A centenary scholarship win for gastrointestinal researcher, experimental film wins in Brooklyn, professor leads health research funding lobby, and Asian studies expert delivers keynote at international conference.
Scholarship to progress resistant starch value in HIV treatment
Doctorate of Public Health PhD candidate Elissa Mortimer has won a Graduate Women SA Centenary scholarship.
Ms Mortimer was awarded the scholarship for her project: ‘What is the effect of a dietary resistant starch intervention on the colonic luminal environment and HIV-related immunity and is a feeding trial feasible in HIV-positive adults in India?’
Prior to starting her doctoral studies she worked as Project Manager for the GI Global Health Unit at Flinders University for six years with Professor Graeme Young. They were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to undertake clinical trials in Africa and India to examine the effect of resistant starch in marginalised populations of low to middle income countries.
Her doctorate is an extension of this work and will specifically examine the benefits in an HIV-positive population.
Dance film wins at Brooklyn
Professor Garry Stewart has won first prize in the Experimental Film category at the Brooklyn Film Festival for his film The Circadian Cycle.
The film draws upon choreography from Australian Dance Theatre’s award winning mainstage work The Beginning of Nature. Using the dancing body as a metaphor, The Circadian Cycle examines morphology, biological rhythm and animal behaviour. It was shot in stunning locations across South Australia including Flinders Chase National Park, Lake Bumbunga, Lake Gairdner, Maslin Beach, Mount Lofty Botanic Garden and Mount Remarkable National Park.
Professor leads health research funding lobby
Associate Professor Peter Speck led a push for changes to Australia’s health research funding from the Australasian Virology Society, which he is secretary of, through a recent news release. The society represents 700 prominent researchers, clinicians and scientists working with viral infectious diseases. Its news release noted that “The panic and neglect cycle of funding that characterizes Australia’s response to health crises in the past, cannot continue if we are to avoid a potentially greater toll from the emergence of the next Disease X pandemic”.
Virtual keynote address reaches global audience
Dr Priyambudi Sulistiyanto was a keynote speaker for a virtual global event – the 2nd Annual International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (AICOSH) 2020. The event, conducted over June 10 and 11, was organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Yogyakarta, Indonesia.