adulthood was awarded $202,623. Flinders’ Dr Timothy Windsor (CEPSW), Professor Mary Luszcz (CEPSW), Dr Ruth Walker (CNHS) are working with Dr Trevor Mazzucchelli (Curtin University), Associate Professor Robert Stawski (Oregon State University) and Ms Amber Watt (University of Adelaide). The project will consider the increase in engagement by older adults to assist organisations and aged care service providers adopting innovative approaches to promoting ageing well. The team are partnering with Oregon State University, ECH Incorporated, the City of Okaparinga, and the Office for the Ageing.

Meaningfully communicating the value of arts and culture through reporting was awarded $180,437. Flinders’ Professor Julian Meyrick (CHASS), Professor Robert Phiddian (CHASS), Professor Richard Maltby (CHASS), Dr Tully Barnett (CHASS) will be working together with Mr Peter Louca (Arts SA), Ms Satu Teppo (Arts SA) and Ms Christabel Anthoney (Festivals Adelaide). The project aims to change the way culture can be valued and measured through reporting.

Economic complexity as a driver of innovation and smart specialisation will be working with SA Department for Industry and Skills (Formerly Department of State Development). The project was awarded $143.646. Flinders’ Professor John Spoehr (CSE), Associate Professor Giselle Rampersad (CSE), Professor David Powers (CSE), Dr Rong Zhu (CBGL) and Professor John Quiggin (University of Queensland), aim to determine how economic complexity can drive innovation and smart specialisation, and how industry can be supported to transition to a more competitive economy.

Professor Adrian Linacre (CSE) and Professor Kenneth (Paul) Kirkbride’s (CSE) project Visualisation of latent DNA was awarded $106,705. Adrian and Paul will be working with Forensic Science SA and the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency. The project aims to deliver a proof-of-concept that allows visualisation of invisible DNA (latent DNA) into a quick, inexpensive and practical DNA collection method that will lead to DNA evidence being available in more cases.

Each of these projects will be featured in upcoming Inspiring Research articles.

The two earlier successful projects have been featured in Inspiring Research - Dr Michael Morrison (CHASS) and Associate Professor Amy Roberts (CHASS) - Interrogating the Riverland's colonial frontier, and Dr Michael Morrison and Dr Darlene McNaughton’s (CMPH) - Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula.

Changes have been made to the Linkages round, with the ARC moving to a continuous submission and assessment of proposals. As there are no set closing dates, researchers and their partner organisations can work on proposals at any time throughout the year. Please contact the ARC Grants Team in Flinders RDS, for further information.

Dr Katherine Morel (left) and Professor Pamela Sykes

Dr Katherine Morel, a former HDR student in the College of Medicine and Public Health, has been awarded the Radiation Research Editors' Award from the Radiation Research Society (RRS) on the back of research conducted in the laboratory of Flinders’ Professor Pamela Sykes.

The Editors’ Award honours a Radiation Research Society Scholar-in-Training who has published an outstanding paper in Radiation Research. Katherine’s publication: Parthenolide Selectively Sensitizes Prostate Tumor Tissue to Radiotherapy while Protecting Healthy Tissues In Vivo was published in March 2017. Co-authors include Flinders’ researchers Rebecca Ormsby and Pamela Sykes.

Radiation Research is consistently in the top quartile of journals in the areas of biophysics, radiation, and radiology, nuclear medicine and imaging. It has a H index of 111, (one of the main measurements of the quality of a journal - the higher the number, the higher the quality). Articles in this journal often have a high level of international collaboration, and Katherine’s article is representative of this.

Katherine was a recipient of a 2018 Flinders University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence and is currently a Postdoctoral fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard University.

The award will be presented at the RRS annual meeting, to be held in conjunction with the Conference on Radiation and Health, 23-26 September 2018, in Chicago, USA.

Waste not, want not is a guiding principle between Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) surgeons and Flinders’ researchers, Professor Simon Brookes and Associate Professor Phil Dinning, College of Medicine and Public Health. In a globally unique collaborative partnership, patients can opt for their intestinal tissue removed during elective surgery at FMC to be used for basic research by Simon and Phil's research groups.

The team are looking at nerve function and how to create new effective treatments for a variety of bowel conditions. Professor David Wattchow, a consultant surgeon in FMC, has collaborated with Simon and Phil for many years in a wide variety of research projects. He has made arrangements so that tissue can be picked up from operating theatres and taken to the laboratory within minutes. FMC is one of few places in the world where this occurs.

This unique partnership has now led to Simon and Phil achieving international grant success. The pair were approached to participate in a consortium grant under the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program for the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The SPARC program is a new scheme which encourages consortium bids and rewards research designed to lead to new real-world treatments.

"For the last thirty years, researchers have been studying the nerves that control the gut largely in laboratory animals. Professor Wattchow has had a huge influence on our work by making it possible to study human gut tissue that would otherwise go to waste." said Simon.

To understand how nerves in the gut can be activated to lead to new treatments, Simon studies nerve pathways and their actions. Phil studies movement of the colon in both human volunteers and surgical specimens of gut. They work alongside Marcello Costa, Nick Spencer and Taher Omari in a large collaboration based in the Centre for Neuroscience. The combination of theory, experimental and real world testing aims to establish a full picture of types of gut nerves, their location, their dimensions and their function, providing a foundation for effective pain and illness management.

"For the past 15 years, nerve pathways have been stimulated in patients with surgically implanted electrical stimulators to treat urinary urgency, incontinence and faecal incontinence. This technology has also been trialled as a treatment for constipation. Yet, how it works remains unknown," said Phil.

"We want to find out what nerve stimulation can be used as treatment for. We want to know where the nerves are, how far they go, what they do, so that we can work on new methods of stimulation systematically, rather than having one company set up a device for bladder control and another one for bowel problems," said Simon.

The consortium consists of groups from University of California Los Angeles, CALTECH, Universities of Nevada (USA) and Munich (Germany). The groups are looking at different aspects of neural pathways in the colon. The consortium aims to develop new therapeutic treatments, and additionally, are hoping their insights will influence future studies, including a greater understanding of the relationship between animal and human studies.

A keen research communicator, Dr Sam Elliott has recently participated in Flinders’ Researcher Professional Development opportunities and produced his own video abstract. Video abstracts are not a set requirement for all publishers as yet, but they are becoming more prevalent across the publishing space. They also provide a clear snapshot of the research that can be utilised by media and other social news networks to create reach beyond a published article.

The team spoke with Sam about the experience and what impact and reach it has had.

What conference did you attended?

The 6th International Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise Conference 2018, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. There were 200 delegates from all corners of the globe.

Why a video abstract?

While a video abstract was not required by the conference committee, I decided to create a one prior to attending the conference because I wanted to bring some visibility to my research area and strengthen my profile internationally before Day 1 of the conference.

Did you achieve your aim of increasing your visibility and profile at the conference?

Yes. The video abstract was posted onto my Twitter feed, with the twitter handle #QRSE2018, enabling it to reach the broader community of scholars who may not know of my work. This was two or three days prior to the conference. As a result there were some notable outcomes including an increase in followers, retweets, profile views and video abstract views (650+ views and 2000+ impressions). It was also an excellent medium for meeting new people at the conference. From day 1, I was approached by academics who had seen the video abstract and wanted to know more about my work, which allowed me to encourage them to attend my session. 

Did the Conference Organisers use you video abstract?

The conference had a strong digital media presence so my video abstract was trending on big screens during lunch and break times. The conference organising committee also said that they will look to encourage more of this work for the next biennial conference. 

Sam Elliott on Twitter

Getting excited for @QRSE2018 conference. I'm that excited, I even created a video abstract - take a look! Thanks to @ShapeResearch @Flinders @IanPotterFdn and @andyjstapleton for support! Full paper available now: https://t.co/ix12o6FfKo #QRSE2018 #sportparents https://t.co/WS7KmLbdFT

Dr Sam Elliott

Role: Lecturer in Sport, Health and Physical Activity and Member of the SHAPE Research Centre
College: Education, Psychology & Social Work
Campus: Bedford Park
E: sam.elliott@flinders.edu.au
T: +61 8 8201 3495
W: flinders.edu.au/people/sam.elliott

If you are interested in learning more about the services and support that are provided at Flinders in this area, please contact the Researcher Professional Development team.

The Centre for Remote Health (CRH) has recently completed Joanna Briggs Institute Systemic Review Training and has been invited to become an Affiliate Group of the Institute. By doing so, Flinders will increasingly contribute to improving health standards and knowledge on issues in remote health – an area traditionally underrepresented in systematic reviews.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for CRH and Flinders NT to produce high quality systematic reviews on different aspects of remote health and, ultimately, the health outcomes for people who live in remote Australia,” said Professor Tim Carey, CRH.

Systematic reviews are used by clinicians to improve clinical decision making. Clinicians are able to read a totality of evidence in a focussed area. The credibility of systematic reviews is judged by the methodology used in the reviews. These include a sensible clinical question being asked, an exhaustive literature search, and the results presented in a useful manner.

“As an Affiliated Group we will have access to the JBI resources for producing systematic reviews as well as the support of an international network of reviewers,” said Tim. “We quickly received congratulations and welcomes from other JBI Affiliated Groups and Centres of Excellence from the US, Canada, Switzerland, Portugal, Australia, and Brazil.”

The remit, as an Affiliated Group, is to conduct systematic reviews on different aspects of remote health, including cultural training and service delivery. To maintain the Affiliated Group status, a minimum of three systematic reviews will need to be produced in three years. If more are published, then CRH will be eligible to apply to become a JBI Centre of Excellence.

The initial membership list for the Affiliate Group is: Convenor – Professor Tim Carey; Deputy Convenor – Associate Professor Mark Davis; Core Staff – Associate Professor Narelle Campbell, Dr Danny Tsai, Dr Sheela Joseph, Ms Leigh Moore, Ms Tanja Hirvonen, and Mr Toby Speare. The Adjunct Staff are Ms Annie Farthing, Ms Kath Martin, and Mr Ross Carter.

Since 1996 the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) has promoted and supported the synthesis, transfer, and utilisation of evidence through identifying feasible, appropriate, meaningful and effective healthcare practices to assist in the improvement of healthcare outcomes globally. The training through JBI ensures that any systematic review created through their process has a high standing with clinicians.

Tim welcomes queries from Flinders’ research colleagues related to the Centre for Remote Health, and research interests in the area of remote health including the remote health workforce, the education and training of remote health professionals, and the efficient and effective clinical skills required for high quality remote health services.

Have you thought about how to get half a million people to read your research or opinions? For Dr Alice Gorman, Space Archaeologist in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, writing for The Conversation has enabled her to reach this milestone.

Earlier this month, Alice’s articles achieved a total of half a million unique reads. The most popular article, 60^th anniversary of the oldest human artefact in Earth’s orbit, the Vanguard 1 satellite, had close to 59,000 reads.

Alice’s articles have contributed to building her research profile and research career. They have led to copious media interviews and reinforced her skills in engaging with and communicating to the public. In her view, it is key for an informed public to be aware of critical issues of the day. The Conversation enables Alice’s words to reach hundreds of thousands of people easily and achieve her research aim - working to influence national and international policy around space exploration.

"I’d like to think that there are now a half a million people in the world who now have a better idea of why space matters than they did before reading my articles," said Alice.

The Conversation ensures articles published are based on current issues and news and is informed by research and researchers, countering the possibility of incorrect facts being circulated. "The Conversation aims to break this cycle by drawing on the knowledge of those who create it in the first place. In doing so, it strengthens the foundations of Australian democracy by giving people accurate information to make their own minds up. I’m proud to be contributing to that," said Alice.

Contributing to The Conversation has had wider benefits too - it has facilitated Alice talking to fellow authors in other disciplines. Alice has developed a writing partnership with Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, a University of Melbourne physicist. It is a connection she would not have made without the commonality of writing for The Conversation.

"I find that my ideas sometimes move fluidly between Conversation articles and academic articles. I might develop an idea in one location which I pick up in the other and take in a different direction. It’s all part of the same research process for me now," said Alice.

Alice recommends writing for The Conversation and views it as a key form of engagement. The guidance experienced editors provide is crucial to shaping an author’s writing, making it easier to read and more accessible for the readership. As The Conversation encourages other media outlets to republish articles, there is also a wider global audience who will read a researcher’s work.

Alice’s first The Conversation article appeared in 2012 and since then she has provided 30 articles, contributed quotes to authors of other articles, and has even risen to the challenge of writing a short explanation of her research in emoji! Her articles have included opinion pieces, research reports and responses to events in the news.

Flinders is a supporter of The Conversation and encourages our academics to get involved.

The Flinders Media Officer contact is Tania Bawden, Journalist (Research) Office of Communication and Engagement. Tania can also be contacted via mobile on 0434 101 516. Karen Ashford, Director - Media and Communications in the Office of Communication and Engagement, can also be contacted for assistance and advice in liaising with the media and media training (M: 0427 398 713).

Diversity and diversity management research interests scholars, practitioners and policy makers. Workforce diversity and its management has been central to research across all disciplines. It’s even more important in the context of the hospitality industry and can advise them on how to liaise with customers from all corners of the globe.

At a scholarly level, in spite of the interest and uptake by researchers the number of articles published in hospitality journals indicates these topics are in their infancy. Given the importance of the topic and its impact to policy and practice, it is vital to collate and integrate previous studies, present trends and identify gaps.

Dr Manoharan published one of the first systematic reviews focused on diversity and diversity management literature in hospitality that covered a period of 28 years (1990 – early 2017), in collaboration with Associate Professor Manisha Singal, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech, USA. It has provided a "one stop shop" to understand diversity and diversity management research and offer detailed directions for future research. Analyses of the literature revealed that the top three research areas in (i) diversity are, gender, age and migrants, and (ii) diversity management, are diversity practices, diversity training and managing migrants. The articles were reviewed in relation to journals and years published to understand trends. In addition, the nature of research, theories and frameworks used were reviewed to understand methodologies and various theoretical lenses.

Our review has identified what is not known and what gaps exist in the literature around these topics, and has informed my own research program. A number of future research directions in the context of hospitality include (1) expansion of themes, (2) theory based research, (3) methodological improvements, (4) geographical extension, and (5) improved practical implications.

Ashok’s systematic review of research on diversity and diversity management can be found at Science Direct.

Dr Ashokkumar Manoharan

Dr Ashokkumar Manoharan is a Lecturer in Strategic Management in Flinders Business, College of Business, Government and Law. Ashok has an interdisciplinary educational background including a PhD in Management from UniSA and an MBA, M.Sc., and Bachelors in Hotel Management. His research area focuses on organisational culture, workforce diversity and diversity management with a particular emphasis on cultural diversity in the Australian hospitality industry.

T: 8201 2838
E: ashokkumar.manoharan@flinders.edu.au
Campus: Bedford Park
College: Business, Government and Law 
Role: Lecturer in Strategic Management

This is a feature for Inspiring Research where we profile Flinders’ Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in our ECR Spotlight. This initiative appears regularly and aims to connect our research community and strengthen research communications within the University. You will get insight into who our ECRs are and how their research and achievements are making a difference.

The featured ECRs welcome dialogue, debate, and conversation and we hope that it may shape future intra-, inter- and/or trans-disciplinary collaboration with Flinders’ colleagues. Please feel free to comment on their spotlight, and/or contact them directly. Also, you can contact the ECR Spotlight coordinator, Dr Marina Delpin, with your queries and comments.

Snowy Homerton from ABC accommodation by Franman247

A Flinders archaeologist has received an international fellowship to spend a year at one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Dr Ian Moffat, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, has been awarded a Commonwealth Rutherford Fellowship to work at Cambridge University (UK) at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

This opportunity, funded by a new scheme from the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission, brings an exciting new dimension to Ian’s research into the climate history of archaeological rock shelters in South Africa and Indonesia which is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA).

Ian will be working within the McDonald Institute of Archaeology Research with Professor Charly French in the Charles McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeogy. Charly specialises in the use of soil micromorphology as an indicator of past climate conditions and anthropogenic activity, which aligns with Ian’s focus on applying earth science techniques with archaeology.

“I am looking forward to building and sustaining links between Cambridge and Flinders, specifically developing new partnerships and networks,” said Ian. “My focus while there will be on engagement, research outputs and taking advantage of expertise and facilities not available in Adelaide. I will also be able to share my skills with the team in Charly’s lab.”

In addition to his affiliation with the McDonald Institute Ian has also been appointed a Research Associate at Homerton College, which is celebrating the 250^th anniversary of its foundation in 2018. From initially being for the education of dissenters, who were banned from Cambridge and Oxford University, it eventually joined Cambridge in 1894. The College has a flourishing multi-disciplinary research community which will provide the opportunity to develop Ian’s networks outside of his disciplinary area.

“I am really relishing the idea of immersing myself in this vibrant community to share, develop and discuss ideas,” said Ian.

Cambridge is ranked as the number 2 University by the Times Higher Education 2018 World University Rankings and has the number 1 ranked Archaeology program worldwide based on the QS World University Rankings by subject in 2016.

The Commonwealth Rutherford Fellowship is a new funding scheme administered by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission. This new initiative has funded 50 postdoctoral fellows from across the Commonwealth to work for a year or two in any UK University. Highly skilled and highly motivated PhD graduates, whose proposed research topic is innovative, timely, and likely to lead to wider impact beyond the academic community and build research collaboration between the UK and other Commonwealth countries, are sought as applicants.

Swamp near Weipa with a major food - water lilies

As recently announced, the Australian Research Council (ARC) successful 2017 Linkage grants included $301,254 for Dr Michael Morrison and Dr Darlene McNaughton's project, Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula. The project will address an important gap in Australia’s history by reinstating Indigenous perspectives of colonisation through tracing the role of Indigenous food, labour and knowledge in cultural exchanges between Indigenous people and settler-colonists.

Knowing what people ate, how they obtained and shared food, and the factors that shaped and constrained this process provides unparalleled insights into daily life at this time in Australia’s past. "Food was a key medium for communication and negotiation during colonisation in north Queensland," said Michael.

"The Homelands of the northern Peninsula were a microcosm of wider colonial processes in Australia before the Second World War, and included large Aboriginal reserves, Christian missions, cattle stations, goldfields and the iconic Overland Telegraph Line. However, there are many inaccurate and negative portrayals of Indigenous people in modern accounts of Cape York - our project partners in the communities around Weipa, Coen and Lockhart River are keen to see this remedied," Michael continued.

The project team are Dr Michael Morrison, Dr Darlene McNaughton, Mr David Claudie (‎Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation), Associate Professor Heather Burke, Associate Professor Shawn Ross (Macquarie University), Dr Ian Moffat, Dr Adela Sobotkova (Macquarie University), and Dr Brit Asmussen (Queensland Museum).

The flower from the Lady Apple Tree, Weipa, Cape York Peninsula: the Lady Apple is a popular bush food and indicator plant. The blooming of its flowers tell people that box and other jelly fish are now moving into creeks.

This project aims to trace historical Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, through a program of collaborative community-based archaeological and anthropological research. Mr David Claudie, Kuuku I’yu Custodian and Director of the Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, said "This project is unique in that the Traditional custodians involved are working in real partnership with western scientists. We are equal participants in the research, leading the research; we are not just the subjects of anthropological and archaeological inquiry as we so often have been in the past."

The partner organisations involved in the project with Flinders are the Trustee for the Western Cape Communities Trust, Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation, Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council, and the Queensland Museum.

Mr Geoffrey Fahey, Executive Officer of the Western Cape Communities Trust, said that "Traditional Owners and Directors of the Trust consider that projects such as this are vital for the preservation of Aboriginal Culture on the Western Cape."

In partnership with local Custodians, the Flinders-led research team will record oral histories, analyse historical records, and look for archaeological evidence of Aboriginal people in the landscape in order to develop new perspectives on both local and global history.

"We will be piecing together a very different story about food and ‘foodways’ by using a wider range of evidence," said Darlene. "That’s the real power of this project – drawing from oral history, anthropology and archaeology to reveal a new narrative of colonial life in the early twentieth century."
 

Murray River, Calperum Station - photo by Amy Roberts

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has recently announced some of the successful 2017 Linkage grants. Dr Michael Morrison and Associate Professor Amy Roberts, both from the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, have each been awarded a Linkage project. Two projects were submitted by the Flinders’ discipline of Archaeology and both were successful.

“These applications emerge from the long term collaborative relationships that the researchers have with the Aboriginal communities with whom they are working. The quality of the grants was ensured by disciplinary workshops, which meant that each application had rigorous peer review before being submitted,” said Professor Claire Smith, Dean (Research), College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. This model has been robust, consistently delivering success.

Michael’s and Dr Darlene McNaughton’s, College of Medicine and Public Health, project Indigenous foodways in colonial Cape York Peninsula will be covered in an upcoming article.

Associate Professor Amy Roberts, Dr Michael Morrison, Associate Professor Heather Burke, and Dr Ian Moffat were awarded $157,290 for their project Interrogating the Riverland's colonial frontier.

This project aims to deliver the first comprehensive study of the colonial frontier in South Australia’s Riverland, a region that was the scene of nationally significant colonial endeavours coupled with violence towards Aboriginal people.

Previous studies have focused on discrete events from the historical record. Instead, Amy and her team will use a multi-layered strategy to explore this past and present. By coalescing archaeological, anthropological and oral history evidence, meaningful narratives for and with Aboriginal descendants will be generated. These insights should substantially contribute to understandings about the colonial frontier in Australia and globally.

The partner organisations involved in the project are the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, and the Australian Landscape Trust.

“This project represents the first cohesive opportunity for community members to be involved in research that is being done with them in a post native title setting. Now that the community’s rights and interests have been recognised by the Federal Court our community members are looking forward to the range of capacity building projects that can set the path for our future,” said the chairperson of the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, Ms Christine Abdulla.

“We want the experiences of our ancestors who lived on the colonial frontier to no longer be hidden. This project will allow us to not only learn more about our past but will also afford us the opportunity to educate the general public about the effects of colonisation.”

Changes have been made to the Linkages round, with the ARC moving to a continuous submission and assessment of proposals. As there are no set closing dates, researchers and their partner organisations can work on proposals at any time throughout the year.

Human evolution occurred during a period of remarkable climate variation - in which temperatures, oceans and rainfall rose and fell dramatically. Grappling with the challenges of environmental change would have influenced the behavioural development of early humans. However, correlating climate records with archaeological material is difficult due to the uncertainties inherent in many dating techniques.

Current research by Ian Moffat is addressing this gap, through the development of new methods to extract climate information directly from sediments in archaeological rock shelters. Innovative techniques from the earth sciences, including geophysics and geochemistry, are being used on rock shelter sites with long histories of hominin occupation in South Africa and Indonesia.

This research has already shown that the subsurface of these cave sites can be mapped to better understand their depositional history. Sediments collected from caves are yielding a plethora of information about the intensity of human occupation and the associated environmental conditions. These data promise to provide valuable information about the impact of past climate on each site. A recent successful ARC LIEF application by a consortium of partners, including Flinders University, will establish a new facility that will further develop this research by analysing the isotope composition of plant fossils associated with the rock shelter sediments.

Ian has recently written about how geophysical and geochemical methods can be used in digital geoarchaeology.

Dr Ian Moffat

Dr Ian Moffat is an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow in Archaeological Science at Flinders University. Ian’s research is focused on applying earth science techniques to archaeology. His current projects including examining the mobility of hominin prey in Palaeolithic Israel and France, trialling new methods for imaging shipwrecks on the Murray River, mapping rock art sites in 3D in Arnhem Land and understanding the timing and environmental context of the transition to pastoralism in Mongolia.

Role: ARC DECRA Research Fellow in Archaeological Science
College: Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Campus: Bedford Park
E: ian.moffat@flinders.edu.au
T: +61 8 8201 5905

This is a new feature for Inspiring Research where we profile Flinders’ Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in our ECR Spotlight. This initiative will appear regularly and aims to connect our research community and strengthen research communications within the University. You will get insight into who our ECRs are and how their research and achievements are making a difference.

The featured ECRs welcome dialogue, debate, and conversation and we hope that it may shape future intra-, inter- and/or trans-disciplinary collaboration with Flinders’ colleagues. Please feel free to comment on their spotlight, and/or contact them directly. Also, you can contact the ECR Spotlight coordinator, Dr Marina Delpin, with your queries and comments.

Flinders researchers will be working with statewide, national and international partners to improve prevention, treatment and survivorship on gastrointestinal cancer, aim to reprogramme b-lymphocytes, use web-based psychological interventions to improve well-being for women with breast cancer, be an integral part of a new network for regional-rural cancer trials and continue to host a Beat Cancer Professor.

The latest round of the SA Beat Cancer projects have been announced with six Flinders' Chief Investigators being granted a Translational Research Package, an Early Career Cancer Research Fellowship, a Project Grant, two travel awards and continued funding for the Beat Cancer Professorial Chair at Flinders. Flinders researchers are also collaborating with other state partners on projects that were awarded in this round.

The Cancer Council SA has invested $7 million into Cancer Council’s Beat Cancer Project over five years, which is being matched by SA Health, creating a pool of funds totalling $14 million—making it the single largest source of funding for cancer research and infrastructure within South Australia.

Translational Research Package

Professor David Watson, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer (FCIC), and his team have been awarded $380,000 over three years for a Cancer Council SA Beat Cancer Project Translational Research Package. His project, Improving gastrointestinal cancer outcomes: prevention, treatment and survivorship, will develop and implement better and more cost-effective diagnostic and treatment pathways for oesophagogastric and colorectal cancer, the two major GI cancers in Australia.

The Beat Cancer Project Translational Research Package is based around a highly collaborative, translational research environment within the South Australian health system. The scheme aims to support the translation of that research into policy and practice for improved health outcomes of the community.

David and his team showcase the excellent collaborative environment within South Australia as the project involves Professor Chris Karapetis, Regional Director of Cancer Services for the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network; Professor Graham Young, FCIC; Professor Julie Ratcliffe, Professor of Health Economics at the Institute for Choice at UniSA; Professor Richard Woodman, Professor in Biostatistics and Epidemiology; Professor Bogda Koczwara, FCIC; Dr Erin Symonds, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network; Professor Richard Reed, Head of the Discipline of General Practice; Professor Robert Fraser, Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; and Professor Ross McKinnon, Director, FCIC and Dean (Research) College of Medicine and Public Health.

Early Career Cancer Research Fellowship

Dr Lauren Thurgood was awarded a $240,000 SA Beat Cancer Project Early Career Cancer Research Fellowship for her project Metabolic reprogramming of B-lymphocytes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia:  a new therapeutic strategy?.

"In this complex and difficult funding environment I feel truly appreciative of organisations like the Cancer Council that work hard generate research funding as well as the donors. I also appreciate the backing of the SA Department of Health for supporting medical research in SA," said Lauren.

Lauren's research findings to date have discovered how cells from a common blood cancer called Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) utilise energy sources to stay alive. With a median age at diagnosis of 70, it is a disease that will become more prevalent with Australia's aging population. The support from the Cancer Council will allow the preliminary work from the past 5-years to be further explored and translated to have benefits to patients. Such benefits include an understanding of what microscopic changes drive leukaemia that will predict disease course.

"We aim to develop new therapies that target energy pathways in a hope to slow or ultimately, halt cancer cell growth. The applicability of this work is so much wider than just blood cancers, as all cancers require superior energy requirements to thrive," said Lauren.

"This funding will ensure Flinders' continued recognition as having success in translationally driven cancer research. It will see fruitful collaborations at a local and national level with Institutes, Universities and hospitals ,as well as one of the largest cancer hospital/research centres in the world – The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, USA."

Project Grant

Dr Lisa Beatty and her team have been awarded $75,000 SA Beat Cancer Project Grant for the project Can a web-based psychological intervention for women with advanced breast cancer improve well-being and reduce health care use? A randomised controlled trial.

"This funding will enable me to build on research that’s been underway for 12 years – it’s the first time that an online program has been developed for women with metastatic breast cancer. There is a high need for this unique world first program," said Lisa.

"This is a high impact project that, based on our previous research, has the potential for national and international reach. We are working together with the Breast Cancer Network of Australia and Cancer Council SA, along with Southern Adelaide Local Health Network so we will see  fast translation into clinical and community practice."

The international project team includes Professor Bogda Koczwara, Professor Phyllis Butow - University of Sydney, Professor Afaf Girgis - University of New South Wales, Professor Penelope Schofield - Swinburne University of Technology, Professor Jane Turner - University of Queensland, Professor Nick Hulbert-Williams - University of Chester (UK), Dr Joseph Coll - University of Sydney, and Associate Professor Billingsley Kaamwa.

Travel Grants

Ms Ashleigh Hocking, Research Assistant at FCIC, has been awarded a Travel Grant to support her research into the treatment of mesothelioma.

Dr Emma Kemp, Research Associate at FCIC, has also been awarded a Travel Grant to further her research into the care needs of breast cancer survivors and their caregivers.

Beat Cancer Professorial Chair

Launch of the 2018 Beat Cancer Project grants, (L-R): Alana Sparrow, Cancer Council SA General Manager, Services, Research and Public Policy; Professor Ross McKinnon, Flinders University; Lincoln Size, Cancer Council SA Chief Executive; The Hon Peter Malinauskas, Minister for Health; Professor Tim Hughes, SAHMRI; and Professor David Roder, University of South Australia

Professor Ross McKinnon, Director of FCIC, has received $1 million to continue his role as the Beat Cancer Professorial Chair for Flinders University. Ross will continue to work on innovative prevention, early intervention and treatment strategies for all cancers through looking at optimising drug therapy in solid tumours.

Clinical Trial Enhancement Grant

Dr Ganessan Kichenadasse and Professor Chris Karapetis from FCIC, are co-investigators on a $280,000 Clinical Trial Enhancement Grant (Network (SACTN)) led by Dr Dagmara Poprawski from Country Health SA. This Network will introduce a clinical cancer trial model to Mount Gambier Hospital in an effort to address the gap in access and availability of therapy options in country areas. Flinders Medical Centre will act as the primary site for patients participating in cancer trials, and the Mount Gambier Hospital will act as the satellite site.

"It is hoped that a pilot project will demonstrate successful implementation, with high standard of governance and quality of care. This will allow a future roll out of other regional and rural cancer centre sites to be inducted into this model. The lessons learnt will ensure that future care can be delivered in a seamless, coordinated, and high standard manner, including conventional and trial therapies," said Dagmara.

Since 2011, Cancer Council SA has partnered with SA Health, The University of Adelaide, Flinders University, the University of South Australia, and South Australia’s flagship research facility, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) to fund Cancer Council’s Beat Cancer Project.

Adult little penguin nesting on Troubridge Island
Photography credit: Diane Colombelli-Négrel

Are blood parasites to blame for the little penguin population decline in Australia? This is the question that Dr Diane Colombelli-Négrel is attempting to answer by comparing blood parasite presence across little penguin colonies in Australia.

In South Australia, over the past decade, little penguins (Eudyptula minor) have shown 50-80% population declines. Emigration, low reproductive success and/or predation have been suggested as the reasons, but the impact of parasites has been overlooked.

Parasites can be significant drivers of bird population dynamics. In seabirds, the incidence of blood parasites was believed to be low until recently, but there is now growing evidence of mortality in the wild caused by blood parasites. “The funding from the Sir Mark Mitchell Foundation will allow testing of an unprecedented number of colonies across different states which will help resolving considerable gaps in little penguin parasitology research to date,” said Diane.

Chick little penguins on Granite Island
Photography credit: Vanessa Owens

A 2013 study in Western Australia demonstrated the presence of the blood parasite Haemoproteus spp. within little penguins and mortality due their presence. Using molecular methods, a recent study identified blood parasites (specifically Haemoproteus and Plasmodium spp.) in 86% of the individuals sampled in South Australia, with 80% of the infected individuals having multiple infections. As these discoveries are very recent, it is imperative that additional information on the extent and intensity of these parasites in little penguin populations across a wide range of colonies is ascertained.

In order to do this, Diane, will compare blood parasite presence and species between the South Australian colonies and colonies located in other states. Very little is known about the impact of blood parasites on penguins, and even less on survival or population declines, hence information of this nature is crucial to implement appropriate conservation measures.