PhD Scholarships – minimising antibiotics resistance
Are you interested in doing a PhD in antibiotics resistance minimisation?
We are offering several 3 year PhD scholarships in the Centre for Research Excellence in Reducing Antibiotic Resistance against Acute Respiratory Infections (CREMARA) in the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University.
About the Centre for Research Excellence in Reducing Antibiotic Resistance against Acute Respiratory Infections (CREMARA)
CREMARA undertakes research ways of reducing the problem of antibiotic resistance. We are funded by the NHMRC Centres for Research Excellence program. We are focussed on acute respiratory infections in general practice because this is where most antibiotics are prescribed in Australia.
The CREMARA is led by Professor Chris Del Mar, and a team of primary care, infectious diseases, epidemiologists, behavioural psychologists, health promotion experts and microbiology clinicians and researchers from across the world.
The CREBP is directed by Paul Glasziou (current NHMRC Australia Fellow). This is a multidisciplinary team of experienced and well-known researchers, including medical and allied health researchers, who share a commitment to conducting research which closes the gap between research evidence and its application in practice. Further details are available at: http://www.crebp.net.au/
Why study with us?
As a PhD student within the Centre, you will have the opportunity to engage in world-class research under the guidance of respected researchers and supervisors.
Potential research topics for successful candidates include, but are not limited to:
1) analysis of benefits and adverse effects of antibiotics;
2) analysis of benefits and adverse effects of antibiotics; and
3) exploration of alternative effective treatments for acute respiratory infection
The exact topic will be negotiated with each successful applicant.
Other related PhD topics are also available.
Scholarship details
For successful candidates, a 3 year PhD scholarship is available. You must have a Bachelor degree (with honours) or a Research Master’s degree. Most likely it will be in health sciences (medicine, allied health, psychology, or public health), however if you are highly motivated to join our team, we will consider qualifications in other fields.
For further information
To explore this opportunity further, please send expressions of interest and any queries to Assistant Professor Chrissy Erueti via email: cerueti@bond.edu.au.
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Key Research Areas
The research conducted by staff at the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice is focussed around a number of key, yet inter-related, areas. These include:
- Improving research processes and reporting – poor quality research reporting hampers clinicians’ use of research evidence. Research in this area is examining the descriptions of non-drug interventions in trials, difficulties in synthesising and using complex interventions, and ways to improve the quality of systematic review abstracts.
- Shared decision making and communicating evidence to patients– for people to be able to make informed decisions about tests and treatments they need to receive information that they can understand and be involved in the decision-making process. Research in this area is examining ways to facilitate this, across various diagnostic areas; how to help clinicians develop these skills; and potential uses of citizen juries for public health decisions.
- Overdiagnosis – this happens when people get a diagnosis they do not need. It can happen when people without symptoms are diagnosed and then treated for a disease that won’t actually cause them any symptoms, and it can happen for people whose symptoms or life experiences are given a diagnostic label which will bring them more harm than good. Research in this area includes work on prevalence, disease definitions, and conflicts of interest.
- Monitoring – Clinical monitoring in chronic disease involves choosing which test to use, how often to use it, how to interpret the results in the face of imperfect measurement, and what actions to take as a result. Several projects are being studied to conceptualise the problems and methods in clinical monitoring and apply them to several areas, including cardiovascular disease, renal disease, diabetes, and heart failure. We have published a book on clinical monitoring, which will be updated during 2013: Evidence-based Medical Monitoring. From principles to practice. Glasziou P, Irwig L, Aronson JK, (eds). Blackwell Publishing Inc, 2008.
- Acute respiratory infections and antibiotic resistance – the issue that needs solving is the rapid development of antibiotic resistance from prescribing in the community. Research in this area is exploring evidence for antibiotic effectiveness; adverse effects from commonly prescribed antibiotics; the effects of antibiotic packaging; and ways to improve communication with clinicians, patients, and society to alter the use of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections.
Potential PhD Supervisors
Professor Paul Glasziou was the Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford from 2003-2010 and is an academic general practitioner. He is now the Director of the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice at Bond University. Dr Glasziou’s key research interests include identifying and removing the barriers to using high quality research in everyday clinical practice (Research Areas A-E). Further information: http://www.crebp.net.au/?page_id=116
Professor Chris Del Mar is the Professor of Public Health at Bond University and an academic general practitioner. He is a well-respected leader in evidence-based health care, both contributing primary data, and systematically reviewing the evidence, with a wide knowledge of quantitative evaluation methods. Dr Del Mar’s current key research interests include systematic reviews and primary data collection in the areas of acute respiratory illness and screening (Research Areas B & E). http://www.crebp.net.au/?page_id=134
Professor Jenny Doust has worked and trained as a general practitioner, clinical epidemiologist, and economist. She is currently the Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the Centre of Research for Evidence Based Practice at Bond University and works part-time as a general practitioner. Dr Doust’s main research areas of interest are diagnosis, screening and the application of evidence-based practice in general practice (Research Areas C & D). http://www.crebp.net.au/?page_id=145
Associate Professor Tammy Hoffmann is a Clinical Epidemiologist in the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice at Bond University and also an Occupational Therapist. Dr Hoffmann’s main research interests are: 1) facilitators of evidence-based practice from clinicians’ perspective (including access to, quality and useability of research evidence); 2) shared decision making and communication of health information and evidence to patients; and 3) patients’ understanding of health information, adherence and behaviour change, particularly in the area of chronic conditions such as stroke (Research Areas A, B, & E). http://works.bepress.com/tammy_hoffmann/
Assistant Professor Rae Thomas is a Psychologist with over 20 years’ experience providing psychological interventions for children and families. She has conducted systematic reviews to identify effective parenting programs to promote evidence-based practice and used randomised controlled trials to test the efficacy of innovative interventions for children at maltreatment risk (Research Area C). http://apps.bond.edu.au/staff/profile.asp?s_id=10421
Current approved PHd topics
1. Exploring new ways of communicating information about benefits and harms of antibiotics for acute upper respiratory tract infections to parents (Dr Tammy Hoffman)
2. Synthesising evidence to develop guidance material for complex interventions (Dr Tammy Hoffman)
3. How many diseases will a doctor need to learn about in a clinical lifetime (Professor Paul Glasziou)
4. The history of dissemination of methodological innovations (Professor Paul Glasziou)
5. Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy: Solving the application puzzle Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy: Solving the application puzzle (Professor Paul Glasziou)
6. Exploring new ways of communicating about benefits and harms of antibiotics for acute upper respiratory tract infections to parents (Professor Chris Del Mar)
7. What is the gain from non-traditional risk factors for predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease? (Professor Jenny Doust)