What's On at UWA

The Lung Institute of WA invites you to a free seminar on: "Cell therapies for lung cancers and mesotheliomas" by Dr Sam Janes. A light lunch will be served from 12.00pm with a 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation.

Optical coherence tomography is a recently developed imaging technology, capable of high resolution in vivo imaging of tissue. It is analogous to ultrasound, but uses near infrared light instead of sound waves.

It is used clinically in ophthalmology, and is rapidly gaining importance in other diseases. Our lab has developed a family of highly miniaturized imaging probes, sufficiently small that they may be encased in a medical needle and inserted into the body – a ‘microscope-in-a-needle’.

Our smallest probes have been encased within a 30-gauge needle, with an outer diameter of 310 microns. This opens the possibility of using high resolution optical imaging for many different diseases. In this talk, I will describe our work in developing these highly miniaturized needle probes, and our early results in lung imaging and breast cancer.

Biography:

After receiving his PhD in Electronic Engineering from the University of Western Australia, A/Prof. McLaughlin worked for several years as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, developing new medical imaging techniques using MRI and X-ray angiography.

He then spent several years in the medical imaging industry, working both for start-up companies, and as a Product Manager with Siemens Medical Solutions, specializing in PET and SPECT imaging.

He has been responsible for the development of several new FDA-approved medical products. In 2007, he returned to Australia, and is currently an Associate Professor with the Optical + Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, University of Western Australia, where he has focused on research into new imaging technologies using optical coherence tomography and confocal microscopy for both cancer and pulmonary imaging. In 2012, he received the National Breast Cancer Foundation Patron’s Award for Innovation and Vision in Research.

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

****All Welcome****

Almost half the Australian population will experience a mental disorder at some point in their lives. The UWA CPD ‘Mental Health’ seminar will provide a forum for discussion and debate around key issues in mental health in Western Australia. It will bring together experts in the field, consumers and stakeholders to discuss current mental health challenges and how we are managing them.

INTRODUCING NEW AQUA FITNESS PROGRAMS AT UWA AQUATIC CENTRE

UWA Uniswim is collaborating with Aqua Wellbeing Australia (http://www.aquawellbeing.com/) to deliver a new range of aqua fitness programs at the UWA Aquatic Centre. The programs are:

AQUA: An active and fun cardiovascular and muscular endurance workout to international rhythms with specialised aquatic equipment. 45 mins

DEEP: An intense water running program incorporating drills and challenging counter-balance positions. This is a great way to load your muscles with zero impact. 45 mins

AQUABALANCE (TM): A unique water exercise experience with soothing music, floating flowers, and warm water aiming to improve your stability, functional movement, core strength and flexibility. This comes completed with mindful meditation and restorative breathing exercise. There are two types of AQUABALANCE (TM)

- AB FLOW: Synchronises specific breathing technique with prescriptive flowing movements 60 mins

- AB UNION: Incorporates ancient Yoga philosophy principles and Asanas to the aquatic environment. 60 mins

PROGRAM DATES: Commences Mon 11 November & concludes Sun 22 December

COST: $12 per session - casual entry $120 per term (unlimited sessions)

All participants will be required to complete a registration form and health questionnaire prior to participation

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO ENROL: Contact the Uniswim Office on 6488 2277 or [email protected].

R is a free and extremely powerful language and software environment for statistical computing, data analysis, and graphics. The course is designed for those who have no experience with R, but have a basic understanding of statistics. The course will include: Introduction to R: How to install R on your computer; basic R commands, how to use and understand the R help pages. Data: Reading in data and data manipulation; summarising data; basic statistical analysis and fitting linear models. Graphics and output: Basic plotting commands and how to customise your plots; how to export your plots and output in a user-friendly format. Functions: Writing simple functions and flow control structures.

Professor Tilling main areas of expertise are in methods for analysing exposures and outcomes across the life-course, and in methods for dealing with missing data. She has a mathematical background, an MSc in Applied Statistics and a PhD in Epidemiology, together with more than 15 years’ experience working in academic public health and epidemiology. Prof Tilling enjoys interpreting and explaining results from more complex statistical methods to other researchers and members of the public and using all forms of the media to effectively promote public health messages.

Areas of interest: Childhood growth; Life-course analyses; Trajectories of change in disease outcomes (E.g. PSA in prostate cancer, EDS in Multiple Sclerosis; Complex inter-relationships which change over time (E.g. fat mass and physical activity, risk factors for CHD; Methodological interests: Methods to examine and correct for bias due to missing data; Structural equation models, particularly for longitudinal data; Multilevel models for growth trajectories; Fractional polynomial and linear spline models Time-varying confounding - marginal structural models and g-estimation

The course will cover material ranging from a review of simple one-way ANOVA, to more complex designs and analyses including crossed and nested factors with fixed and random effects.The emphasis throughout will be placed on applications rather than theory. The statistical package R and R Commander will be used and some familiarity with this will be assumed.

The Lung Institute of WA invites you to a free seminar on: "Confronting the killer: epidemiology and prevention of pneumonia in Papua New Guinean children" by Associate Professor Deborah Lehmann. A light lunch will be served from 12.00pm with a 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation.

The Distinguished speaker for the 2013 Bruce Hunt Oration is Associate Professor Jenny Gunton, President of the Australian Diabetes Society and Group leader, Immunology Program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

Dr Bruce Atlee Hunt was a foundation member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the then Faculty of Medicine at UWA. Following his death in 1964 funds were raised to establish the Bruce Hunt Memorial Oration.

Clinical Epidemiology focuses on the application of epidemiologic research principles to questions relating to clinical diagnosis, prognosis and the efficacy of therapeutic interventions.

Unit outline

This five-day unit considers:

- design, conduct and analysis of clinical trials

- non-experimental study designs in the evaluation of clinical outcomes

- systematic reviews and meta-analysis

- evaluation of diagnostic tests

- economic analysis

- ethical issues in clinical research

Within an evidence-based practice framework, emphasis will be placed on the critical appraisal of the scientific research evidence that underpins clinical practice (from primary studies to clinical practice guidelines).

Overall, the course aims to improve the participant's knowledge of clinical research methods and to develop a critical approach to the incorporation of research into clinical care decisions. In addition to formal lectures and 'hands-on' tutorials, the course will promote discussion and debate about clinical research and the sharing of clinical research experiences.

One of the outcomes of the unit will be an increased level of competence in preparing a competitive research grant proposal. As such participants will be required to work within a multidisciplinary research team to develop a (hypothetical) clinical research proposal, from the refinement of the research question, to study design, data collection, statistical analysis, ethical issues and budget.

This five-day unit will consist of a combination of lectures, small-group tutorials, practical demonstrations, discussion and ‘hands-on’ experience in research proposal development.

In preparation for the teaching week, you will be sent pre-reading on 11 November 2013.

Who should attend?

Health professionals and health researchers interested in gaining a better understanding of clinical research methods and critical appraisal of the scientific literature related to clinical practice.

This unit is available for postgraduate students as a 6 point unit. It is also available for professional development. Fees apply, please visit our website for details.

The next couple of years will see significant changes in the landscape of research into childhood health and disease with the completion of the New Children's Hospital at the Sir Charles Gairdner site and it's co-location with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, one of the largest and most successful medical research Institutes in Australia. The Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Jonathan Carapetis is ideally placed to detail the impact of this and other recent innovations in Child Health research in Western Australia and provide his vision of the future in this critical field of medical research.

OUTDOOR FITNESS [FIT-R + RUNNING CLUB] FIT-R: Outdoor exercise class including strength, fitness and mobility training designed to challenge participants and at the same time cater for individual difference and tailor appropriately.

RUNNING CLUB: Twice weekly group running sessions tailored for all levels.

WHEN: 10 week program commencing Dec 2 (with break over Christmas). Running Session - 6am Mon & Fri. Fit-R - 6am Wed.

COST: $12 per week ($120 for whole program incorporating 3 sessions per week)

WHERE: UWA Health & Rehabiliation Clinic (South end of campus - adjacent to Business School)

BONUSES: Pool tokens for public swimming sessions at UWA Aquatic Centre and 10% discount on other clinic services (incl. Physiotherapy & Exercise Physiology)

Enjoy a Twilight Sail on a 36 foot yacht out of Royal Perth Yacht Club. No sailing experience necessary, you can try your hand at crewing under the direction of our qualified skipper or just sit back and enjoy the sail. Alumni and Staff $45. Partners and friends $60. Numbers strictly limited - registration required. BBQ option available after the sail at participants own cost.

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 unit 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 30 November 2013.

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.

This unit is available for postgraduate students as a 6 point unit. It is also available for professional development. Fees apply, please visit our website for details.

Join us for our last seminar of the year and Christmas Sundowner.

See you there! ------------------------------ Having trained clinically and in research in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne, Leon became the inaugural Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Western Australia in 1998. He has established a productive research unit aimed at translational issues focusing on the health needs of older people culminating in 2006, the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing at the University of Western Australia. As well as these research activities, he has led the reorganization of undergraduate and postgraduate education in geriatric medicine in Western Australia. He remains a practicing geriatrician and is Head of Inner City Geriatric Services at Royal Perth Hospital. He has served on numerous government committees addressing the health needs of older people. He was President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine for 2003-2005. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles addressing a wide variety of health issues in older people

The School of Population Health is holding an Information Evening on Monday 16 December at 5.30pm.

We will present three concurrent information sessions for those interested in achieving a Master of Nursing Science, Masters of Social Work or Master of Public Health.

If you are interested in one of our Masters degrees, please register to attend a session at sph.uwa.edu.au. There will be a brief presentation outlining the relevant course for you, followed by plenty of time for your questions. Drinks and nibbles will be provided and you will have the opportunity to talk to some of our lecturers and current students.

These information sessions will be held at the School of Population Health in the Clifton Street Building, Nedlands Campus.

The aim of this course is to introduce you to basic statistics. It will cover descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations); data exploration; basic categorical data analysis; simple linear regression and basic analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistical package SPSS will be used to illustrate the ideas demonstrated. The course will be held in a computer laboratory allowing participants to immediately apply the material covered through a series of practical examples.

UWA Health & Rehab Clinic - Running Club 13 week program working towards a 5 or 12km fun run (i.e. HBF Run for Reason - May 25th)

All levels welcome. Perfect for those returning from injury or running for the first time and needing a little extra feedback and coaching.

WHEN: Monday 3rd March - Friday 30th May

Running Sessions = Mon & Fri 6am. Plus "Fit-R" Strength & Mobility Sessions = Wed 6am & Thurs 6pm

WHERE: UWA Health & Rehabilitation Clinic - Parkway Entrance #4, Crawley Campus. Runs will take place around campus, along the river and into Kings Park.

COST: $12 per week (up to 4 sessions/week) for 13 weeks = $156

^Private health rebates may apply for Fit-R sessions

Adult & Over 50's Exercise Sessions combining 40min gym based strength and functional training, plus 40min swimming training (incl fitness and stroke technique).

12 WEEK SEMESTER 1 PROGRAM: Mon 3rd March - Saturday 31st May (Break 18th - 25th April)

SESSION BLOCKS: Adults [Tuesday 6pm-7.30pm &/OR Thursday 7am-8.30am] Over 50's [Monday 8am-9.30am &/OR Saturday 8.30am-10am]

COST: $18 per class = $216 for 12 week program (1 day/week) *20% discount off total price if attend 2 days ^ Private health rebate may apply for gym session

Open to all, the Carbon Neutral Quiz Night 2014! presented by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition UWA, will be a night of fun, games, and a theme of sustainability to start the new semester. 7.30pm, Wednesday the 5th of March (Week 2) at Hackett Hall, UWA. All the proceeds will go to the trees planted to carbon offset the evening and to further the work the work of the campus club to spread awareness about climate change. This is a public, alcohol-free event.