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Today's date is Thursday, March 28, 2024
School of Human Sciences
 September 2020
Friday 04
15:30 - CANCELLED - CANCELLED - FREE LECTURE - Mentally Healthy and Resilient Workforces Event : The University of Western Australia’s Mining Innovation Network in collaboration with the School of Psychological Science are delighted to invite you to the Mentally Healthy and Resilient Workforces Event. Website | More Information
Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.

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Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.



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This event will showcase recent insights and advances in mining workforce mental health from UWA, including impacts of FIFO work, aboriginal perspectives onto mining, and sleep disruptions and disorders. It is geared towards solutions that support a mentally healthy and resilient mining workers that may be of interest to work health and safety practitioners, EAP providers, mining operators and contractors as well as workplace psychologist. Event: 3:30pm - 5:00pm with networking 5:00pm - 5:30pm
Tuesday 22
13:00 - SEMINAR - PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children�s Physical Activity, Health & Development (PLAYCE) research program : SHS Seminar Series Website | More Information
An overview of the PLAYCE (PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity, Health & Development) program of research will be presented including the original PLAYCE study, which investigated the influence of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) environment on preschoolers’ physical activity. The physical activity, health and development of over 2000 children from 120 ECEC services were tracked. Two thirds of children aged 2-5 years did not meet the recommended three hours of physical activity per day as per the Australian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years. Only 16% of services had a mention of physical activity in their centre policies. This research has led to a current NHMRC Partnership grant to develop, implement and evaluate ECEC specific physical activity related policy and programs.

Associate Professor Christian is a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow. She leads the ‘Child Physical Activity, Health and Development’ team at Telethon Kids. Hayley also holds a Senior Research Fellow position at The University of Western Australia. Hayley’s research focuses on improving children’s physical activity levels, health and well-being through multi-level interventions focused on the child, family, social and built environment.

 October 2020
Tuesday 27
13:00 - SEMINAR - Evaluating Auditory function in children with learning difficulties (Please note date change to 27 October, NOT 20th) : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series Website | More Information
Abstract: Children who experience poor academic performance at school have been d escribed as having learning difficulties (LD). These children are thought to show reduced performances in reading, written language and numeracy, and/or to be inactive and inefficient learners. Hearing is one of several factors thought to influence a child’s learning at school with students spending at least 45% of their classroom activities that require listening and 45 - 75% of their time in the classroom comprehending their teachers’ and classmates’ speech. Hearing impairment can include loss of hearing sensitivity and/or impaired auditory processing. While rates of peripheral hearing loss in the Australian primary school-aged population is estimated to be between 3.4% - 12.8%, rates of impaired auditory processing in this population are not available in Australia. Children with peripheral hearing loss and/or impaired auditory processing often show behaviours similar to those reported in children with LD, suggesting that LD and hearing impairment could be related in primary school child populations. This seminar will present the research that investigated LD and hearing impairment in a school-aged child population in the greater Brisbane region of Queensland, Australia.

Bio: Robyn is a lecturer in Audiology in School of Human Sciences. Robyn’s current area of research is auditory processing disorder and middle ear assessment in the paediatric population. In particular, Robyn is passionate about improving educational outcomes in children with learning difficulties who may have a hearing impairment. Robyn’s other research interests also include using simulated learning in clinical education and tele-audiology. Clinically, Robyn specialises in middle ear and Central Auditory Processing assessment and management in the paediatric population.

 February 2021
Saturday 27
10:00 - WORKSHOP - GAMSAT Study Sessions : Three study sessions focused on getting you ready for the 2021 GAMSAT exam. Website | More Information
Are you busy preparing for this year's GAMSAT exam? Looking to get a few tips on how to do your best? Not sure what to expect?

Join us for few study sessions in EZONE focused on getting you ready to do your best in this year's exam.

Each session is free for all to attend, and will be supported by UWA alumni with previous experience sitting the GAMSAT exam.

In each session, we will start by sharing tips on how to succeed and working through some example questions. Attendees may bring additional study material to work through during the second half of the session, where material can be worked through individually or in small groups.

 March 2021
Saturday 06
10:00 - WORKSHOP - GAMSAT Study Sessions : Three study sessions focused on getting you ready for the 2021 GAMSAT exam. More Information
*In person event has been postponed* Are you busy preparing for this year's GAMSAT exam? Not sure what to expect? Looking to get a few tips on how to do your best?

Join us for few study sessions in EZONE focused on getting you ready to do your best in this year's exam.

Each session is free for all to attend, and will be supported by UWA alumni with previous experience sitting the GAMSAT exam.

In each session, we will start by sharing tips on how to succeed and working through some example questions. Attendees may bring additional study material to work through during the second half of the session, where material can be worked through individually or in small groups.
Saturday 13
10:00 - WORKSHOP - GAMSAT Study Sessions : Three study sessions focused on getting you ready for the 2021 GAMSAT exam. More Information
**In person event has been cancelled. Please email if any further information is required.**

Are you busy preparing for this year's GAMSAT exam? Not sure what to expect? Looking to get a few tips on how to do your best?

Join us for few study sessions in EZONE focused on getting you ready to do your best in this year's exam.

Each session is free for all to attend, and will be supported by UWA alumni with previous experience sitting the GAMSAT exam.

In each session, we will start by sharing tips on how to succeed and working through some example questions. Attendees may bring additional study material to work through during the second half of the session, where material can be worked through individually or in small groups.

Event Dates: Saturday, February 27, 10-12 Saturday, March 6, 10-12 Saturday, March 13, 10-12
Tuesday 16
13:00 - SEMINAR - Rhythms of body temperature and health : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series More Information
Bio: Shane did his PhD at the University of New South Wales on thermal biology of the emu, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the Brain Function Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he focussed on brain temperature regulation in mammals. Since 1999 he has been at the University of Western Australia where his research centres on environmental physiology in man and other animals, with a focus on heat balance, energy use, and the mechanisms of thermoregulation. A special interest is adaptation to extremes, including life in the desert and arid zones, and what climate change will mean for thermoregulation in mammals, including man. His current research investigates animals, with a focus on heat balance, energy use, and the mechanisms of thermoregulation. A special interest is adaptation to extremes, including life in the desert and arid zones, and what climate change will mean for thermoregulation in mammals, including man. His current research investigates adaptations to heat and cold, and the impacts of circadian and ultradian changes in body temperature on health and performance. For three years he was the Head of the School of Anatomy, Physiology, and Human Biology, and then the inaugural Head of The School of Human Sciences for two years. He is very much enjoying more time now for research.

Abstract: The body clock, or circadian clock, keeps our body processes running according to a schedule. The molecular clock is well-known to entrain to light signals in the eye (but not from the photoreceptors in the retina), and emerging evidence suggests that it also interacts with our body temperature. Shane will discuss the factors that affect body temperature, such as heat and cold, malnutrition, and pregnancy, and what he has learned about temperature as a ‘zeitgeber’ (or time-giver) for our internal clock. He and his team have experimented with manipulating body temperature in mammals, and he will describe the challenges of this work, and why they ended up working on fruit flies. The team is now working to understand the daily ‘noise’ around the circadian rhythm and the new world of ultradian rhythms (two to three hourly changes).
Tuesday 23
13:00 - SEMINAR - Music, the brain and a lifetime of benefit : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series More Information
Bio: Alan Harvey is an Emeritus Professor at The University of Western Australia and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. He is a neuroscientist, having published almost 250 reviewed articles and book chapters, in recent years focusing on the development and testing of new therapies to promote plasticity and regeneration after neurotrauma in the brain and spinal cord. He has also had a life-long interest and passion for music, and since his retirement has focused much more on writing and talking about the neurobiology of human musicality and has proposed new ideas about music’s evolutionary significance. Alan Harvey’s book Music, Evolution, and the Harmony of Souls was published by Oxford University Press in 2017, and reprinted in paperback in 2018. Alan is currently a member of Perth Symphonic Chorus and their chamber choir, and is a member of the recently reformed mandolin quartet Stringybach. Abstract: Alan will briefly review what is known about the brain circuits and neurochemistry involved in processing music, including basic components such as rhythm and melody, as well as more emotional aspects such as happiness and sadness. Why have humans evolved two interrelated yet distinct communication systems – language and music? Possible answers to this fundamental question will be considered, primarily focussing on the evolutionary power of music to promote trust and cooperative behaviour within human groups, music’s links to the neurobiology of the hormone oxytocin, and emphasising the continued importance of music in promoting the cognitive and social development of children, benefits that last a lifetime. How these insights aid in understanding the potential power of music as a therapeutic tool will also be briefly discussed.

 May 2021
Tuesday 18
13:00 - SEMINAR - Primate Adaptations to High-Elevation Environments : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series Website | More Information
AbstractIn this seminar, Cyril will rely on data collected on black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys in Yunnan (China), mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in Rwanda to better understand behavioural adaptations of nonhuman primates to high-elevation environments. The main questions to be addressed are: i) How do primates balance energy expenditure and energy gain during periods of resource scarcity and low temperatures? ii) What are the drivers of high-elevation range use? iii) How do they cope with ecological challenges such as a complex topography and low productivity? Bio From 2005-2009, Cyril did his PhD at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) which involved a pioneering 20-month study on the social organisation and ecology of wild snub-nosed monkeys in China (done in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences). From 2009-2011, Cyril worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany). His postdoc included 18 months of research on the socioecology of the mountain gorilla population in Rwanda. In 2012, Cyril took up a position in the School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology (now School of Human Sciences) at UWA. Cyril currently holds a joint affiliation with the Centre for Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences. Cyril is also a research fellow in UWA’s Africa Research and Engagement Centre and Adjunct Professor at Dali University (China). In 2017, Cyril held a Visiting Scholar appointment in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Cyril’s primary research interests lie at the interface of primatology, behavioural ecology and evolutionary anthropology and include the evolution of primate/human sociality. A second focus area of research centres on how certain primates are able to cope with the demands of living in marginal montane environments in both the temperate zone and the tropics. Cyril and his collaborators and PhD students are involved in ongoing field research projects on snub-nosed monkeys in China and chimpanzees in Rwanda.

 August 2021
Tuesday 10
13:00 - SEMINAR - Wake up to sleep: Current research at the Centre for Sleep Science : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series Website | More Information
Abstract Insufficient sleep is known to have detrimental impacts on mental and physical health and productivity. Alongside nutrition and exercise, sleep is increasingly being advocated as the third pillar of health. Yet, at least 4 in 10 Australians, and 6 in 10 over the age of 65, are regularly experiencing poor sleep with the sleep disorders insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea being the most common causes. The team at the Centre for Sleep Science are working on a number trials to treat these sleep disorders and improve sleep. Jen Walsh and Kath Maddison will discuss some of their current trials and present some data from recently completed trials including the use of medicinal cannabis to treat insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea and hypoglossal nerve stimulation to treat obstructive sleep apnoea.

 September 2021
Tuesday 21
13:00 - SEMINAR - Exploring the limits of human performance and environmental stress More Information
Abstract - Reduced locomotor performance generally occurs in hot and/or hypoxic compared to cool/normoxic conditions, especially when exercise is performed to the limit of tolerance (i.e., repeated ‘all out’ efforts). Such impaired exercise capacity with thermal and hypoxemic strains is largely determined by increased challenges placed on multiple regulatory systems to maintain homeostasis. Using a holistic approach, this presentation first aims to discuss lessons I have learned regarding performance regulation and associated physiological and neuromechanical consequences during exhaustive exercise in challenging environments. This will include examples taken from locomotor exercises performed in a lab-based environment (e.g., repeated sprint exercise in hot/hypoxic conditions) but also in the real world (i.e., when playing tennis or football in the heat). Historically, altitude training emerged in the 1960s and was limited to the “Live High Train High” method for the endurance athletes looking for increasing their oxygen transport. This “classical” method was completed in 1990s by the “Live High Train Low” method where athletes benefit from the higher intensity of training at low altitude. The panorama of the hypoxic/altitude training methods is now wider than in the past. This presentation also aims to present the recent updates on altitude/hypoxic training, targeting team sports in particular, to improve various aspects of sport performance. This will include innovative “Live Low Train High” methods (i.e., repeated sprint training in hypoxia) or the newly developed “Live High Train Low and High” intervention, presumably with molecular adaptations postponing muscle fatigue. Practical recommendations for implementation of these new altitude/hypoxic training methods and how to potentially combine them with heat stress training, in professional rugby for instance, will be discussed. Finally, the promises of heat therapy and hypoxic conditioning in clinical populations to improve therapeutic outcome beyond what is obtained today in rehabilitation settings will briefly be evoked
Tuesday 28
13:00 - SEMINAR - Unravelling the molecular and cell-mediated pathways in fibrosis More Information
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive form of interstitial lung disease (ILD) of unknown aetiology. Analysis of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying IPF have led to the discovery that gp130-mediated Jak/STAT signalling potentiates fibrosis in response to Blm-induced damage. Using knockout and mutant mouse models, with heightened Jak/STAT signalling but deficient in B and T cells we have implicated immune cells in the development of fibrosis. Our current research in human cells and tissues has demonstrated that IPF is associated with prominent lymphoid aggregates of CD3+ T cells and CD20+ B cells within the lung tissue located near sites of active fibrosis. We have examined peripheral blood and lung tissue samples from a cohort of clinically diagnosed IPF patients and aged match healthy controls to examine B cell populations and the presence of chemokines and auto antibodies. A subset of IPF patients displayed elevated levels of CXCL13 and BAFF in serum, and auto antibodies to nuclear antigens (30%), dsDNA (13%) and/or anti Rheumatoid factor Abs (30%). The presence of circulating autoantibodies suggests that these IPF patients have experienced a breakdown in self- tolerance to systemic antigens a finding consistent with other ILDs. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood samples has revealed differences in immune cell subsets and this may be helpful in the future to better stratify patients to identify those who may benefit from targeted immunotherapy to arrest disease progression.

 October 2021
Tuesday 19
13:00 - SEMINAR - Diaphragm function during development and disease More Information
The diaphragm is the major component of the respiratory muscle pump and is rhythmically active throughout life, from the moment of birth until our final breath. So the functional capacity of the diaphragm is critically important for achieving its life-sustaining role in ventilation. Appropriate in utero development of the diaphragm is essential for the establishment of spontaneous breathing at birth; respiratory capacity can be a limiting factor for exhaustive exercise; and respiratory muscle weakness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. In this seminar I will present an overview of our research investigating diaphragm contractile function during development and disease. Using an ovine model of preterm birth, and rodent models of diaphragm immaturity, we have identified unique activation properties of the neonatal diaphragm, characterized the rapid adaptation of the diaphragm immediately after birth, and established the impact of common, clinically relevant in utero exposures on the functional integrity of the diaphragm. I will also present some of our recent work characterising the vulnerability of the diaphragm to contractile dysfunction in several animal models of human diseases. These studies highlight the important contribution of diaphragm dysfunction to respiratory disorders and provide insight into potential treatment strategies that aim to preserve diaphragmatic function.


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