Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people’s data: looking at the facts through a different lens

Indigenous data sovereignty and governance raises its own special issues:

Nature Medicine correspondence on the Australian TBI National Data

project from NTRI authors and others. Image: Danielle Mate

A traumatic brain injury project led by Monash University, guided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, is creating a first for data collection, analysis and reporting.

by Anne Crawford

The Monash-led Australian Traumatic Brain Injury National Data (ATBIND) Project has for a year worked towards generating an overall epidemiological profile for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and developing national clinical quality indicators. Incorporating Indigenous knowledges and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement is a central and revolutionary part of this registry-based project. 

Grant win for Dr Bridgette Semple

Congratulations to Dr Bridgette Semple, who has been awarded the 2019 Capstone Editing Grant for Mid-Career Researchers!

Dr Bridgette Semple (left)

Capstone Editing, an Australian academic editing company, supports one researcher annually to undertake an innovative research project with a view to gathering preliminary data that will lead to the development of a research council funding application.

Dr Semple is the Head of the Paediatric Neurotrauma Group in the Department of Neuroscience.  Her research focuses on traumatic brain injury, particularly during early childhood. The funds from this grant will assist with her collaboration with Associate Professor Margaret Hibbs from the Immunology Department.  They will investigate the role of the SHIP-1 enzyme, which is yet to be explored in the brain.

Spotlight on our NHMRC Fellowship winners: Associate Professor Sandy Shultz

A/Prof Sandy Shultz
Department of Neuroscience

by Anne Crawford

Associate Professor Sandy Shultz. Career Development Fellowship to: conduct innovative translational studies into mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) such as concussions affect millions of people worldwide. They are common on the sporting field and in military operations, and can occur as a result of anything from vehicle accidents to slips and falls in the home. Growing evidence is showing that repeated brain injuries are associated with lasting neurological impairments and neurodegenerative disease.

Yet the underlying pathophysiology of these effects is poorly understood.

Centre of Excellence in Traumatic Brain Injury (CETBIR)

Dr Sarah Hellewell, CETBIR Fellow

Traumatic brain injuries in Australia, indeed around the world, create an enormous burden on individuals, families, communities and the economy.  Fortunately, there is a concerted effort being made by researchers around the world to decipher the derangements that occur at a cellular and molecular level in these injuries and in developing new therapies to improve the outcome from these injuries.