Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi will help develop a system that uses AI to provide personalised care thanks to new federal government funding, while other successes include Flinders social work research making a real-world impact, a reappointment to a statewide board, and a podcast appearance for a Flinders creative.
Helping people with chronic pain
Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi will help to develop a system that uses artificial intelligence to provide fast and personalised care for young people living with chronic musculoskeletal pain, as part of a new project led by Curtin University recently awarded federal government funding from the Medical Research Future Fund.
Associate Professor Bidargaddi, from the College of Medicine and Public Health, will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Curtin Uni and the Department of Health WA, in collaboration with international researchers from New Zealand, Canada and USA. The team will develop, implement and evaluate myPATH, a virtual ‘clinician and coach’ care model to provide personalised pain care directly to young people.
SWIRLS welcomes Fair Work decision
Flinders’ social work research has made a definitive real-world impact, with the Fair Work Commission (FWC) yesterday handing down a decision that workers should be entitled to 10 days of domestic violence leave. SWIRLS contributed to the decision by preparing two reports for the Commission in its review of Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) leave entitlements in modern awards (see links for report 1 and report 2).
Dr Kate Seymour, lead author of both reports, says SWIRLS is proud to be associated with yesterday’s landmark decision. “This represents a significant step towards achieving greater gender equality in Australia. The FWC decision recognises, both, that employment can provide an important pathway out of violent relationships, and that FDV leave plays a significant role in maintaining this by mitigating some of the barriers to women rebuilding their lives.”
Another three years for genomics researcher
Professor David Lynn has been re-appointed by the South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC) Advisory Board as the centre’s Scientific Director for another three-year term.
Established in July 2020 as a state-wide genomics facility to support research in South Australia, as well as nationally and internationally, the SAGC is a partnership between the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), the three SA universities, the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF), and the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).
The Professor of Biomedical Informatics in the College of Medicine and Public Health and Director of SAHMRI’s Computational and Systems Biology Program was first appointed to the role two years ago and provides high-level scientific leadership to the centre and supports the establishment of SAGC-business relationships, in alignment with the centre’s strategic plan.
New podcast taps into creative minds
The Adelaide Festival Centre has created a new podcast series titled From the Wings, with the first episode featuring Flinders’ own Associate Professor Natalie Harkin, a Narungga woman and local poet. The podcast will provide an in-depth insider look into the creative minds behind some of the Centre’s most memorable events and exhibitions.
Associate Professor Harkin will be joined by Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna poet Dominic Guerrera and Yankunytjatjara/Kokatha woman and poet Ali Cobby Eckermann. The trio will discuss themes of identity and representation.
Episodes are available every Tuesday on all major podcast platforms. Visit the Adelaide Festival Centre website for more information.