Congratulations to our CRE researchers A/Prof Marita Hefler and Dr Daniel Stjepanovic who have each been awarded NHMRC Ideas Grants, and to Prof Tony Blakely and Dr Carmen Lim who have received NHMRC Investigator Grants for outstanding researchers.
Marita will work with remote First Nations communities and stores to co-design new approaches to tobacco supply reduction strategies.
Daniel’s project team will establish a surveillance system for smoking and vaping using cutting edge technologies and global partnerships.
Tony’s research program will apply computer simulation modelling and methods from epidemiology and economics to answer public health impact questions
Carmen will develop a research program to understand how pro-vaping campaigns on social media influence young people’s attitudes towards the use of e-cigarettes.
Project details are provided below.
From ‘Dirty Ashtray’ to tobacco control innovator: Co-design with remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory to generate new approaches to reduce smoking
Ideas Grant, $2,123,560.50
Chief Investigators: Marita Hefler, Graham Beasley, Julie Kitson, Kirsty Hampton, Anna Murison, Ghazal Torkfar, Abdolvahab Baghbanian, Janet Hoek
Associate Investigators: John Boffa, Emma McMahon, Kylie Morphett, Megan Ferguson, Le Smith, Coral Gartner
Description: 5 years - Smoking is the leading cause of preventable diseases and avoidable death in Australia, and a major contributor to health disparities between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples. This project will contribute to a transformative paradigm shift from controlling tobacco to ending the smoking epidemic. The aim is to co-design and pilot financially sustainable and culturally acceptable strategies to reduce commercial tobacco supply in remote First Nations communities.
Monitoring nicotine: Triangulating social media, global survey and wastewater data to inform future vaping and smoking policies
Ideas Grant, $1,541,037
Chief Investigators: Daniel Stjepanovic, Tianze Sun, Phong Thai, David Hammond, Quida Zheng, Emmanuel Kauntsche
Associate Investigators: Gary Chan, Janni Leung, Coral Gartner
Description: 5 years - In Australia, nicotine addiction continues to be the main cause of preventable death through tobacco smoking. With the emergence of nicotine vaping products, we now face new challenges. This project will establish a surveillance system for smoking and vaping using cutting edge technologies and global partnerships. The development of this enhanced monitoring will provide health experts and government with the tools necessary to respond to the rapidly changing vaping and tobacco smoking landscape.
SHINE: Scalable Health Intervention Evaluation
Investigator Grant, Leadership 2 (L2) $2,897,165
Investigator: Tony Blakely
Description: Much data and research knowledge exists but is seldom brought together systematically and comparably to answer questions like: “when applied to the population, how much health will intervention X gain compared to intervention Y? Over what time? With what cost?” I will build an ambitious research programme that answers these questions, using computer simulation modelling and methods from epidemiology and economics. No such scaled capacity exists internationally; SHINE will be world-leading.
Breaking the Cycle: Leveraging social media to address the public health threat of youth vaping
Investigator Grant, Emerging Leadership 1 (EL1), $662,040
Investigator: Carmen Lim
Description: Youth vaping is an emerging public health threat despite prevention and cessation interventions, due to the pervasiveness of pro-vaping content on social media. There is a profound lack of effective interventions to counteract vaping-related content on social media. I will lead a research program to understand how pro-vaping content influences young people’s attitudes, develop a social media intervention, and propose regulatory solutions to reduce youth vaping.
