Project Title: Understanding patient perspectives of face-to-face versus video telehealth/telephone dietetic service for outpatients attending radiotherapy and day chemotherapy services  

Established Supervisor: A/Professor Adrienne Forsyth <Adrienne.Forsyth@acu.edu.au>  
Emerging Supervisor: Dr Adam Walsh 

Project Description

Telehealth is an effective method of providing dietetic services. It is increasingly offered as a treatment option that may be preferred by patients with geographic or other constraints to face-to-face attendance, or those accessing frequent medical care, such as those attending radiotherapy and day chemotherapy services. The feasibility of providing dietetic services via telehealth should be assessed within the context of the health service and the community it serves. This project will involve small focus groups or interviews with individual patients to explore their perspectives of face-to-face versus video telehealth/telephone dietetic service for outpatients attending radiotherapy and day chemotherapy services. 

Description of the research internship opportunity

Students engaged in this project will have the opportunity to develop research skills and experience through participation in ongoing related research activities at ACU and St Vincent’s Hospital. These include, but are not limited to, analysing food record data of completed studies, contributing to systematic reviews exploring related topics, collecting and analysing data for ongoing quality assessment studies, and contributing to the development and validation of new patient-reported experience measures. Further, there will be opportunity to collaborate with discipline staff on other ongoing projects which may afford the opportunity to gain experience across diverse methods and/or areas of expertise. 

Project Title: Preparation and evaluation of resources for continuous glucose monitor integration into dietetic services for individuals with type 2 diabetes

Established Supervisor: Dr Evelyn Parr, MMIHR <evelyn.parr@acu.edu.au>
Emerging Supervisor: Dr Lachlan Mitchell, Nutrition and Dietetics, FHS
Third Supervisor: A/Prof Adrienne Forsyth, Nutrition and Dietetics, FHS Dr Brooke Devlin (University of Queensland, external)

Project Description

Continuous glucose monitors have entered the market for people with type 2 diabetes, but they currently come at a higher cost to the consumer. There is active lobbying to improve and subsidise the access to such monitors, which would increase uptake. As a result, there is a need to develop resources which will assist Allied Health professionals, such as Accredited Practising Dietitians, to integrate feedback from glucose monitors into consultations. As a part of a larger project, this work will involve the development and evaluation of resources specific to dietitians supporting individuals with type 2 diabetes and continuous glucose monitoring.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Within the MMIHR, we are conducting multiple human research projects. We obtain information from participants through body composition scans, blood sampling and analysis, exercise tests and questionnaires, as well as dietary records. Through the honours project, the student will be immersed in the research team to obtain experience in our various projects from ethics application and participant recruitment through to data collection and final analysis. The internship opportunity would allow the student to build upon and broaden their research experience throughout their honours year.
  

Project Title: Mind the gap – understanding the experiences of Allied Health care in individuals with type 2 diabetes

Established Supervisor: Dr Evelyn Parr, MMIHR <evelyn.parr@acu.edu.au>
Emerging Supervisor: Dr Lachlan Mitchell, Nutrition and Dietetics, FHS
Third Supervisor: Dr Brooke Devlin (University of Queensland, external)

Project Description

Individuals with type 2 diabetes are regularly included in clinical trials which investigate dietary and/or exercise advice. However, there is a large gap between what is conducted in a clinical trial and what exists in the “real world” for people with type 2 diabetes. This project aims to capture the experience with and utilisation of health care services to manage type 2 diabetes, with regards to nutrition and physical activity/exercise. This project will involve qualitative interviews with individuals with type 2 diabetes, to help understand barriers and facilitators to making changes to behaviours to manage diabetes and inform future research.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Within the MMIHR, we are conducting multiple human research projects. We obtain information from participants through body composition scans, blood sampling and analysis, exercise tests and questionnaires, as well as dietary records. Through the honours project, the student will be immersed in the research team to obtain experience in our various projects from ethics application and participant recruitment through to data collection and final analysis. The internship opportunity would allow the student to build upon and broaden their research experience throughout their honours year.
 

Project Title: Designing a protein-phenolic delivery system for omega-3 oils: Oxidative stability and digestibility

Established Supervisor: Dr. Bo Wan <bo.wang@acu.edu.au> and A/P Pre De Silva <pre.desilva@acu.edu.au>

Dr Bo Wang and A/P Pre De Silva are nationally and internationally renowned experts in food/nutrition science and chemical science, respectively. Their experience supervising previous and current Honours and HDR students ensures effective mentorship for this project. The interdisciplinary nature of this study also bridges biomedical and nutrition sciences at ACU, offering students opportunities to engage in cutting-edge research while broadening their future academic and career prospects.

Emerging Supervisor: N/A
Third Supervisor: N/A

Project Description

This project aims to develop an innovative system to co-deliver omega-3 oils and olive leaf phenolic compounds. Omega-3 oils will serve as the core material, while the protein and phenolics form a protective wall material to enhance oil stability. Bio-accessibility testing under a simulated digestive environment will assess nutrient release and effectiveness at the molecular level. By integrating nutrition and biomedical sciences, this research addresses challenges in food-based health interventions, with potential applications in reducing oxidative stress and promoting overall well-being. The findings will advance the understanding of functional food delivery systems at molecular and practical levels.

Description of the research internship opportunity

During the Honours internship, the student will engage in optional activities beyond the thesis to enhance HDR readiness. These include learning various advanced microencapsulation theories and laboratory-based analytical techniques, gaining experimental and data analysis skills, planning and performing simulated digestion experiments, and creating research translation materials to bridge scientific findings with industrial demands. Additionally, students will have opportunities to engage in discussions with supervisors' industry partners. These experiences, supported by the supervisory team’s expertise and established industry partnerships, provide valuable skills in research methodologies, industry collaboration and project management. It prepares the student for future academic and professional growth

Project Title: Expanding Horizons: Evaluating the Impact of Advanced Scope of Practice for Dietitians in Gastrostomy Care in Regional Victoria

Established Supervisor: A/Professor Adrienne Forsyth <Adrienne.Forsyth@acu.edu.au> 
Emerging Supervisor: Dr Adam Walsh
Third Supervisor: N/A

Project Description

St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne established Advanced Practice (AP) roles for dietitians in gastrostomy feeding tube management with sustained health system efficiencies, cost savings, and staff satisfaction. AP roles offer career progression and expand scope of practice, leading to increased satisfaction and retention of skilled staff, a key regional workforce issue. Subsequent training workshops delivered to 24 Victorian rural/regional health services yielded improvements in self-rated knowledge and confidence in gastrostomy care with implementation now underway. This project will use participant surveys and interviews with regional site leads to investigate impacts on regional workforce, and barriers and enablers to AP role implementation.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Students engaged in this project will have the opportunity to develop research skills and experience through participation in ongoing related research activities at ACU and St Vincent’s Hospital. These include, but are not limited to, analysing food record data of completed studies, contributing to systematic reviews exploring related topics, collecting and analysing data for ongoing quality assessment studies, and contributing to the development and validation of new patient-reported experience measures. Further, there will be opportunity to collaborate with discipline staff on other ongoing projects which may afford the opportunity to gain experience across diverse methods and/or areas of expertise.

Project Title: The Nutritional Intake of Professional Rugby Union Players

Established Supervisor: Jonathon Weakley <Jonathon.Weakley@acu.edu.au>
Emerging Supervisor: Lachlan Mitchell
Third Supervisor: Adrienne Forsyth

Project Description

The energy that is consumed throughout a training week is an essential consideration for elite level sporting performance. Additionally, in collision sports such as rugby union, there is a need to carefully consider the macronutrient intakes of athletes so that the athletes are adequately fuelled for the demands of the sport. This project will investigate the nutritional intake and body composition of professional Super Rugby players as they train. This Honours project would be ideal for a candidate who is passionate about sports nutrition and working within elite sport.

Description of the research internship opportunity

This scholarship will provide the student an opportunity to work alongside the National Head of Performance Nutrition at Rugby Australia and support the collection of data that feeds into a wider, ongoing project.

Project Title: Evaluating the feasibility of wearable cameras to capture children’s dietary behaviours 

Established Supervisor: Taren Sanders <Taren.Sanders@acu.edu.au>
Emerging Supervisor: Adam Walsh

Project Description

Self-reported measures of behaviour (including eating behaviours) are fraught with potential biases. It is difficult for parents to recall exactly what their children eat, how much, and when, and are also influenced by social-desirability to make their children's diets seem 'healthier'. Wearable cameras are one method for capturing objective data that can help us see through these problems. With data from 100 children already collected, this project focuses on evaluating the reliability and consistency of coding this image data. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of wearable cameras in providing clear, unbiased insights into children's eating habits and environments.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Dr Sanders leads a research program within IPPE. The research program provides opportunities for students to engage in multiple research projects, and develop experience and skills in areas such as data collection and processing, project management, data analysis, and literature reviews. In the past, students who have taken up internships in the program often transition to paid research assistant work.

Project Title: Exploring social prescribing and culinary nutrition interventions in vulnerable communities

Established Supervisor: Sharon Croxford <Sharon.Croxford@acu.edu.au>
Emerging Supervisor: Emma Stirling
Third Supervisor: Jess Mbaya

Project Description

Social prescribing is increasingly recognised as an important future development of personalised healthcare particularly with vulnerable communities. Social prescribing connects people to local, non-clinical services in their area to support their health and wellbeing. Culinary nutrition interventions such as cooking classes are an example of one type of activity. Referrals to social prescribing services can be made by both GPs and other healthcare professionals, as well as schools, housing associations and other community organisations. Cultivating Community is a Melbourne based not-for-profit organisation gaining expertise in culinary nutrition interventions linked to social prescribing. Through the development of a purpose-built study, this project will collect baseline data on the emerging model of social prescribing and explore success factors and barriers to implementation.

Description of the research internship opportunity

The candidate will have the option to participate in knowledge translation activities related to this research including preparing recommendations and reports. There are further opportunities within the discipline to work alongside and learn from researchers in Nutrition & Dietetics conducting ongoing research and participating in other research with the community partner.

Project Title: The representation of indigenous foods in culinary publications in Australia 

Established Supervisor: A/Professor Adrienne Forsyth <Adrienne.Forsyth@acu.edu.au> 
Emerging Supervisor: Associate Professor Sharon Croxford

Project Description

Culinary texts documenting ingredients and recipes have been produced in Australia for more than 150 years. The diet of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders prior to the arrival of Europeans consisted of a rich variety of native animals and plants. The diet of Europeans consisted of imported foods of limited variety, yet they did not enrich their supplies through the exploitation of locally available foods. The aim of the project is to explore the representation of native foods within culinary texts over the past 150 years. The project will incorporate qualitative research methods including content analysis, comparative analysis and an in-depth analysis of recipes by culinary typology.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Students engaged in the Nutrition Science Honours program will have the opportunity to develop research skills and experience through further engagement in ongoing discipline research projects. Activities related to this project include contribution to a systematic review of the literature related to how health professionals, including nutrition and dietetic practice professionals develop cultural competence and safety to practice, and to the development of survey elements on assessing culinary cultural competencies, for embedding in a broader survey on assessing culinary competence in nutrition science and dietetic practice students and professionals.

Project Title: Effectiveness of implementation of an ortho-geriatric clinical pathway for fractured neck of femur admissions 

Established Supervisor: A/Professor Adrienne Forsyth <Adrienne.Forsyth@acu.edu.au> 
Emerging Supervisor: Dr Lachlan Mitchell 
Third Supervisor: Dr Adam Walsh

Project Description

Elderly patients with fractured neck of femur are often malnourished on admission. Malnutrition can lead to delayed recovery, an increased length of stay, and increased risk of postoperative complications. Blanket referral to dietetic services and implementation of strategies to prevent or manage malnutrition enables access to dietetic services without the need for screening of this high-risk group. This project will assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the ortho-geriatric clinical pathway with a retrospective audit of dietetic interventions and nutrition outcomes.

Description of the research internship opportunity

Students engaged in this project will have the opportunity to develop research skills and experience through participation in ongoing related research activities at ACU and St Vincent’s Hospital. These include, but are not limited to, analysing food record data of completed studies, contributing to systematic reviews exploring related topics, collecting and analysing data for ongoing quality assessment studies, and contributing to the development and validation of new patient-reported experience measures. Further, there will be opportunity to collaborate with discipline staff on other ongoing projects which may afford the opportunity to gain experience across diverse methods and/or areas of expertise.