Research into eating, eye, sleep and autoimmune disorders were among the nine outstanding papers awarded the Flinders University Best Research Higher Degree Student publications for 2015.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Robert Saint congratulated the doctoral candidates – Eva Vall and Gorica Micic (School of Psychology), Arjun Rainer and Sarah Pearce (Humanities and Creative Arts), Georgia Kaidonis and Karen Patterson (Medicine), Benedict King (Biological Sciences), Matthew Norris (Chemical and Physical Sciences) and Michael Smith (Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics) – for their research excellence.
Professor Saint said the awards highlight two of the University’s key drivers – to offer students high-level learning and training opportunities to go on and excel in research and knowledge which impacts in their field and contributes to real-world applications.
He congratulated all of the recipients and their supervisors for the strength of the papers, with many published either last year or this year in prestigious journals.
Doctoral candidate Eva Vall, whose paper “Predictors of treatment outcome in individuals with eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis” appeared in the International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED), has also received a US award for Best Paper by an Early Career Researcher from the IJED publisher John Wiley and Sons.
Co-author and PhD supervisor Professor Tracey Wade joined other supervisors in congratulating their students.
The winning papers and supervisors were:
Eva Vall – “Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Individuals with Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(7), 946-71. doi: 10.1002/eat.22411. (Vall, E and Wade, TD). Supervisor Professor Tracey Wade.
Gorica Micic – “The etiology of delayed sleep phase disorder,” Sleep Medicine Reviews (2016) 27, 29-38. (G Micic, N Lovato, M Gradisar, SA Ferguson, HJ Burgess, LC Lack) Supervisor Professor Leon Lack.
Arjun Rainer – “The art of creating a Kathakali performer’s ‘Presence’. Theater.” Dance and Performance Training, Volume 6, Issue 3. Supervisors Dr William Peterson and Dr Anne Thompson.
Sarah Pearce – “Confinement and Consumption: Reflections on the Gothic in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) and Charlotte Brontë’s Vilette (1853)”. Aeternum (2015): The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp34-48. Supervisors Dr Giselle Bastin and Dr Dymphna Lonergan.
Georgia Kaidonis – “Common Sequence Variation in the VEGFC Gene Is Associated with Diabetic Retinopathy and Diabetic Macular Edema.” Ophthalmology. 2015 Sep; 122(9):1828-36. (Kaidonis G, Burdon KP, Gillies MC, Abhary S, Essex RW, Chang JH, Pal B, Pefkianaki M, Daniell M, Lake S, Petrovsky N, Hewitt AW, Jenkins A, Lamoureux EL, Gleadle JM, Craig JE). Supervisor Professor Jamie Craig.
Karen Patterson – “Interpretation of an Extended Autoantibody Profile in a Well-Characterised Australian Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma) Cohort using Principle Components Analysis,” Arthritis & Rheumatology 2015 Aug 5. doi: 10.1002/art.39316. (KA Patterson, PJ Roberts-Thomson, S Lester, JA Tan, P Hakendorf, M Rischmueller , J Zochling, J Sahhar, P Nash, J Roddy, C Hill, M Nikpour, W Stevens, SM Proudman, JG Walker). Supervisor Associate Professor Jenny Walker.
Benedict King – “Ancestral state reconstruction, rate heterogeneity, and the evolution of reptile viviparity,” Systematic Biology, 64(3), 532-544. (King, B and Lee, MS). Supervisor Professor John Long.
Matthew Norris – “Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Gracilioethers,” B and C. Organic letters, 17(3), 668-671. (Norris, MD, Perkins, MV, & Sorensen, EJ). Supervisor Associate Professor Mike Perkins.
Michael Smith – “Forward osmosis dialysate production using spiral-wound reverse-osmosis membrane elements: Practical limitations.” Journal of Membrane Science, 484, 18-26. (Smith, MC, & Reynolds, KJ). Supervisor Professor Karen Reynolds.