DE-PRESCRIBING MEDICATIONS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH DEMENTIA
Dr Daniel Hoyle
Senior Lecturer, Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology,
University of Tasmania, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | January 2025
Dr. Daniel Hoyle is a Senior Lecturer in Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Tasmania. He is also an experienced clinical pharmacist with expertise in medication management in older people. Dr. Hoyle’s research interests focus on improving medicine use in older people with dementia.
He earned his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 2020, where his doctoral research examined the clinical and economic outcomes of psychotropic deprescribing within the multidisciplinary “Reducing Use of Sedatives” project implemented across 150 Australian aged care homes. This research has received several accolades, including First Place in the International Psychogeriatric Association Junior Research Awards in 2019.
Currently, Dr. Hoyle leads several projects, including research aimed at improving anticoagulant use in older individuals with dementia and atrial fibrillation using national primary care provider datasets, and the implementation of a hospital-based antipsychotic stewardship program for patients with dementia and/or delirium.
A current project is Geriatric Antipsychotic Stewardship (GApS) Program for Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia and Delirium. This program is funded by the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation through an Incubator Grant.
Additionally, Dr. Hoyle serves as an investigator within an educational intervention aimed at improving anticholinergic prescribing in hospitals. Dr. Hoyle is a guest editor with Pharmacy MDPI and holds elected positions on the Australian Deprescribing Network Executive Committee and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Tasmanian Branch Committee.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2867-3736
-
Exercise therapy for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Dr Shelley Keating is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology and Accredited Exercise Physiologist from the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland. With a strong grounding in exercise metabolism and body composition, Dr Keating’s research centres on the utility of exercise as a therapy for obesity and related cardiometabolic conditions, notably metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
-
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.
-
Investigating the benefits of donor human milk for preterm infants
Together, SAHMRI and Lifeblood are leading a consortium to revolutionise the way human milk, and novel products made from human milk, are used as nutritional and medical interventions to improve health outcomes in vulnerable infants, but with potential application for a diverse range of medical indications.
Currently, babies who are born early preterm – before 32 weeks – are given donor milk when their own mother’s milk is not available or in short supply. Whether donor milk is beneficial for babies born just a few weeks early is unclear, as very little research has been undertaken with these babies.
The GIFT Trial will soon commence as an investigation between SAHMRI, the University of Adelaide, the Red Cross Lifeblood Milk Bank conducted at five sites across three states in Australia.
