Antenatal serum biomarkers for the detection of adverse pregnancy outcomes: a record linkage study
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Summary
This project uses a novel application of health record linkage to investigate maternal serum biomarkers (from early pregnancy samples) for predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Supervisor(s)
Associate Professor Christine Roberts, Dr Natasha Nassar
Research Location
North Shore - Kolling Institute of Medical Research
Program Type
PHD
Synopsis
Although most pregnancies are associated with the birth of a healthy baby to a healthy mother, adverse pregnancy outcomes such as fetal growth restriction, stillbirth and preeclampsia continue to impose a heavy burden on families and the community. Identifying pregnancies at risk will provide the opportunity for the development and evaluation of intervention studies and preventive strategies. This research will involve assessing normative levels and predictive values of novel biomarkers in stored antenatal serum samples. Pregnancy outcome data will be obtained by record linkage. Advanced data manipulation and statistical methods will be used to assess combinations of biomarkers and antenatally identifiable risk factors and determine which threshold values provide the best (most discriminating) prediction of adverse outcomes. Candidates experience in data manipulation and statistical techniques such as multivariable logistic regression. An understanding of biomedical scientific methods would b an advantage.
Additional Information
This PhD project could suit an individual from a number of different backgrounds (for example: biomedical sciences, medicine, epidemiology, public health or biostatistics) and to some extent the project can be modified to suit the individuals particular research interests and strengths. All candidates should possess a strong interest for developing diverse skills in the areas of population health, statistics, data manipulation and programming and an understanding of biomedical laboratory techniques.
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Keywords
biostatistics, epidemiology, health record linkage, Pregnancy, antenatal serum screening
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 1104
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