Honours - Nutrition Science

Hydration is critical for performance. Dehydration not only reduces physical performance but also performance across a range of cognitive tasks including sensation, perception, motor coordination, executive function, attention, and memory. It also appears to impair learning in school children, but whether dehydration impairs the learning of sport-related motor skills remains unknown. Sport-related motor skills are often developed through implicit learning, capitalising on subconscious processes to automate the skill performance, making it more robust in the face of fatigue or psychological pressure. Therefore, this study will assess the impact of thirst and hydration status on implicit learning in young adults.

Supervisors: Doug Whyte, Ryan Tam, Helen Aucote, Adrienne Forsyth
Contact: doug.whyte@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Knowledge and skills in culinary arts is increasingly recognised as an important area of study for students in human nutrition science degrees in order to take advantage of emerging opportunities within industries that are looking for graduates with culinary, food and nutrition science expertise. Undergraduate nutrition science degrees have traditionally attracted students with an interest in food and nutrition from a dietary intervention perspective with varying levels of interest and literacy in the culinary arts. Through the development of a purpose-built survey, the project will collect baseline data from 1st years nutrition science students to measure their culinary science literacy.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford & Emma Stirling
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne and North Sydney

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.

Supervisors: Adrienne Forsyth, Lachlan Mitchell, Adam Walsh, in collaboration with St Vincent's Hospital
Contact: adrienne.forsyth@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Melbourne (and Victoria) is known for its multiculturalism, with most migrants in Australia living in Victoria. While there is a lag between the settlement of a new migrant group and established access to foods from the migrant groups traditional culinary culture, inevitably food stores, cafes and restaurants become open in areas where the migrant group settles. The aim of this project is to evaluate whether 'ethnic' eating establishments in neighbourhoods affect people's perception of that 'ethnic' culture and cuisine. Do they help to build cultural literacy or tolerance? Do they help to establish social cohesion? Can they help to break down barriers? This research will start to answer some of these questions.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford & Adrienne Forsyth
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne and North Sydney

Building on a small project in 2016, this project aims to further explore the changes in culinary publications in relation to changes in the cultural diversity in Australia. Australia has a long history of migration with various groups migrating in significant numbers over the past 70-80 years. At the same time Australia has a strong history of culinary publications in newspapers, magazines and food and cook books. The project aims to bring these themes together to analyse culinary publications from a multicultural perspective and to explore representation of culture through these texts.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford & Emma Stirling
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne and North Sydney

Culinary texts documenting ingredients and recipes have been produced in Australia for more than 150 years. The diet of Indigenous Australians 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 exploitation of the locally available foods. The aim of the project is to explore the representation of native foods within culinary texts over the past 150 years.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne and North Sydney

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.

Supervisors: Adrienne Forsyth, Adam Walsh, in collaboration with St Vincent's Hospital
Contact: adrienne.forsyth@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Dietitians are often under-recognised members of palliative care teams. There is little research on dietetics in palliative care, and studies exploring dietitians' views have identified a need for research to establish evidence for this area of practice. Using a patient-centred approach to healthcare, patient views will be explored as a first step in establishing the importance of dietetic services. This project aims to understand patient perspectives on the role of the dietetic service in an inpatient palliative care service.

Supervisors: Adrienne Forsyth, Wendy Stuart-Smith, in collaboration with St Vincent's Hospital
Contact: adrienne.forsyth@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Teaching kitchens provide opportunity for participants to increase their food and nutrition related knowledge and skills, through practical activities, and achieve positive health outcomes. A mobile teaching kitchen has potentially greater influence as it can reach into communities to deliver interventions. The aim of this research project is to understand the need for a mobile teaching kitchen in a central Melbourne local government area, with perspectives from local government, local health services, residents, practitioners, and academics used to inform a proposed model.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford & Emma Stirling
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

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'. More objective measures of behaviours can help us see through these problems. In our Australian Research Council funded research, children are wearing wearable cameras as they go about their daily activities. This project will look at the feasibility of measuring children's dietary behaviours from the captured images.

Supervisors: Taren Sanders, Adam Walsh
Contact: taren.sanders@acu.edu.au
Campus: North Sydney and Melbourne

Research-informed practice underpins work in nutrition and exercise environments, from general and clinical populations through to world champion athletes. The validity of findings in such research is often limited to the population in which the research was conducted. While research findings with healthy, recreationally active individuals supports nutrition and exercise recommendations for this large demographic, it has limited transferability to elite athletes due to myriad reasons, including genetics, physiological adaptations, and extremely high training loads. Given this limitation in research transferability, recruiting elite athletes into research can support the health and performance of this population. However, there is a constant challenge in accessing such a population to participate in research studies. Therefore, this study aims to explore strategies used to recruit national, international, and world class athletes as research participants. One on one interviews with experienced researchers who conduct research with elite athletes will be conducted. Interviews will focus on the strategies used by to recruit athletes as participants. Interviews will be recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed using an inductive approach. Findings will support researchers to recruit elite athletes as participants in future research.

Supervisors: Lachlan Mitchell, Adrienne Forsyth
Contact: lachlan.mitchell@acu.edu.au
Campus: North Sydney and Melbourne

Iron deficiency is a global health problem estimated to affect ~33% of non-pregnant women globally. Comparative to men, women can face additional challenges to maintaining healthy iron stores, which includes menstrual blood loss and cyclical changes to estrogen concentrations across the menstrual cycle and the life span. Furthermore, female athletes are at increased risk of iron deficiency due to the additional impact of high-volume exercise on iron regulation. This project will have you lead one arm of an ongoing randomised control trial, where you will be involved in recruitment, data collection and data analysis. You will examine the effectiveness of two different oral iron supplements (Ferrograd C™ and Maltofer™) to determine which is better at repleting iron stores over 12 weeks in team sport athletes. You will also determine which supplement is associated with better tolerance and adherence.

Supervisors: Alannah McKay and Sophie Broome
Contact: alannah.mckay@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Observational studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the association between coffee consumption and the risk of hip fractures. In this project, we will employ Mendelian Randomization analysis to explore the potential causal relationship between coffee intake and the occurrence of hip fractures. Mendelian Randomization is a relatively recent method in epidemiology, developed within the past decade.

Throughout this project, you will gain hands-on experience in various data analysis techniques, including meta-analysis, linear regression models, and, particularly, two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression analysis. You will also delve into Mendelian Randomization and acquire proficiency in R programming for data analysis. Additionally, you will develop a foundational understanding of key genetic concepts, such as Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS), Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), and Linkage Disequilibrium (LD).

It's worth noting that this project does not demand advanced mathematical skills. Proficiency in Australian Year 12 Essential Mathematics and General Mathematics will suffice, while knowledge of Year 12 Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics will be a valuable asset.

Supervisor: Enwu Liu
Contact: enwuliu@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

Lipids rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been promoted as important dietary components to promote human health. These lipids are naturally susceptible and readily oxidised during food processing and storage. Therefore, they are commonly stabilised into powder form via the "microencapsulation" process to maximise the stability and facilitate the application. Olive leaf extract (OLE) is a powerful antioxidant rich in polyphenols. It receives increasing research interest due to its health benefits to prevent conditions like cognitive decline, cancer, and osteoporosis. However, the OLE causes a strong bitterness perception and can only be formulated in low concentrations.

This project aims to design a novel microencapsulation system to co-deliver omega-3 lipids and OLE. Omega-3 lipids are the "core material" while OLE is a key component of the "wall material" in the fabricated microcapsules. It is hypothesised that the developed system can significantly enhance the oxidative stability of omega-3 lipids while masking the bitterness of OLE.

Supervisors: Bo Wang, Pre De Silva
Contact: bo.wang@acu.edu.au
Campus: North Sydney

Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty with swallowing and those with this problem may require food and or fluids to be texture modified. It is estimated as many as 50% of those residing in aged care homes require such a diet and it is widely known that those on a texture modified diet are at greater risk of malnutrition. In fact, research shows that in addition to the nutritional challenges these meals present, poor mealtime experiences due to poorly presented meals contribute to sub-optimal food intake for those needing a texture modified diet. Therefore, it is important to design novel texture modified foods with improved visual appearance. Recently, 3D printing has been trialled to fabricate texture modified food for this purpose. However, the existing studies either solely focused on developing bio ink with promising printing capability or producing the individual food purees into attractive patterns to increase their attractiveness.

This project aims to design a novel texture modified food to fill the nutrition gap for the population with dysphagia. A diet is designed accordingly and processed into an appropriate semi-solid form (i.e., bio inks). Subsequently, the printing capability of these bio inks is determined and optimised to allow the 3D printing process. The acceptability of the fabricated texture modified food is evaluated compared with the conventional puree form. It is hypothesised that this approach will encourage food consumption and promote improved nutrition for individuals with dysphagia.

Supervisors: Bo Wang, Karen Kingham
Contact: bo.wang@acu.edu.au
Campus: North Sydney

Sports foods are designed to provide a convenient source of nutrients and are recommended to athletes to support nutrition for performance, recovery, or health where whole foods may be impractical to consume. Their use in sport is strongly supported by the literature; however, the ultra-processed nature of commercial sports foods may be of concern given their association with poor mental and physical health and all-cause mortality. Our earlier research found that half of athletes were concerned about ultra-processed foods. This project will involve interviews with sports health professionals to understand more about their perspectives and recommendations regarding ultra-processed sports foods.

Supervisor: Adrienne Forsyth
Contact: adrienne.forsyth@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne

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.

Supervisors: Sharon Croxford & Emma Stirling
Contact: Sharon.croxford@acu.edu.au
Campus: Melbourne and North Sydney