[ad_1]
Links between active travel and health to be studied as
part of $11.1M awarded to NZ researchers
The effects
of ‘active travel’ on health conditions such as obesity,
mental health, and cancer is about to be investigated by
epidemiologist Dr Sandar Tin Tin from the University of
Auckland.
Dr Tin Tin has just been awarded a $600,000
research fellowship from the Health Research Council of New
Zealand (HRC) as part of an $11.1 million suite of Career
Development Awards announced today. These awards help launch
research careers through a wide range of master’s and PhD
scholarships and help develop research leaders through
advanced postdoctoral fellowships. They also support
frontline clinicians to undertake research that will improve
the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders while addressing
critical gaps in the research workforce.
Dr Tin
Tin’s research will build on related research she’s been
undertaking into physical activity, sedentary behaviours and
breast cancer risk (work that’s also funded by an HRC
fellowship, based at the University of Oxford). Her new
research programme will focus specifically on transport
modes (walking, cycling, public transport, and car use) and
any observed links or improvements to serious chronic health
conditions as well as underlying biological mechanisms and
environmental influences.
“We know physical activity
plays a part in preventing non-communicable diseases such as
cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, improving
overall wellbeing, reducing mental health symptoms, and
enhancing cognitive performance,” says Dr Tin
Tin.
“However, many people are not sufficiently
active.” She notes that a third of New Zealanders do not
meet the World Health Organization recommendation of at
least 150 – 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic
activity or 75 – 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic
activity each week.
Active modes of transport, such as
walking or cycling, represent a relatively simple way of
incorporating exercise into daily life that is more likely
to be well adopted and sustained than exercise programmes,
she says. Active travel provides several benefits, yet there
is limited evidence to date of its effect on specific health
conditions – physical, mental, and cognitive – and
underlying mechanisms.
Using her experience in health
data linkage and pooling of large datasets, Dr Tin Tin will
analyse data from the UK Biobank (one of the world’s
largest medical research databases) and Statistics New
Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) as well as
data from the Taupo Bicycle Study, to produce association
estimates that are as reliable and generalisable as
possible.
“The findings will be of high relevance to
the population of New Zealand – one of the most
car-dependent countries in the world – and particularly to
Māori who suffer a disproportionate burden of many health
conditions.”
Dr Tin Tin hopes her research will
inform public health guidelines on physical activity, which
rarely mention lower-intensity activity such as walking to
work, due to the lack of robust evidence on its health
benefits.
The HRC’s chief executive, Professor Sunny
Collings, says this research addresses several research
priorities, including the need to reduce obesity and
increase physical activity, as well as the need to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand – much of these
produced by reliance on private vehicles.
“Physical
inactivity is a global public health problem, so this
research could fill an important knowledge gap and be
immediately applicable to how we live and the day-to-day
choices we make.”
The HRC’s annual Career
Development Awards are key to bolstering and sustaining
Aotearoa New Zealand’s health research workforce.
Fifty-two researchers across the country will benefit from
the $11.1 million awarded in this round.
See below for
the full list of recipients, divided into three categories:
Māori Health Research, Pacific Health Research, and a
General category focused on clinical and postdoctoral career
development. For lay summaries of research proposals, visit
our Research Repository: https://www.hrc.govt.nz/resources/research-repository
Recipients
of the 2023 Career Development Awards
Māori Health
Research Career Development Awards
Māori Health PhD
Scholarship
Miss Emily Bain, University of
Otago
The inequities of the NASC system in Aotearoa
and the experience of Māori whānau
36 months,
$138,800
Mr Jonathan Martin, University of
Otago
Mamaku: ethnobiology and use as a novel
intraoral medicament – an in vitro study
30
months, $190,133
Mr Mana Mitchell, University of
Otago
Utilising mātauranga to guide biomedical
research
36 months, $138,800
Miss Bailey
Rose, Research Trust of Victoria University of
Wellington
Understanding the experiences and needs
of Māori with eating disorders
24 months,
$95,939
Ms Stacey Ruru, Whakauae Research
Services
Mō ngā uri whakatipu: Women leaders
paving a pathway for future generations
36 months,
$127,362
Māori Health Masters
Scholarship
Miss Tori Diamond, The University of
Auckland
Novel applications of the IDI for
longitudinal analysis for the Māori population
12
months, $31,305
Miss Lena Kemp, Auckland University of
Technology
Wāhine Māori experiences of recovery
from addiction, a Kaupapa Māori perspective
12
months, $30,632
Miss Jordan Tane, Auckland University
of Technology
Ko te mauri, he mea huna ki te
Moana
12 months, $30,631
Māori Health
Development Grant
Dr Ben O’Keeffe, oDocs Eye
Care
A novel approach to keratoconus screening and
treatment programme in New Zealand
12 months,
$10,000
Māori Health Clinical Training
Fellowship
Dr Reece Joseph, The University of
Auckland
Biofilm infections’ impact on Māori
with osteomyelitis as a central focus
18 months,
$135,000
Mrs Eillish-Kate Satchell, The University of
Auckland
Emergency ambulance care in
out-of-hospital deaths: Whānau experience
36
months, $265,000
Māori Health Summer
Studentship
Miss Emily Bain, University of
Otago
Māori experiences of the InterRAI
interviews
3 months, $7,500
Ms Kendall
Coker, University of Otago
An exploratory
qualitative study with Maori whānau experiences with
ROPEE
5 months, $7,500
Mr Ihaia Kendrew,
University of Otago
Pathways to health for Māori
meatworkers and their whānau
3 months,
$7,500
Mr Flynn Macredie, University of
Otago
Interventions to improve maternal
immunisation coverage in Aotearoa
3 months,
$7,500
Miss Awhina Pearce, The University of
Auckland
Identifying unique histological features
in brain tumours from Māori patients
3 months,
$7,500
Māori Health Postdoctoral
Fellowship
Dr Joanna Hikaka, The University of
Auckland
Māori experiences and expectations of
kaumātua care
48 months, $666,431
Pacific
Health Research Career Development Awards
Pacific
Health Clinical Training Fellowship
Miss Leinasei
Isno, University of Otago
Improving management,
diagnosis and prevention of scrub typhus among
Ni-Vanuatu
36 months, $260,000
Dr Melbourne
Mauiliu-Wallis, The University of Auckland
Factors
influencing career choices among Pacific doctors in
Aotearoa
48 months, $173,000
Mr Suli
Tuitaupe, University of Canterbury
Understanding
the worldview of health from a Samoan New Zealander’s
perspective
36 months, $168,411
Pacific
Health PhD Scholarship
Miss Bwenaua Biiri, University
of Otago
Investigating metabolic disease in
I-Kiribati
24 months, $94,050
Mr Ilai
Elekana Manū, Massey University
Health benefits of
fagatua indigenous Tokelau wrestling for Tokelauan
youth
36 months, $133,550
Miss Janina
Galewski, University of Waikato
Reducing the equity
gap for Pacific peoples with diabetes
36 months,
$124,550
Pacific Health Postdoctoral
Fellowship
Dr Falegau Melanie Lilomaiava Silulu,
Auckland University of Technology
Is Tāmaki
Makaurau an age-friendly and healthy place for Pacific
people to age?
36 months, $388,938
Dr Troy
Ruhe, University of Otago
Measuring research impact
in Pacific Health Research
48 months,
$430,102
Dr Hana Tuisano, Massey
University
Cultural intelligence and cultural
safety for Tokelau young people in Aotearoa
48
months, $465,085
Pacific Health Masters
Scholarship
Miss Tekin Kanimako, The University of
Auckland
I-Kiribati youth perspectives in health
and wellbeing
24 months, $30,900
Pacific
Health Knowledge Translation Grant
Mrs Litiuingi
Ahio, Auckland University of Technology
Kupesi ‘o
e Nofo ‘a Kainga
6 months, $5,000
Mrs Amio
Matenga Ikihele, Moana Connect
DIGIFALE: A mobile
literacy programme for Pacific communities – a pilot
study
11 months, $5,000
Dr Soana
Muimuiheata, Auckland University of
Technology
Family wellbeing – Food and diabetes
management
6 months, $5,000
Dr Soana
Muimuiheata, Auckland University of
Technology
Concept of Kato Polopola – Holistic
approach to diabetes management
7 months,
$5,000
Pacific Health Summer Studentship
Ms
Beatrice Hessell, University of Otago
Pacific
workplace wellbeing – perspectives from Pacific
managers
3 months, $7,500
Mr Miguel
Veilofia, University of Otago
Pathways to health
for Pacific meat workers and their whānau
3
months, $7,500
Mr Cameron Young, University of
Otago
Splice mutations in the TP53 gene and its
drive in aggressive tumours
4 months,
$7,500
General category:
Clinical Research
Training Fellowship
Mr Patrick Cabasag, The
University of Auckland
Co-design of a
pharmacist-led mental health intervention for long-term
condition patients
36 months, $260,000
Dr
Florence de Roo, University of Otago
Investigating
fibroblast influence on the gastric cancer
microenvironment
36 months, $260,000
Mrs
Grace Griffiths, University of Otago
Experiences of
people receiving therapy for Complex Regional Pain
Syndrome
24 months, $171,990
Dr Briar
Hunter, The University of Auckland
A national best
practice guide for equity in preterm birth in
Aotearoa
36 months, $260,000
Mr Andrew
Kindon, University of Canterbury
Determinants of
abdominal aortic aneurysm risk in New Zealand
36
months, $110,104
Dr Eileen McManus, Te Whatu Ora –
Waikato
The Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) phenotype
in Aotearoa/New Zealand
48 months,
$260,007
Dr Alice Minhinnick, The University of
Auckland
Understanding value in cancer molecular
tests in Aotearoa
36 months, $260,000
Mr
Connor Silvester, Auckland University of
Technology
Mental health in elite
athletes
36 months, $260,000
Dr Thomas
Wilkinson, University of Otago
Assessment of fully
automated insulin delivery technology in
diabetes
36 months, $260,000
Ms Janice
Yeoman, The University of Auckland
Scleral shell
prosthesis practice in Aotearoa New Zealand
36
months, $259,800
Sir Charles Hercus
Fellowship
Dr Mark Calcott, Research Trust of
Victoria University of Wellington
Large-scale
substitution approaches to engineer non-ribosomal
peptides
48 months, $536,377
Dr Cristina
Cleghorn, University of Otago
Modelling the health
and equity impacts of a range of dietary policies in
NZ
48 months, $600,000
Dr Matthias Fellner,
University of Otago
Development of diagnostic
fluorescence and ultrasound probes for S.
aureus
72 months, $599,612
Dr Simon Jackson,
University of Otago
A genomics-led approach to
bacteriophage therapies for infectious disease
48
months, $596,423
Dr Angus Lindsay, University of
Canterbury
Generating hypertension to prevent
mortality in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
48
months, $599,966
Dr Julia Shanks, The University of
Auckland
Developing novel treatments for HFpEF by
studying vagal control of the heart
60 months,
$571,138
Dr Sandar Tin Tin, The University of
Auckland
Associations and mechanisms linking
transport and health: outcome-wide analyses
48
months, $599,983
Clinical Practitioner Research
Fellowship
Dr Tanith Alexander, Te Whatu Ora –
Counties Manukau
Nutrition, growth and outcomes of
moderate-late preterm babies
60 months,
$469,667
© Scoop Media
[ad_2]
Source link