Open invitation for new Post-Graduate Research Students

We are always looking for bright and motivated post-graduate students with a keen interest for conducting research in the area of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health. So if you think you might have the right qualifications to do post-graduate research at CQUniversity, and you like the research projects that you see on this and other CPAS pages then don't hesitate to contact us. Send an e-mail to Corneel Vandelanotte, who is also the Graduate Research Coordinator for the Institute for Health and Social Science Research, and we can start a conversation to see if your research interests align with our expertise and knowledge. A career in research can be very rewarding, so we are looking forward to your e-mail.

Current CPAS Research Students & Projects

Stephanie Bland

Background: Stephanie Bland completed a bachelor of Behavioural Science with honours in Psychological Science in 2010 at La Trobe University Melbourne. Stephanie worked on a range of public health projects as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer at the Cancer Council Victoria in 2011-2012. In 2012 Stephanie began her PhD at Central Queensland University, focusing on web-based physical activity interventions. She will evaluate strategies to improve promotion and participant engagement of the web-based physical activity interventions and therefore the impact they have on physical activity levels in the community.

PhD Project Title: Increasing the efficacy of web-based physical activity interventions: improving website promotion and participant engagement

Project Description: There is a need for effective population-based physical activity interventions as over half of Australians fail to reach the physical activity guidelines of 30 mins of exercise on most days of the week. The internet provides a good platform to deliver physical activity interventions as they can reach large numbers of people at low cost. Whilst the short term effectiveness of these interventions has been established, website promotion, engagement and retention can be problematic, and need to be addressed to improve the long term effectiveness of the interventions. This project will measure the cost-effectiveness of internet advertising which has the potential to attract large numbers to the intervention at low cost in comparison to traditional print advertising. Next the effectiveness of video-tailored advice at improving attention and recall of the physical activity message compared to basic text-tailored advice will be measured through eye tracking technology, and a recall questionnaire. Finally the effectiveness (in terms of website usage, retention and physical activity changes) of a short counsellor-lead discussion on Skype reiterating computer tailored advice will be compared to computer tailored advice alone. Overall study findings will inform the next generation of web-based physical activity interventions with the aim to improve website promotion, engagement and long-term physical activity changes. The project supervisors are: Dr Corneel Vandelanotte, Dr Cally Davis and Prof Ronald Plotnikoff.

Romeo Batacan Jr.

Background: Dr. Romeo Batacan Jr. completed a degree in Bachelor of Science in Biology, major in Microbiology, from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) in 1996 and a medical degree in the University of the Philippines Manila in 2001. After passing the national licensure exam, Dr. Batacan decided to return to UPLB and join the Institute of Biological Sciences as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology from 2002 to 2007. In 2010, Dr. Batacan obtained a Biomedical Science Honours degree from CQUniversity. He is currently a PhD Candidate at CQUniversity under the Biomedical Science program exploring the mechanisms linking sedentary behaviour to cardiometabolic disease and cancer risks.

Project Title: Mechanisms Linking Sedentary Behaviour to Disease Risk

Project Description: Rapidly increasing evidence suggests that sedentary behaviour is associated with increase health risks. However, most of the studies in sedentary behaviour do not provide insight on the mechanisms that may be driving the adverse health outcomes associated with prolonged and uninterrupted sitting. The most direct effect of sitting elucidated so far is that sitting for prolonged periods causes suppression of skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase activity and reduced glucose uptake contributing to metabolic dysfunction. Although this mechanism has remained to be the prevailing theory explaining the health effects of sedentary behaviour, increased adiposity, oxidative stress and inflammation are now receiving increasing attention as potential mechanisms mediating the sedentary behaviour-disease risk association.  This project, therefore, aims to elucidate the putative mechanisms linking sedentary behaviour to cardiometabolic disease and cancer risks by using animal and human models. The project supervisors are: Dr Andrew Fenning, Dr Mitch Duncan and Dr Vincent Dalbo.

Stephanie Schoeppe

Background: Stephanie Schoeppe has a Diploma in Social Sciences (equivalent to a Master) from Hannover University, Germany. From 2003 until 2006 she worked for the Centre for Physical Activity and Health, University of Sydney. Following appointments for the WHO in Europe in 2006 and 2007 she returned to the University of Sydney in 2008. Since August 2010, Stephanie is enrolled as a PhD Candidate at CQUniversity. In her PhD she is currently investigating associations of children's independent mobility and active travel with health factors (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, weight status) and social indicators (neighbourhood social capital). This work is part of the Independent Mobility, Active Travel and Children's Health (iMATCH) and Children's Active Travel, Connectedness and Health (CATCH) projects.

PhD Project Title: Are Free-range Kids Healthier? Associations of Independent Mobility and Active Travel with Health and Social Factors in Children.

Project Description: Independent mobility and active travel can be an important source of the recommended daily dose of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity necessary for children's health. Evidence shows that children who walk or cycle to school accumulate higher levels of physical activity and are less likely to be overweight compared to those who do not actively travel to school. However, limited evidence is available regarding associations of active travel to other destinations, and independent mobility with physical activity, as well as correlations of both independent mobility and active travel with other health and social factors. This PhD will address these research gaps by conducting four cross-sectional analyses to investigate associations of children's independent mobility and active travel to various destinations with levels of physical activity sedentary behaviour, weight status and neighbourhood social capital. The PhD will utilise data collected as part of the larger Australian projects Independent Mobility, Active Travel and Children's Health (iMATCH) and Children's Activity, Travel, Connectedness and Health (CATCH). The researchers involved are: Stephanie Schoeppe, Mitch Duncan, Prof Kerry Mummery, Prof Carey Curtis, Matthew Burke, Carolyn Whitzman, Paul Tranter and Christine Armit.

Christine Hanley

Background: Christine Hanley is the Manager of the Population Research Laboratory (PRL) at CQUniversity. The PRL conducts high quality social surveys using advanced social research methods and in-house infrastructure, including a 20 station Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) laboratory and a designated web server for hosting online surveys. Ms Hanley is an experienced project manager with extensive hands-on involvement in large scale population research design, sample management, data collection and analysis of a variety of projects. Ms Hanley oversees the technical aspects of PRL projects, from questionnaire development, construction and management of complex samples, data processing, and data analysis and report preparation.

Masters Project title: An examination of question form on responses in CATI surveys.

Project Description: The use of CATI methods for conducting population health surveys is an enduring and popular practice. Although it is one of the most reliable ways to collect data, there is a range of sampling and non sampling errors which can potentially affect the ability of CATI surveys to provide accurate results.  This Masters project will examine the impact of a particular type of non-sampling error - question order effects - in CATI surveys. Studies will be conducted to examine order effects in data collected using a standard health survey instrument designed to measure and classify physical activity behaviour,  and in data collected using two question blocks designed to evaluate health related knowledge and attitudes. This research will make a significant contribution to the field of survey methodology with particular regard to the occurrence of question order effects when collecting health related data in CATI surveys.

David Lapere

Professional Doctorate Title: Children off the Couch: The efficacy of an integrated curriculum and web-supported class-based walking challenge on physical activity.

Alannah van Waveren

PhD Project Title: Inflammatory responses to air pollution, obesity and physical activity in rat models.

Past CPAS Students Research Projects

Cally Davis' PhD-Project

Project Title: Internet delivered physical activity interventions for primary and secondary prevention: Increasing website usage and improving behaviour change outcomes.

The purpose of the present research is to explore the utility and effectiveness of internet delivered physical activity behaviour change programs in primary and secondary prevention of chronic disease. The first study will undertake a meta-analytical review to investigate the effectiveness of internet delivered physical activity behaviour change interventions to-date and the effect of moderators within the interventions. The second study will examine predictors of website usage within a current publicly accessible physical activity website aimed at primary prevention. The results of the first two studies will guide the development of an internet delivered physical activity behaviour change program specific to individuals diagnosed with Type II diabetes. This study will examine the effectiveness of the program in producing and sustaining physical activity behaviour change and the effect of factors within the website design on physical activity behaviour change and website usage. The combined outcome of these studies will provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of internet delivered physical activity behaviour change programs for primary and secondary prevention and factors within internet delivered programs which influence website usage. The researchers involved are: Cally Davies, Corneel Vandelanotte, Cristina Caperchione, Prof Kerry Mummery.

Danya Hodgetts' PhD-Project

Project Title: Build it and they will come? An analysis of the impact of the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships in Scarborough, Western Australia on sport development

It is commonly believed that major sporting events should provide ongoing benefits, including increased participation in the sport in question and physical activity in general. This is becoming an increasingly important aspect of hosting a major sporting event. The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships (ASLSC) were held in Kurrawa, Queensland from 1995 - 2006. From 2007 - 2009, the event was held in Scarborough, Western Australia which provides an opportunity to study the interactions between an event and sport in terms of legacy. Evidence to measure the impact of the event on sport development will be gathered from organisational and event statistics, a member survey, and in-depth interviews. The researchers involved are: Danya Hodgetts, Mitch Duncan, Prof Kerry Mummery.

Morwenna Kirwan's PhD-Project

Project Title: Developing and Evaluating Smartphone Applications to Improve Health Behaviours and Chronic Disease Self-Management.

The world is in the midst of a wireless communication revolution. Mobile phones are now more prevalent than computers or internet access across the globe; and they are becoming increasingly intelligent, evolving into smartphones, essentially mini-computers that can capture, store and process information. A growing number of smartphone applications related to health behaviour change are appearing, however there is limited research published investigating their effectiveness. Therefore the purpose of this present thesis is to iteratively, design, develop and evaluate smartphone applications, in terms of their effectiveness to improve various health behaviours. This thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to (i) evaluate the design and usability of the 10,000 Steps ‘iStepLog' application, (ii) investigate the effect of the 10,000 Steps ‘iStepLog' application on members' physical activity and self-monitoring behaviours, and (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the ‘Glucose Buddy' smartphone application to improve glycemic control and self-management in adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.  The researchers involved are: Morwenna Kirwan, Prof Kerry Mummery, Corneel Vandelanotte, and Mitch Duncan.