Dietetics/Nutrition
Our centre is comprised of leaders with the ability in translating scientific evidence relating to nutrition into lifestyle interventions influencing both practice and policy.
Research
Dietary calcium and bone loss in postmenopausal women
Professor Chris Nordin is known for his emphasis on the relation between calcium deficiency and osteoporosis, particularly in postmenopausal women. His particular concerns at present are to reduce the high hip fracture rate in residential care facilities by providing residents with adequate doses of vitamin D and calcium. He believes that the key to this prevention programme is high calcium intake.
The effects of high fat foods on sleep patterns
Dr Zumin Shi's has extensive experience as an epidemiologist and has a research interest in the area of dietary approaches with the potential to optimise sleep and reduce the burden of disease that is a consequence of poor sleep. His research has suggested a relationship between diet and sleep duration, sleep quality and obstructive sleep apnoea.
Optimising men's uptake of screening for bowel cancer
Professor Deborah Turnbull's research has found that Australia has a comparatively high incidence of colorectal cancer, with over 12,000 new cases and 4,500 deaths per annum. Evidence from controlled trials shows that screening with annual Faecal Occult Blood Tests (FOBT) results in a significant reduction in CRC mortality and incidence.
The effect of a high red meat or a high dairy diet on insulin sensitivity
Professor Peter Clifton has developed strategies to modify cardiovascular risk, and in recent years broadened the focus to the control of obesity and obesity-related conditions, including management of hyperglycaemia and disordered lipids in diabetic and insulin-resistant subjects, and strategies to modify macronutrient intake in order to optimise weight loss in the obese.
Improving older people's care in an acute hospital setting
Professor Alison Kitson's research has led to the development of a program that engages registered nurses in tracking the nutritional status of all inpatients, and relates this to health outcomes with the aim of identifying patients at nutritional risk on admission to hospital.