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CPC Summer Research Scholarships 2024: Recipients announced

29 October 2024
Nineteen scholarships awarded to student summer research projects
The Charles Perkins Centre has awarded 19 Summer Research Scholarships to student researchers from five faculties.

The prestigious Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarship program 2024 has awarded 19 scholarships after an impressive 54 applications. 

This year’s cohort reflects the multidisciplinary focus of the Charles Perkins Centre, with students coming from five faculties – Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Health, Science and School of Business. The students will collaborate with 37 supervisors from 14 schools.

Charles Perkins Centre Academic Director Professor Stephen J Simpson AC expressed that he is impressed with the quality and diversity of research topics proposed by the students. 

“This year, projects cover an impressive breadth of topics, from investigating the associations between heart rate variability and sleep; to analysing physical activity in older adults; the impact of green space on health outcomes, and the importance of storytelling for health education, constructing a pedagogical framework through the analysis of Great Gerwig’s films,” said Professor Simpson.

“For some of these students, the program marks the beginning of a long involvement with the Charles Perkins Centre. Many past recipients have pursued higher research degrees and fellowships at our Centre,” he said. 

The impressive research program has awarded over 170 scholarships since its launch 13 years ago. It is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students from all areas of study and with any level of research experience.

Guided by Charles Perkin Centre’s leading academics, the scholars are required to design and conduct their own research that supports the mission of the Charles Perkins Centre. The program fosters collaboration, innovation and interdisciplinary research.

A number of projects in this cohort explore the world of machine learning and artificial intelligence. One project focuses on optimising chatbot performance for delivering health information on cardiovascular prevention and treatment while another explores the use of multi-omics and AI to predict triglyceride levels and biomarkers in human liver disease.  

“In its thirteenth year, the competitive scholarship program continues to be supported by the Nicholas Catchlove Early Career Researcher Development Fund, offering a minimum of 10 scholarships each year to outstanding students. University of Sydney alumnus Dr Barry Catchlove AM and his wife Professor Louise Sylvan AM provide ongoing support for the initiative in memory of Barry’s son, Nicholas.” said Professor Simpson. 

“This year we had a high number of strong applications by students enthusiastic to partake in the research program at our Centre. I extend my congratulations to the 19 successful Summer Research Scholars 2024 and look forward to seeing the students present the outcomes of their research in February – a fine beginning to the year!"

Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholars 2024

Summer Research Scholars 2024

L-R Ahmed Abid, Andy Chen, Ariel Czajkowski, Diah Kurniawati, George Annas, Gihansa Kottasha Vidhanelage, Hannah Parker, Joy Zuo, Leyi You, Pranav Lokhande, Rachael Hayward, Salma Azzahra, Sean Chang, Shalu Choudhary, Simran Kamal, Somerset Wu, Vu Minh Khue Huynh, Yitong Yao, Ziyao Geng

Program

Doctor of Medicine

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

The development and types of severe obesity in greater western Sydney

Supervisors

Dr Kathryn Williams

Professor Natasha Nassar

Program

Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Medical Science)

Faculty

Science

Project 

Understanding the impact of environmental factors on adolescents’ sleeping patterns in the Pacific Islands

Supervisors

Professor Corinne Caillaud

Associate Professor Svetlana Postnova

Program

Master of Public Health

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

Physical activity among older adults: does green space matter? An ecological study in Sydney

Supervisors

Professor Anne Tiedemann

Professor Jeanette Thom

Program

Bachelor of Science (Medical Science)

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

Precision therapeutic targeting for Parkinson’s disease 

Supervisors

Dr Asheeta Prasad

Dr Lipin Loo

Program

Master of Business Administration

Faculty

Sydney Business School

Project 

Scoping review of how perceived nutritional benefits influence snack selection in Australian pregnant women during the second trimester

Supervisors

Professor David Raubenheimer

Professor Ralph Nanan

Program

Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Advanced Studies

Faculty

Science

Project

Investigating the molecular connections between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease through single cell and spatial transcriptomics

Supervisors

Professor Greg Sutherland

Professor Stephen Twigg

Program

Bachelor of Science (Medical Science)

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project 

Elucidating the mechanisms of anti-thrombogenicity by plasma coatings for use in medical devices

Supervisors

Associate Professor Anna Waterhouse

Professor Marcela Bilek

Program

Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine

Faculty

Science

Project 

Multi-omics integration and explainable AI for predicting triglyceride levels and biomarkers in human liver diseases

Supervisors

Professor David James

Associate Professor Melkam Kebede

Program

Doctor of Medicine

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

Identification of biomarkers that predict failure to achieve normoglycemia after a very low energy diet in prediabetic adults

Supervisors

Professor Luigi Fontana

Professor Stephen Fuller

Program

Bachelor of Psychology

Faculty

Science

Project 

Exercise during chemotherapy infusion: Understanding healthcare professionals’ perspectives  

Supervisors

Dr Jasmine Yee

Sarah Ratcliffe

Program

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

Faculty

Engineering

Project

Exploring the impact of school sport participation on academic outcomes in Australian youth: A longitudinal analysis

Supervisors

Dr Katherine Owen

Associate Professor Louise Peralta

Program

Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine

Faculty

Science

Project

Elucidating the impact of physical activity on the onset and progression of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF): A multidimensional analysis on cardiac structure and function

Supervisors

Professor John O’Sullivan

Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis

Program

Master of Public Health

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

Optimizing chatbot performance for delivering health information on cardiovascular pain prevention and treatment: Analysing platform type, NLP (natural language processing) complexity, and response metrics

Supervisors

Associate Professor Christina Abdel Shaheed

Dr Jonathan Kummerfield

Program

Bachelor of Engineering, Software Engineering (Honours)

Faculty

Engineering

Project 

Scripting and machine learning-guided optimisation of mass spectrometry-based ligand discovery workflows

Supervisors

Dr Michael Gotsbacher

Dr Lake-Ee Quek

Program

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Faculty

Medicine and Health

Project

Exploring the impact of in utero saccharide exposure on offspring cardiac health

Supervisors

Dr Yen Chin Koay

Dr Sophie Lucic Fisher

Program

Bachelor of Science 

Faculty

Science

Project

Racialisation in gut microbiome research: A multidisciplinary approach

Supervisors

Professor Warwick Anderson

Professor Ralph Nanan

Program

Bachelor of Commerce

Faculty

Sydney Business School

Project 

Health economics modelling of a blood-based biomarker for graft loss prediction

Supervisors

Professor Jean Yang

Professor Germaine Wong

Program

Bachelor of Education

Faculty

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Project

Storytelling for health education: Constructing a pedagogical framework through the analysis of Greta Gerwig's films

Supervisors

Professor Lina Markauskaite

Professor Matilda Mroz

Program

Bachelor of Engineering

Faculty

Engineering

Project

Exploring heart rate variability as an early indicator of autonomic dysfunction in diabetic and obstructive sleep apnea patients using signal processing and machine learning

Supervisors

Professor Wei Chen

Mr Dexiao (Shawn) Kong

Q&A with Summer Research Scholar 2023 Zoe Zhang

Q&A with Summer Research Scholar 2023 Matthew Shu

Emma Oxenburgh

Communications Officer

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