RESEARCHER PROFILE
Jason Rogers (Filmed April 2024)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Menzies Institute for Medical Research,
University of Tasmania
Jason Rogers is a Tasmanian physiotherapist clinician-researcher with a longstanding interest in improving musculoskeletal foot and ankle conditions. He completed his PhD at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania in 2022 investigating the clinical and imaging factors associated with a common foot complaint known as chronic plantar heel pain.
Chronic plantar heel pain, historically known as plantar fasciitis, is common and commonly recalcitrant, yet the optimal treatment for this condition is not clear. The focus of Jason’s postgraduate research is on improving treatment pathways for chronic plantar heel pain. In particular his research has identified that there are many different sub-groups of plantar heel pain that may warrant specific and individualised treatment approaches. For example his research found that up to half of people with this condition have a type of bone bruise or stress response in the heel known as a ‘bone marrow lesion’ (BML). His BALSA trial will test the effectiveness of targeting these lesions with a bone-sensitive treatment known as shockwave therapy, comparing pain and BML size outcomes against a sham shockwave control group.
As well as improving treatment outcomes for this specific and sizeable sub-group of heel pain sufferers, this research will help inform the future of targeted care treatment approaches for plantar heel pain.
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Stem cell therapies for enteric neuropathies
Dr Stamp is a Group Leader in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Stamp’s PhD research (with Prof Martin Pera, Monash University) focused on the derivation of hepatopancreatic progenitors from human embryonic stem cells. He then joined the lab of Dr Don Newgreen at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute where he began working on development of the enteric nervous system (ENS), before joining Prof Heather Young’s lab at the University of Melbourne, where he focused on developing a stem cell therapy to treat gut motility disorders such as the paediatric enteric neuropathy Hirschprung disease.
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Lasers, microbiology and dental materials in clinical dental practice
Professor Laurence Walsh AO is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Queensland, holding an adjunct title at Griffith University and a part-time position as the Chief Dental Officer at Dentroid, which is based in Canberra. In addition to these roles, he serves on several committees of the Dental Association and is the current president of the Australian Society for Laser Dentistry.
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Professor Alex Fornito
PROFESSOR ALEX FORNITO
HEAD OF THE BRAIN MAPPING AND MODELLING RESEARCH PROGRAM
TURNER INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN AND MENTAL HEALTH, MONASH UNIVERSITY
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
