What's On at UWA

This is an intensive five-day unit on the theory and practice of analysis of large sets of linked administrative health data at an introductory to intermediate level.

Rapid growth in data linkage projects has led to a shortfall in analyst skills.

Some researchers understand epidemiological principles, but are unfamiliar with the specialised computing skills needed to analyse linked data files.

Others have a strong grasp of computing concepts, but lack an adequate theoretical base to design high quality applications to answer research questions. This endeavours to fill a gap in research training opportunities to cater to these two areas of need.

Unit outline: Professor Holman provides a theoretical grounding in the classroom on each topic, followed by a training session on the corresponding computing solutions. Students use fictitious but realistic linked data files in the hands-on exercises. A lecturer will be available in the computing laboratory session each afternoon and conducts an end-of-day tutorial for those who need additional assistance.

In preparation for the teaching week you will be sent pre-reading on 25 November 2011.

Learning objectives: The unit acquaints health researchers, clinical practitioners and managers with the theory and skills needed to analyse linked health data at the introductory to intermediate level. Upon completion the participant will: * possess an overview of the theory of data linkage methods and features of comprehensive data linkage systems, sufficient to understand the sources and limitations of linked health data sets * understand the principles of epidemiologic measurement and research methods for the conceptualisation and construction of numerators and denominators used in the analysis of disease trends and health care utilisation and outcomes * understand sources of error in epidemiologic measurement, the difference between confounding and effect modification, and use of regression models in risk adjustment in health services research * be able to perform statistical analyses on linked longitudinal health data * be able to conceptualise and perform the manipulation of large linked data files * be able to write syntax to prepare linked data files for analysis, derive exposure and outcome variables, relate numerators and denominators and produce results from statistical procedures

Unit prerequisites: Basic familiarity with computing syntax used in programs such as SPSS, SAS or Stata and methods of basic statistical analysis of fixed-format data files.

There are no formal prerequisites in epidemiology for the course. However, it is recommend that participants who have not previously completed an introductory course in epidemiology, familiarise themselves with the basic principles and terms used in that discipline. A working knowledge of statistical concepts, including regression models, used in data analysis in the medical and social sciences is assumed.

Please note that this is a full 5 day unit with associated enrolment and fee requirements. Please visit our website for details.

Dr. Cairney is the inaugural holder of the McMaster Family Medicine Professorship in Child Health Research, and Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Behaviour Neuroscience. He is the Associate Director of Research in the Department of Family Medicine and an Associate Member of the CanChild Centre for Studies in Childhood Disability (http://www.canchild.ca), and the Offord Centre for Child Studies.

Dr. Cairney has two main areas of interest: the epidemiology of mental health problems across the life span, and the impact of childhood physical disability on psychosocial and physical development in children. He is internationally known for his work on Development Coordination Disorder and its impact on physical and psychological well-being in children. Dr. Cairney has extensive expertise on measurement design and evaluation. He is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and has held more than 10 million in research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Come along to the School of Population Health Postgraduate Course information sessions. We'll present information about the degrees below and will have course experts on hand to answer all your questions.

- Master of Health Professional Education (4.30pm) - Empower yourself as an educator in the health professions by developing and enhancing your teaching and research skills.

- Master of Public Health (5.30pm) - Gain a leadership role and an understanding of public health and the latest research methods.

- Master of Nursing Science (5.30pm) - build on your undergraduate degree in any field and become eligible to qualify as a Registered Nurse.

- Master of Social Work (5.30pm) - build on your undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline and become an accredited Social Worker.

- Master of Nursing Research (5.30pm) - A degree for Registered Nurses to gain a solid grounding in clinical research methods and develop skills to design, conduct and lead clinical research.

- Master of Public Health (by Research) and PhD (5.30pm) - World-class research training is available with top researchers in a wide range of health-related fields. Conduct research on a topic you're passionate about.

Health informatics is a relatively new scientific discipline that incorporates knowledge from biomedicine, computer science, information science, psychology, business and other fields.

It deals with the systematic processing of data, information and knowledge in health in order to improve decision making. It is both multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary.

With ever-increasing complexity of health care and pressures on health professionals to do more with less, health informatics principles and information technologies are becoming more important. Moreover, the storage, processing and communication of health information directly affect the quality of delivered health care.

Course outline This course provides an overview of this broad field with an emphasis on fundamental principles as well as health information technologies. It teaches important concepts in health informatics and computing, including: modelling of health, communication theory, information retrieval, medical decision making, terminology and standards, evaluation, ethics, computer hardware and software.

It also examines applications of health informatics such as electronic medical records, clinical decision support systems and telemedicine.

This is a five-day course consisting of lectures, small group tutorials and computer lab work. In preparation for the teaching week, you will be sent pre-reading on 2 December 2011.

Who should attend? Health informatics is short of specifically trained individuals nationally and globally. This course provides the foundation for those who wish to begin a career in health informatics. It will also appeal to health care and information technology people who wish to cross over into health informatics. It will be informative to anyone who has a curiosity about this emerging and diverse field.

Please note: this is a five day unit with associated enrolment and fee requirements. Please visit our website for full information.

Lectures will supported by intensive use of case studies of recent national and international issues and the following topics will be covered

• historical, current and emerging perspectives of ecological change and disease

• health perspectives of indigenous cultures and the environment • health consequences of human population growth, urbanisation and industry

• global processes and health, including the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and extinction • environmental change and infectious disease ecology

• the future for Australia’s ecosystems and human communities.

Ecology and Health - background: In recent decades it has become apparent that many emerging health problems cannot be solved using ‘traditional’ disease models alone. We require broader approaches to analyse interactions between humans and environmental factors, often drawing on the science of ecology and environmental sciences.

The Ecology and Health group is committed to providing teaching and research training in the broader questions and solutions implicit in an ecology and health approach. Together with the familiar areas of interest in the environmental health arena - impacts on health from water, soil, food and air contamination – our approach also focuses on examining the changes in health that may result from major ecological shifts, including urbanisation, loss of food and water resources, bioinvasion, climatic events and other environmental disturbances in a world out of balance.

For 2011 the Ecology and Health unit will be taught in combination with the special topic of Medical Geology. This component can also be done as a self-contained three-day unit for professional development and is also described in Events.

Please note that this is a 6-point postgraduate unit and fees and enrolment requirements apply. Please visit our website for full information and links.

Colleagues and friends of Dr Ian Williams are invited to attend an afternoon symposium to celebrate his contribution to science and education in a career spanning more than 30 years at UWA. Dr Williams has worked in the Animal Science Group and the School of Animal Biology. The programme will include a welcome by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Alan Robson, followed by entertaining talks from several colleagues, industry partners and students. Afternoon tea and post-seminar drinks will be provided. All welcome!

Immigrant workers’ Occupational Health Study is a new study that will look at the working conditions of immigrant and Australian-born workers. This first part of the study involves meeting with people from the different migrant communities in Australia to learn about their community and their concerns about occupational health and safety.

JPMorgan Chase has a presence in more than 50 locations worldwide, and offers an exciting variety of career opportunities globally. Candidates interested in a position with our firm should explore the opportunities available at www.jpmorgan.com.au.

Global scale, world class talent, and a commitment to diversity shape a culture of leadership within JPMorgan Chase. Explore opportunities to join our team and deliver exceptional value to our clients.

Bookings essential on CareerHub.

The Centre for Research Excellence in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing is hosting a Seminar presented by Professor Alan Rosen, Research Psychiatrist, Centre for Rural & Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle.

Over many years, psychiatric professionals have dominated the lives of people with mental illnesses. We have been responsible for their forced separation and disconnection from their families; incarceration in remote regions; their being humiliated, stigmatised and sequestered as moral lepers; the loss of their identities as people, denying them their human rights, their dignity and entitlement to full membership as citizens. Mental health professionals have become the officially anointed custodians of people with mental illnesses – “for their own good”. We have inadvertently broken their spirits, disempowered them, alienated them from their kin, and in many instances de-skilled them and depleted community knowledge of how to look after their own. The case for regret and apology for the past suffering of Aboriginal Australians with a mental illness is pressing.

Come down and celebrate week four with a Free BBQ for HSS members (donation for non-members!) We're also looking for some wonderful people to fill some committee roles, voting from 5:15pm!

LIWA invites you to a free seminar on: "Thoracic Cancer Medicine" by Professor Anna Nowak from School of Medicine and Pharmacology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Time: 12 noon for light lunch with 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation

Material nature itself is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities, which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This is called karma.

We are pleased to announce that we are running a Consumer Training workshop on Basic Research Information on Wednesday April 4th 10am – 2.30pm at the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research in Roberts Road Subiaco.

If you are currently working with consumers and or community groups, they might be interested in attending this workshop. The event is free and lunch will be provided – please tell us of any special needs.

The Murray region in south-west Western Australia is characterised by a high water-table, sandy soils, wetlands of significance, and an extensive agricultural drainage system to relieve water-logging in winter months. Urban growth pressures in the region have led to the requirement of a Drainage and Water Management Plan (DWMP) to guide future water management. A key component of the DWMP involved the development of a regional surface water and groundwater model to determine groundwater levels and flows under various climate, drainage and development scenarios.

The Murray regional model was constructed using the integrated surface water and groundwater model MIKE SHE, and consisted of unsaturated zone, saturated zone, channel flow and overland flow components. It had a constant grid spacing of 200 m, and covered an area of 722 km2. Calibration was from 1985 – 2000 and validation from 2000 – 2009 using 45 groundwater bores and 7 surface water flow gauges. The normalised root mean square error of the calibrated model was 2.02%. Land development, drainage and climate scenarios were simulated and their results are discussed in this paper.

The process of model conceptualisation, construction, calibration and simulation is discussed, and provides an appropriate framework for model evaluation and a high level of confidence in modelling results. The Murray MIKE SHE model provided regional groundwater levels, areas of groundwater inundation, estimated drainage volumes from development areas, effects of sea-level rise, and changes in surface water flows for a variety of climate, drainage and development scenarios. The results were used to determine regional-scale hydrology affects resulting from future urban development.

The model grid size and calibration error may prevent the usage of the model for detailed drainage design; however the model is suitable to act as a basis for developing higher-resolution sub regional and local models that are more appropriate for this type of evaluation. The results of the Murray MIKE SHE modelling exercise were used in the Murray Drainage and Water Management Plan, a key deliverable to the Western Australian Planning Commission, used to guide stakeholders in future urban water management in the Murray region. Keywords: MIKE SHE, integrated modelling, groundwater, urban development, Western Australia

Biography,

Degrees Bachelor of Science (environmental biology), University of Adelaide, SA, 2001 Bachelor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1st class honours), University of Adelaide, SA, 2003

Joel is an engineer with eight years experience in hydrological, hydrogeological, hydraulic and nutrient modelling. He has experience in applying and calibrating surface water yield and nutrient models including LASCAM, MUSIC and the Source Integrated Modelling System, which have been used to develop various Water Quality Improvement Plans and licensing and allocation tools for the Department of Water.

He has been involved applying the integrated surface and groundwater model MIKE SHE and the hydraulic flood model MIKE Flood to support the Murray and Serpentine Drainage and Water Management Plans. Joel is a member of eWater’s Source technical users group, the Danish Hydrological Institute’s MIKE user council, the NWC national groundwater modelling guidelines technical committee, and the WA Cities as Water Supply Catchment’s modelling group. He has written guidelines for modelling in Western Australian regions of high-water table and sandy soils, and is currently developing guidelines on the application of future climate data to modelling applications in WA.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****

Semiparametric regression is concerned with the exible incorporation of nonlinear functional relationships in regression analyses. Assuming only a basic familiarity with ordinary regression, this short-course explains the techniques and benets of semiparametric regression in a concise and modular fashion. Spline functions, linear mixed models and Bayesian hierarchical models are shown to play an important role in semiparametric regression. There will be a strong emphasis on implementation in R and BUGS.

Registration for the course is available online at http://scg.maths.uwa.edu.au/?id=347

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines 2012 AGM Nominations for committee positions open, please email [email protected]

We are the UWA chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, an organisation that aims to make sure that medicine and medical research that happens in the universities of first world countries is used to meet the needs of people in developing countries. New members from all disciplines welcome.

Website: www.essentialmedicine.org Facebook: UAEM UWA

Microalgae Energy Farms for Low Cost Biodiesel Production Presented by Dr Peer Schenk

ABSTRACT: From start to finish, biodiesel production from microalgae requires optimisation of all steps towards cost effectiveness and energy efficiency, as current limitations exist mainly in the industrial feasibility of microalgae systems. Our team is developing improved non-GM Australian microalgae strains, as well as low cost algae cultivation and harvesting systems to provide a cost & energy effective biodiesel production module. This module utilises microalgae's potential as zero-waste biorefineries, producing not only bioenergy, but also protein-rich animal feedstock and high-value products such as Omega-3 fatty acids. Our research group maintains a growing collection of marine and freshwater microalgae from Queensland, whereby high lipid yielding strains are screened and selected for improvement. We use adaptive evolution methods incorporating mutagenesis and high throughput selection for high-lipid yielding strains. These are then used in especially engineered "Split-System" cultivation units that incorporate both, a low cost photobioreactor (PBR) coupled with several extensive raceway ponds. In the PBR, optimal culture conditions are maintained with daily culture harvested into the raceway ponds to stimulate lipid biosynthesis. Several harvesting and lipid extraction.

Autotrophic Production of Algal Biofuel: What is the best technology line-up Presented by Dr Skye Thomas-Hall

ABSTRACT: Microalgae have the potential to produce 10-20 times more biofuel feedstock per unit area than any terrestrial bioenergy crop. However for this to be economically viable, three important technology stages need to come together: i) cultivation of high lipid species must be relatively contamination free and highly productive (ideally AFDW in excess of 30 g m-2 d-1); ii) the biomass needs to be harvested quickly using energy efficient technology; and iii) the harvested algae should be processed into stable products before value is lost. Cellana LLC was formed in 2008 with the primary aim of developing the technology pathway to make algal biofuels economically viable. Cellana’s 2.5ha Kona Demonstration Facility (KDF) is located on the Big Island of Hawaii and has been producing high quality algal biomass since 2009. The production can be tailored to customer needs for different fractions of the algal biomass, including lipids for biodiesel, protein for animal feed, essential fatty acids (i.e. EPA, DHA) and accessory pigments (e.g. lutein, ß-carotene, lycopene etc) for the nutrition and cosmetic industries. Cellana’s KDF is primarily a research facility, designed to test many algal species simultaneously (up to 12) in realistic outdoor conditions. The large scale hybrid system can grow 2 species simultaneously and has excellent flexibility that enables cultivation conditions to be optimized for each individual strain. The facility is also set up to test a variety of harvesting and dewatering techniques on each species grown at demonstrations scale (up to 780,000 L). Presented is an overview of strain selection at small scale (lab <1 L) and mid scale (outdoor 200 L). Growth parameters that can be altered for optimizing cultivation at mid scale and large scale (60,000 – 130,000 L). The majority of the presentation is on harvesting and processing techniques used by Cellana and in the wider algae industry, focusing on cost versus efficiency of methods trialed at Cellana’s Kona Demonstration Facility (KDF). Best handling and storage practices are also presented along with data analysis specifically focusing on lipid quality.

This talk is about the importance and suggestions for building global resilience for the benefits of our next generation and us. The content is effectively addressing the four focuses summarized below,



The History of life: 5 Million years of building the DNA inventory

* Responding to the interglacial periodicity: building the world

* The stability through diversity; filling habitats

* Last ice age: tempering our genes

* Warming since last ice age: Switching on aggression



Change in the name of progress, technologies of the 1900's

* Anthropogenic emissions have triggering new carbon emission loops

* Homogenization of habitats is leading to species instabilities

* Globalization is leading to economic chaos & preventing sustainability through wealth inequality

* Drugs, sex and earphones are leading to social, mental and cultural instabilities



The challenge for the 21st Century: The consequences of simplification

* Global warming abatement requires carbon sequestration, not only emission reductions

* Biodiversity needs to be restored to ensure sustainable carbon cycles

* The movement of capital needs to constrained to benefiting productivity.

* Multiculturalism & globalization needs to be slowed to re-establish icon of life  



Moreover, where there is a will there is a way! Ten suggestions for building resilience are given at the end of the talk.

The talk is an opening address given by Prof. Jorg Imberger in the International iesp-Workshop, from which resilience as requirement for sustainable development has been discussed. The workshop is aiming to provide a contribution to tackle the earth crises and was held at Munich, Germany 28-30 March, 2012.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****

Open to UWA Staff Teams. Teams do not have to be representative of faculties and/or departments. Competition will consist of 30 minute games each week during one of four lunch time slots between 11am and 1pm.

INTERNATIONAL VISITING SPEAKER

Professor John Frank MD, CCFP, MSc, FRCPC, FCAHS, FFPH

Director of the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP) in Edinburgh

Tuesday 24 April, 2012 Hosted by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

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Best Practice Guidelines for Monitoring Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health Status: Lessons from Scotland 10:00am, Seminar Room

A narrative account of the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy model of knowledge transfer to policies, programs and practice in public health 1:00pm, Bibbulung Room

All welcome, RSVP required Melanie Hansen [email protected]

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Professor John Frank is Director of the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy in Edinburgh, which seeks to develop and robustly test novel public health policies and programs to equitably improve health status in Scotland, through the convening and ongoing support of researcher/research-user consortia. Prof. Frank trained in Medicine and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, in Family Medicine at McMaster University, and in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, after serving in Mbeya, Tanzania as a Medical Officer and Instructor of Medical Assistants from 1976 to 1979. He has been Professor (now Professor Emeritus) at the University of Toronto, in the Department of Public Health Sciences (now the Dalla Lana School of Public Health), since 1983. He was the founding Director of Research at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto from 1991 to 1997. In 2000, Prof. Frank was appointed inaugural Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Institute of Population and Public Health and in July 2008, he became Director of the SCPHRP. Prof. Frank also holds a Chair at the University of Edinburgh in Public Health Research and Policy. His broad research and professional interests concern the determinants of population and individual health status, especially the causes, remediation and prevention of socio-economic gradients in health. His scientific publications include 25 books, monographs and book chapters, over 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and 65 other scientific publications. He has been principle or co-investigator for $CDN14 million in direct research grants and has overseen over $50 million in flow-through grants in the last decade.