Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships 2021-22
Twenty one scholarships awarded for student research projects
The Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarship program is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students who are currently enrolled at the University of Sydney, from any area of study and with any level of research experience, reflecting the CPC’s multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to finding solutions to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and related conditions.
Supported in recent years by the Nicholas Catchlove Early Career Researcher Development Fund, the program offers up to 10 scholarships annually to high-achieving students. The cohort applying for 2021-22 was extremely competitive with highly talented emerging researchers, so a further 11 scholarships were supported by supervisors’ project funds and partner organisations.
“The panel was so impressed by the number and quality of the applicants and their projects, we took the unprecedented decision to double the number of scholarships we awarded, taking the successful numbers to 21,” said Professor Stephen Simpson AC, Academic Director, Charles Perkins Centre.
We are thrilled to have a wealth of new talent emerging from the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Health, and Science, and supervisors from schools and faculties across the University
The Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships provide an opportunity for students to undertake paid research with leading academics in world-class facilities for eight weeks. Successful applicants develop research skills, gain experience working with project teams, and contribute to finding real-world solutions.
“We are delighted with this outcome. The Charles Perkins Centre inaugurated this program in 2011 and each year the number of outstanding applications has grown as the CPC itself has grown in reputation and stature. It shows that our best students understand the need to tackle complex challenges from the perspective of multiple disciplines and value the opportunity to gain such an experience.”
We are hugely indebted to Dr Barry Catchlove AM, himself a University of Sydney alumnus (MBBS, 1966) who supports the scheme through the Nicholas Catchlove Early Career Researcher Development Fund
Applicants have the opportunity to design their own research projects that will contribute to the work of the Charles Perkins Centre and involve supervisors from two or more disciplinary areas.
“We are hugely indebted to Dr Barry Catchlove AM, himself a University of Sydney alumnus (MBBS, 1966) who supports the scheme through the Nicholas Catchlove Early Career Researcher Development Fund. I know that Dr Catchlove is equally proud of this year’s cohort and their projects. We congratulate them heartily and look forward to the results of their scholarship projects.”
The Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarship has awarded more than 100 scholarships since its inception, many of the recipients have gone on to study for higher research degrees at the Charles Perkins Centre.
Applications for the Charles Perkins Centre Summer Resarch Scholarship 2022-23 open in September 2022.
Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships 2021-22 awardees:
Enrolled: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Project: The Unit Problem in microbial communities: Improving the conceptual framework for the causation of dysbiosis
Supervisors: Professor Paul Griffiths, Professor Andrew Holmes
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: The associations of mothers’ socio-economic factors with their acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine for their young child aged 4 years: a cross-sectional study
Supervisors: Associate Professor Li Ming Wen, Professor Louise Baur
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Impacts of intermittent fasting on islet cell function in wildtype mice
Supervisors: Professor Peter Thorn, Dr Mark Larance
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Building and evaluating an online platform for medical decision-making
Supervisors: Dr Micah Goldwater, Dr Michelle Cunich
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: The role of macrophage phenotype in impaired wound healing in diabetes: an in vitro study
Supervisors: Professor Anthony Weiss, Dr Danqing Min
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: Enabling uptake of AF screening in Aboriginal communities using a single lead iECG device: Improving software compatibility with Aboriginal Medical Service medical records
Supervisors: Dr Josephine Gwynn, Professor Ben Freedman
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: New Therapeutic Strategies to Reduce Microvascular Obstruction: Investigating a Novel Post-Ischemic Blood Clotting Mechanism
Supervisors: Associate Professor Simone Schoenwaelder, Dr Xuyu Liu
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: Safeguarding human health during hot weather and heat extremes in refugee camps
Supervisors: Professor Ollie Jay, Professor Tony Capon
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Immune profile signatures in type 2 diabetes-mediated non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in novel preclinical models
Supervisors: Professor Stephen Twigg, Dr Helen McGuire
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: Replenishing Myocardial NAD to Rescue Stiff Heart Failure
Supervisors: Dr John O'Sullivan, Dr Sean Lal
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: The interaction between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep quality on low back pain (LBP)
Supervisors: Professor Paulo Ferreira Professor Emanuel Stamatakis
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Development of novel dietary patterns associated with all-cause mortality: data from NHANES 1999-2014
Supervisors: Professor Michael Skilton, Dr Helen Parker
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: Exploring sleep health management in Australian residential aged care facilities
Supervisors: Professor Bandana Saini, Associate Professor Christopher Gordon
Enrolled: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Project: Putting the Citizen in Citizen Science: Understanding public engagement in health-related citizen science
Supervisors: Professor Nick Enfield, Dr Samantha Rowbotham
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Establishing the role of fasting in the health benefits gained from calorie restriction
Supervisors: Dr Amanda Brandon, Professor Stephen Simpson
Enrolled: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Project: Privileged Spaces: A comparative analysis of the relationship between neighbourhood environments and barriers and supporters of obesity
Supervisors: Professor Ann Elias, Dr Jane Gavan
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: Cell Biology of Insulin Action
Supervisors: Professor David James, Dr James Burchfield
Enrolled: Faculty of Medicine and Health
Project: Unravelling mechanisms of Colchicine in cardiovascular disease by comprehensive immune phenotyping
Supervisors: Dr Helen McGuire, Dr Sanjay Patel
Enrolled: Faculty of Engineering
Project: Biomembrane force probe to investigate neutrophil mechanobiology in thromboinflammation
Supervisors: Professor Shaun Jackson, Dr Lining Arnold Ju
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Project: How can governments encourage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that addresses sustainable development in an era of globalisation? An analysis of the implications of investment treaty CSR provisions for public health and nutrition.
Supervisors: Professor Ann Marie Thow, Professor Teresa Davis
Enrolled: Faculty of Science
Understanding epigenetic regulation of liver gene expression during intermittent fasting
Supervisors: Dr Mark Larance, Professor Jean Yang