RESEARCHER PROFILE
Georgina Hughes,
Pharmacist & PhD Candidate
University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences
Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA)
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
Georgina Hughes is a pharmacist & PhD Candidate with the University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA), undertaking research at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Georgina’s PhD study and first published paper was on how to improve the safe and effective use of antidepressant medicines and optimise quality use of medicines in older people accessing residential aged care.
The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), was led by Georgina, in collaboration with Professor Maria Inacio and Associate Professor Janet Sluggett. It’s Australia’s first national study investigating the use of antidepressants among older people living in residential aged care homes across the country, analysing the de-identified data of 779,659 residents from 3,371 aged care homes, between 2006 and 2019.
“We found antidepressants were used by 46.1% of residents in 2006 and this increased to 58.5% of residents in 2019,” Ms Hughes said.
“Nearly six in every ten residents of aged care homes are using an antidepressant, which is much higher than use in the general older population.”
The use of antidepressant medicines among older people in aged care homes in Australia is high, and there is a need for better mental health support and safer use of antidepressants to improve clinical care and health outcomes for older people.
Antidepressant medicines can have side effects, especially in older people, and Australia is one of the largest consumers globally.
Almost 60% of aged care home residents are using antidepressant medicines, prompting the need to investigate the reasons for such high usage.
Georgina talks to how big data is crucial in understanding and improving the use of antidepressant medicines in aged care, leading to better clinical care and health outcomes for older people in Australia.
Georgina is passionate about practice-informing, translational and innovative research to improve quality use of medicines and health outcomes.
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Pathogenicity, modelling & treatment of inherited retinal Stargardt disease
Dr Di Huang is a Research Associate at the Lions Eye Institute (LEI), working with A/Professor Fred Chen and Dr Sam McLenachan. Her research focuses on developing a robust platform of retinal pigment epithelium cells and retinal organoids derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to model inherited retinal diseases, particularly Stargardt disease (STGD1).
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Elite athlete physical and mental health impact performance
Understanding the interaction between genes and lifestyle factors in response to stress can lead to potential therapeutic interventions for stress-related disorders. This research is crucial for promoting health and well-being.
Professor Mehta has recently commenced research into elite athlete physical and mental health impact performance, with research at the intersection of statistics, genomics, and mental health. This research is ahead of, and in anticipation of, the Summer Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.
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Respiratory health and the microbiome in the lung environment
Dr Taylor leads the Respiratory Health Group within the Microbiome and Host Health Program. His research employs tailored techniques that allow the lung environment to be characterised to a high level of accuracy, including detailed measurements of airway microbiology (microbiome), mucus composition, and inflammation. This information is used to identify predictive markers of chronic lung disease severity as well as determine effective forms of therapy.
