NEWBORN SCREENING OF INFANTS AND NEWBORNS WITH CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM
Associate Professor Michelle Jack
Clinical Practice & Co-Lead Doctor of Medicine
Bond University, Queensland, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Robina, Queensland | July 2024
Michelle Jack is Associate Professor of Clinical Practice, Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine at Bond University, QLD and co-Head of Paediatrics and a Paediatric Endocrinologist at Lismore Base Hospital in NSW. She graduated from Medicine at the University of Queensland with first class honours and the University Gold Medal and has a PhD in hyperinsulinism from the University of QLD. She has postgraduate qualifications in higher education and is a fellow of the higher education academy.
Assoc Prof Jack is an experienced leader and practitioner in the healthcare, research and higher education sectors. Career highlights include: Head of Department Paediatric Endocrinology, Royal North Shore Hospital; Academic Lead Education & Partnerships, University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney; Head of the Beta Cell Laboratory, Kolling Institute; Chair Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group scientific program organising committee and Co-Chair international scientific program organising committees; Chair Northern Sydney Adolescent Committee; International Research Fellowship, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Head of Research, Impact Institute.
Assoc Prof Jack is passionate about the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents, with diverse research areas including the impacts of family friendly workplace initiatives, screening and management of thyroid disorders in infants and children. She supports her First Nations colleagues on Indigenous-led research projects funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, aiming to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of First Nations Children. Through her clinical and academic roles, Assoc Prof Jack hopes to make a positive difference to the health and well-being of children and their families.
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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.
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Using Gut Microbes to Reduce Blood Pressure
Professor Francine Marques is an National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leader, Viertel Charitable Foundation, and National Heart Foundation Fellow.
She leads the Hypertension Research Laboratory at Monash University and has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Nature Reviews Cardiology, Nature Medicine, Nature Cardiovascular Research, and Circulation.
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Forensic psychiatry research in the setting of the justice system
Prof Kimberlie Dean is Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UNSW. She was appointed to the inaugural Chair in Forensic Mental Health at UNSW in 2011, a joint appointment with Justice Health NSW. She also holds a Clinical Academic appointment as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist with Justice Health NSW. She is Academic Program Director for the Masters Forensic Mental Health at UNSW.
