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Research

Early childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep.

Research

Mitochondrial energy metabolism plays an important role in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. Recently, a missense N437S variant was identified in the MRPP3 gene, which encodes a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme within the RNase P complex, with predicted impact on metabolism. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to introduce this variant into the mouse Mrpp3 gene and show that the variant causes insulin resistance on a high-fat diet.

Research

This study aimed to explore current attitudes towards sun protection, and sun-seeking behaviour among young Australian adolescents. It was done as part of a larger project aiming to develop a digital resource to support young people in making informed sun-health decisions.

Research

Neutrophils are key cells of the innate immune system. It is now understood that this leukocyte population is diverse in both the basal composition and functional plasticity. Underlying this plasticity is a post-translational framework for rapidly achieving early activation states, but also a transcriptional capacity that is becoming increasingly recognized by immunologists.

Research

Group A β-haemolytic Streptococcus (GAS), a Gram-positive bacterium, causes skin, mucosal and systemic infections. Repeated GAS infections can lead to autoimmune diseases acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia have the highest rates of ARF and RHD in the world.

Research

Development of vaccines to prevent disease and death from Streptococcus pneumoniae, and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), the main pathogens that cause otitis media, pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, are a global priority.

Research

CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD) results in early-onset seizures and severe developmental impairments. A CDD clinical severity assessment (CCSA) was previously developed with clinician and parent-report items to capture information on a range of domains.

Research

The clinical process for being evaluated for an autism diagnosis is often time consuming and stressful for individuals and their caregivers. While experience of and satisfaction with the diagnostic process has been reviewed in the literature, few studies have directly investigated the viewpoints of individuals diagnosed with autism and caregivers of autistic individuals about what is important in the autism diagnostic process.

Research

It is critical that health service evaluation frameworks include Aboriginal people and their cultural worldviews from design to implementation. During a large participatory action research study, Elders, service leaders and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers co-designed evaluation tools to test the efficacy of a previously co-designed engagement framework. Through a series of co-design workshops, tools were built using innovative collaborative processes that foregrounded Aboriginal worldviews.

Research

The Rett Syndrome Gross Motor Scale (RSGMS) is an observational measurement, assessing gross motor skills in individuals with Rett syndrome. A Dutch version is lacking. The current study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the original RSMGS to Dutch and assess its inter-rater and intra-rater reliability.