Student topics

Blood cancers, which include leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma account for 10% of all cancers and 9.4% of cancer deaths. Stem cell transplantation (SCT) is the predominant curative therapy for these diseases. However, a major complication is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in which the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, skin, lung and liver are preferentially damaged by the transplanted donor immune system, limiting the therapeutic potential of this treatment. Thus, there is a pressing need for new treatment approaches to improve transplant outcome for …

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

This PhD project aims to develop a framework for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which optimally balances localisation, mapping and other objectives in order to solve sequential decision tasks under map and pose uncertainty. This project expects to generate new knowledge in UAV navigation using an innovative approach by combining simultaneous localisation and mapping algorithms with partially observable markov decision processes. The project’s expected outcomes will enable UAVs to solve multiple objectives under map and pose uncertainty in GPS-denied environments. This …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

School

School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a prevalent disease affecting 37% of asymptomatic women. Pelvic mesh implantation is a common surgical procedure employed to treat stress urinary incontinence, rectal prolapse and pelvic organ prolapse. However, the use of pelvic meshes can cause complications such as erosion, infection, pain and discomfort, which sometimes require further surgery. In Australia, in November 2017, the TGA banned transvaginal mesh for prolapse. Currently, women with complications from their pelvic mesh may opt to have them surgically …

Study level

Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Biomedical Technologies

Imagine you want to go to a rugby game in Brisbane in a few weeks with some friends. You will probably jump across at least a few apps – coordinating plans on WhatsApp, buying tickets from Ticketmaster, booking a ride through Uber, and paying each other back for drinks over Venmo. But what if all that activity happened in one app on your phone? Meet the so-called 'super apps'.Super apps refer to marketplaces that offer a wide range of products …

Study level

Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations

Research centre(s)

Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology

Wilson disease (WD) is a genetic disorder of copper metabolism. It can present with hepatic and neurological symptoms, due to copper accumulation in the liver and brain (1). WD is caused by compound heterozygosity or homozygosity for mutations in the copper transporting P-type ATPase gene ATP7B. Over 700 ATP7B genetic variants have been associated with WD. Estimates for WD population prevalence vary with 1 in 30,000 generally quoted. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for successful management of the disease. …

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Research centre(s)

Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health

FGFR2 encodes two alternatively spliced isoforms that differ in their ligand binding domain and the combination of tissue specific expression of these isoforms and tissue specific expression of the FGF ligands is the foundation of normal paracrine signalling. Isoform switching from FGFR2b (inclusion of exon 8) to FGFR2c (inclusion of exon 9) occurs in tumorigenesis as it establishes an autocrine loop in epithelial cancer cells.We have previously published a detailed investigation into differences between wildtype FGFR2b and mutant FGFR2b following …

Study level

Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are negative for Estrogen Receptor, Progesterone Receptor and HER2 expression, are clinically aggressive and are unresponsive to the available hormonal or targeted drugs used for other breast cancer subtypes, so that TNBC patients rely mainly on chemotherapy. TNBC accounts for 15-20% of all invasive breast cancer and patients have increased risk of recurrence, mortality and early metastatic progression. Thus, there is an urgent clinical need to develop improved treatment strategies for TNBC. Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is a …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

FGFR2 encodes two alternatively spliced isoforms that differ in their ligand binding domain and the combination of tissue specific expression of these isoforms and tissue specific expression of the FGF ligands is the foundation of normal paracrine signalling. Isoform switching from FGFR2b (inclusion of exon 8) to FGFR2c (inclusion of exon 9) occurs in tumorigenesis as it establishes an autocrine loop in epithelial cancer cells. Our lab has reported that FGFR2 activation by mutations or isoform switching is associated with …

Study level

PhD

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Climate change poses an unprecedented global challenge, and its impact is profoundly felt at the local level. The pressing need for effective adaptation strategies requires a nuanced understanding of how local governments navigate and integrate policies at various administrative tiers. Our research project delves into the pivotal question of how local governments align with regional, state, and national climate change adaptation policies, offering a crucial lens into the challenges and opportunities that emerge at the intersection of policy and planning.This …

Study level

Honours

School

School of Architecture and Built Environment

When we age the DNA repair systems of our cells become down regulated. This results in reduced DNA repair capacity, enhanced rates of mutation load and may lead to the development of chronic aging-associated diseases including osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and cancer(1). So it is no surprise that genome instability and stem cell exhaustion, which also strongly correlates with the accumulation of DNA damage, are considered hallmarks of aging(2).However, we still lack a clear understanding on how the decrease in DNA repair …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

The health outcomes from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and concussion depend on the nature of the injury, but response also varies greatly between individuals, suggesting that genetic factors may play a role. In particular, due to effects of head trauma on balances of ions, neurotransmitters and energy use in the brain, there is suggestion that variation in the genes that encode proteins involved in these pathways, e.g. ion channels, may affect the risk of, as well as response to a …

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Health

School

School of Biomedical Sciences

Tina Cockburn is interested in supervising PhD students in the area of patient safety law — focusing on medical litigation and compensation for medical negligence, communication of information to patients (including consent and post treatment open disclosure), regulation of health care professionals and the regulation of innovative medical treatment and new technologies.

Study level

PhD, Master of Philosophy

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

School

School of Law

Research centre(s)

Australian Centre for Health Law Research