SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES HLS Newsletter Issue 04 September | October | November 2019 Discovery is seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought - Dr Albert Szent-Gyorgyi There has been much happening within the School of Health Sciences. Here are some features… • New Programs • Research Week • New HDR Graduands • 2019 School of Health Sciences Inspire Award Winner • NHMRC Investigator Grant • Academic Promotions • Conference Scholarship Reports In This Issue • Head of School Report • Program Director Reports • Research Director Reports • Staff and Student Publications • Library Report • Events / Announcements • Safety and Wellbeing Sarena Jones, Director of Allied Health Support Services with • Contact Us 2019 Allied Health Educator of the Year, Assoc Prof Saravana Kumar School of Health Sciences (Issue 4 — September | October | November 2019 Newsletter) Page 1 Head of School Report Associate Professor Shylie Mackintosh Greetings and welcome to our last edition of the School of Health Sciences newsletter for 2019. This year has certainly zoomed by and we have much to celebrate. We hope you enjoy reading about the achievements and activities of our staff and students over the past few months. Welcome to New Staff Academic Staff Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy: Dr Ann Kennedy-Behr, commenced 9 December Senior Lecturer in Speech Pathology: Stefanie Bucher, commencing 6 January 2020 Lecturer in Human Movement, Dr Samuel Chalmers, commencing 13 January 2020 Professional Staff Coordinator: Invictus Pathways Program: Mark Reidy, commenced 17 November Research Staff Research Assistant: Dr Felicity Braithwaite, commenced 1 November Research Fellow: Dr Malcolm Brinn, commenced 2 December New Program Director The School is pleased to announce that Scott Adams has been appointed as Program Director: Human Movement from Monday 2 December. He will also remain the Program Director: Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Exercise Science). Commencing at UniSA in 2005, Scott has significant and extensive experience within the Human Movement program having previously acted in the role of Program Director: Human Movement in 2016 and performing the role of Program Coordinator: Human Movement in 2016-2017. Since early 2018, Scott is also the Program Director: Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Exercise Science) and responsible for providing academic leadership in the management, development and growth of our first online Health Science program. Please welcome and congratulate Scott as the new Program Director: Human Movement and continuing Program Director: Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Exercise Science). Thank You Scott Polley I would like to take this opportunity to thank Scott Polley for his outstanding leadership and hard work in the role of Program Director for Human Movement since 2013. Scott has overseen growth and changes in the suite of programs including the development of an Exercise Science degree, two double degrees and closest to his heart, the recent approval of the Bachelor of Outdoor and Environment Leadership program. New Programs Speech Pathology We are well underway with preparations for our first cohort of students in the new Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) commencing in 2020. We are pleased to welcome new staff member Stefanie Bucher starting with us in January to take on the teaching for the first semester in the program. Then in mid-2020 we will welcome Professor Maria Kambanaros, an internationally renowned academic in Speech Pathology. Further information regarding the program can be found here. Master of Research (Health Sciences) The School is delighted to announce the approval of a new Masters program, the Master of Research (Health Sciences), to be offered from 2020. This new program is replacing the Master of Research (Population Health Practice) and aims to provide foundational research skills and knowledge relevant to a wide range of health-related disciplines through the completion of a research program and four online research courses. The courses include two new courses in research methods and planning, a biostatistics course and an elective that provides the opportunity for students to tailor their program to best suit the needs of their research project. Page 2 School of Health Sciences (Issue 4 — September | October | November 2019 Newsletter) Testimonials regarding the benefits of the inclusion of coursework from two current students can be found below. If you’d like to discuss the program, please feel free to contact: Program Director: Dr Catherine Paquet | [email protected]. “As a Masters by Research Student I undertook the postgraduate coursework throughout the first half of my candidature. I felt that it really helped to set me up with the foundational knowledge and confidence I needed to start my research degree. I was initially overwhelmed by the idea of undertaking both coursework and a thesis with the workload. However, looking back at how much I have learnt over the course, from the basics of research methods and study designs, to biostatistics and analysis programs including SPSS, the coursework was such a great investment into my research career and I think it actually gave me a really good head start into my masters project” - Celine Northcott, Masters by Research Candidate. “Being a Human Movement graduate I was initially hesitant about transferring to the Master of Research (Population Health Practice) and was unsure about the relevance and necessity of undertaking further coursework. The courses however, particularly Biostatistics for Population Health Practice, established a foundation in research methods, practices and skills which furthered my understanding of research during the initial phases of my project, which has set me up for the remainder of my candidature. I would recommend the coursework to Masters students looking to develop a preliminary understanding of research, as a means to kickstart their research project” - Samuel Janetzki, Masters by Research Candidate. Bachelor of Outdoor and Environmental Leadership The Bachelor of Outdoor and Environmental Leadership capitalises on the strengths of the University of South Australia’s Health Science Outdoor Education suite and the Natural and Built Environments Environmental Science offerings to deliver a new and innovative program that will meet current unfulfilled demand for graduates, as well as emerging demand in the fields of wellbeing, outdoor education, adventure therapy, environmental education, environmental interpretation, adventure-based tourism and corporate learning. Students, through elective choices or studying a Minor or Sub-Major, will have the opportunity to tailor studies in areas such as Counselling and Interpersonal Skills, Indigenous Tourism, Biology and Environmental Systems. The program will commence in 2021. Research Week Our 11th and final Research Week as the ‘School of Health Sciences’ was yet again a great success. The quality of presentations during the week was outstanding, with plenty of opportunities to take time out and network with colleagues. Congratulations to the winner of the Research Week HDR Poster Competition, PhD Candidate Hayley Leake. The week was crowned by an entertaining Quiz, kindly created and compered by Professor Tim Olds. Thank you to Andy Te for an excellent job coordinating the week-long festival of research, and to all those who helped and supported with various sessions and activities! During the wrap up of the week our Associate Head of School: Research Associate Professor Marie Williams presented a number of interesting statistics from the past 11 years, including: • Our HDR load has almost doubled, from 54 in 2009 to 107 in 2019, with the make-up of the cohort shifting from only PhD candidates in 2009 to 69 PhD/ 38 Masters by Research in 2019 • Over the time we’ve had 107 candidates graduate (103 PhD, 4 Masters by Research) • The format of the week has changed, as we introduced HDR Poster Sessions, HDR ‘5x5’ presentations, and Invited Presentations from our Early Career Research staff • During the 11 years of Research Week we’ve seen presentations from 157 ‘new’ HDR candidates, 90 candidates have presented Posters, and 86 candidates approaching completion have given a ‘5x5’ presentation • The ‘social’ side of the week has kept us on our toes, from Team Challenges and Mystery Events, to the ever- controversial ‘Great Debates’, to the boisterous Quiz of the last 2 years While the School of Health Sciences may be coming to an end, I’m sure the momentum we’ve built with Research Week over the years will continue on in to our new Academic Unit entity. School of Health Sciences (Issue 4 — September | October | November 2019 Newsletter) Page 3 Congratulations to our Newest HDR Graduands! We’ve had an impressive 15 candidates complete a PhD or Masters by Research in our School this year. Congratulations to the following graduands, who’ve had their degrees conferred since our last newsletter: • Dr Amal Chakraborty, PhD (supervisors: Associate Professor Margaret Cargo, Professor Mark Daniel, Professor Alex Brown, Dr Natasha Howard): Identifying and evaluating community-level built and social environmental factors in relation to preventable disease outcomes: strengthening the evidence base for remote communities in the Northern Territory, Australia • Dr Sheena Davis, PhD (supervisors: Associate Professor Steve Milanese, Professor Karen Grimmer, Alistair Furnell): The Ergonomics of the Combat Helmet