MN: PhD project booklet · THE DEPARTMENT OF NUTRITION, DIETETICSl AND FOOD W h e r e will I be lo...

PhD programsM O N A S H N U T R I T I O N • 2 0 2 0

CLINICALNUTRITION

Help address some of ourmost critical challenges in

clinical nutrition.

NUTRITIONMETABOLISM

Unravel how foods andnutrients can influence ourhealth at a molecular level.

PUBLIC HEALTHNUTRITION

Make a change and shapehow we modify food

environments to tacklechronic diseases.

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EDUCATION

Discover and evaluateinnovative ways to shape the

next-gen of the nutrition &dietetic workforce.

LOCATION

Monash UniversityDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food,

Be Active Sleep and Eat Facility (BASE),Level 1 / 264 Ferntree Gully Road

Notting Hill

CONTACT US

[email protected]

[email protected]

2 | Monash Nutrition

PROJECTFINDER:QUICK GUIDE

RESEARCH THEME: CLINICAL NUTRITION ................................................................................................ 9

1. Strategies to reduce food waste in hospital foodservices .................................................................... 9

2. Functional measures to support estimates of energy expenditure in older adults ................... 11

3. Exploring the role of dietary patterns and the gut microbiota in patients undergoing

immunotherapy for advanced cancer.............................................................................................................. 13

4. Sleep: the final frontier for managing glucose tolerance during pregnancy. ............................... 15

RESEARCH THEME: METABOLISM ............................................................................................................... 17

5. Dark, sticky and treacherous – targeting dietary Advanced Glycation End-products

(AGEs) in female infertility................................................................................................................................... 17

6. How does the body respond to an unhealthy meal, and can we provide protection? .............. 19

7. Improving metabolic health outcomes in shift workers: a three arm parallel weight loss

intervention in overweight shift workers ...................................................................................................... 21

8. Unravelling the complexity of energy metabolism through an exploration of big data from

‘omics technology .................................................................................................................................................... 23

RESEARCH THEME: PUBLIC HEALTH ......................................................................................................... 25

9. How feasible are current public health frameworks in creating healthy eating enabling

environments in a competitive and multi-operator retail environment? ......................................... 25

RESEARCH THEME: EDUCATION.................................................................................................................. 27

10. Training allied health professional for jobs of the future ................................................................ 27

THEDEPARTMENTOF NUTRITION,DIETETICS ANDFOOD

Ever considered undertaking a PhD? Interested in food and nutrition? Join the team and be at the forefront of exciting

developments in global nutrition research. Completing a PhD in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food at Monash

University provides you with the opportunity to develop research and interpersonal skills within a supportive, world-

leading research facility.

Our academic staff are career researchers from a broad background of scientists, health professional and

education specialists. We work closely with a range of partners from the health services sector and other

not-for-profit and industry sectors. We a part of Monash University’s largest clinical school, The School of

Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS).

Minimum entry requirements can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/admissions/entryrequirements/minimum

Some of the advances our researchers are working to achieve:

• Better metabolic health for shift workers

• Novel dietary strategies to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

• Better gut health for ultra-endurance athletes through optimal nutrition and hydration

• Reduction in inflammation through dietary patterns

• Improved fertility and pregnancy outcomes for women

• Novel bioinformatic and molecular to understand complex nutrient-metabolism interactions

• Enhanced food environments which make the healthy choice the easy choice

• Reduce inequities in food supply and improve food security for all Australians

• Optimal nutrition interventions for the elderly population

• Ensure options for those seeking weight management from youth through to adulthood have

access to proven effective evidence based advice.

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Introduction to the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food

Professor Gary Williamson leads the Department. Professor Williamson has extensive experience in

international research in academic, institute and industrial environments. His research is highly cited

(Scopus h-index of 90). He has made major advances in understanding polyphenol bioavailability, and more

recently has shown that certain polyphenols influence cellular energy metabolism and appearance of

glucose in the blood after a meal, important risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Research Leaders in the department include:

Left to right: Professor Gary Williamson, Professor Helen Truby, Dr Ricardo Costa (Graduate research

coordinator); A/Prof Maxine Bonham, A/Prof Claire Palermo, A/Prof Judi Porter, A/Prof Julie Brimblecombe,

Dr Simone Gibson, Dr Kate Huggins, Dr Tracy McCaffrey, Dr Zoe Davidson, Dr Aimee Dordevic, Dr Nicole

Kellow, Dr Jorja Collins

Researcher profiles can be found at http://www.monash.edu.au/research/people/profiles/

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Where will I be located for my PhD?

The Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food is located at the state-of-the-art ‘Be Active Sleep and Eat’ (BASE) Facility in

Notting Hill (www.med.monash.edu/base). The BASE Facility is dedicated to advance translation of the science of

nutrition, sleep and physical activity to enhance health across the lifespan. The facility comprises of a suite of research

rooms including body composition (an iDXA and bioelectrical impedance devices) for bone and body composition

assessment, a sleep laboratory, a commercial kitchen, exercise physiology laboratory, clinical chemistry laboratory, plus

consulting suites. The ‘Be Active Sleep and Eat’ (BASE) Facility in Notting Hill, 3km from Monash Health and 10 minutes’

walk from Clayton campus. There is a post-graduate student area in our department with hot desks that our doctoral

scholars are able to utilise. There is also a PhD hub located at Clayton campus (http://www.monash.edu/graduate-

research/current-students/graduate-spaces).

As one of our PhD scholars you will utilise the equipment and facilities alongside highly qualified and experienced

investigators. Opportunity to undertake some tutoring or marking in the second year onwards of your PhD program can

be organised with the agreement from your primary supervisor. Usually our students undertake the Monash University

Translational PhD pathway which includes 2 taught units chosen from a range of options but include Biostatistics and

Translational Research. Our students are encouraged to join in post-graduate activities arranged by our School of Clinical

Sciences at Monash Health which offers a range of targeted study and professional development opportunities for the

school’s 170+ PhD scholars.

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RESEARCHTHEMES 6 | Monash Nutrition

Aims to generate high quality evidence ofeffective interventions to improvenutritional status across a range of clinicalconditions and age groups includingclinical dietetics research withinpaediatrics, diabetes and aging. We haveexpertise with patient-level interventionsand systems-based interventions for foodservices in hospital and aged caresettings. We actively translate newevidence that arises from thesestudies into practice and our teaching.

C L I N I C A LN U T R I T I T I O N

M E T A B O L I S M

E D U C A T I O N

P U B L I C H E A L T H

Aims to generate understanding of howfoods and nutrients can influencemolecular and physiological mechanismsto improve health and reduce disease.Nutrition is integral to good health anddisease prevention and recovery.

Aims to improve people’s diets to reducechronic diseases and conditions such asdiabetes and obesity. Our researchfocuses on modifying our foodenvironments to improve everyone’shealth, especially Indigenous populations.

Aims to discover and evaluate innovativeways to educate nutrition and dieteticprofessionals to beexceptional leaders in practice, withcapability to lead multi-disciplinary teamswhich are required tomanage the complex nutrition problemsour communities face.

Research themes


PROJECTS8 | Monash Nutrition

Strategies to reducefood waste in hospitalfoodservices

R E S E A R C H T H E M E :C L I N I C A LN U T R I T I T I O N


RESEARCH THEME:CLINICAL NUTRITION

Background Healthcare organisations generate morefood waste than any other foodservicesetting. Our preliminary research found thaton average 322kg of food waste isgenerated across 3 hospitals every day.Extrapolated across all Australian hospitals,this is a staggering amount of food andmoney being wasted. At a time whenenvironmental sustainability is consistentlyrated by the Australian public and one of themost important problems facing the worldtoday, we must be looking for solutions tothis problem. Our previous research hasidentified that waste avoidance andmanagement is the area of the food supplychain where there is the greatest appetiteand opportunity for further investigationand action. The research involvescollaborators from the Monash SustainableDevelopment Institute.

Proposed research: Part 1: A systematic literature review todescribe the components and outcomes ofeducation-focused strategies to avoid andmanage food waste in homes, businesses andinstitutions. Part 2: A mixed methods study of waste andwaste management practices in foodservice inAustralian hospitals. This will include a nation-wide one-day waste audit to provide a snap shotof the amount of food waste generated at thepatient and production level and how this wasteis disposed of, and explore associations betweenfoodservice characteristics and wasteoutcomes. Part 3: A document analysis of wastemanagement policies for foodservice inhealthcare settings internationally.

For more information A/Prof Judi Porter [email protected] Dr Jorja Collins [email protected]


Functional measures tosupport estimates of energyexpenditure in older adults




Background Our ongoing research in energyrequirements in older adults has determinedthat pre-existing energy equations do notaddress the issue of biological age. We areaiming to address this, and produce newequations using the gold standard method ofdoubly labelled water (DLW) for predictingenergy requirements in older adults (80 +years old). The doctoral student willcontribute to this work. A systematicliterature review and a feasibility study ofthe functional measures that predictbiological age will be undertaken. Asecondary data analysis of an aspect ofageing (to be defined) utilising the newlyreleased International Atomic EnergyAgency (IAEA) DLW database will also beundertaken.

Proposed research: Part 1: Systematic review of the literature forfunctional measures suitable for inclusion inpredictive equation development. Part 2: Feasibility study to incorporate top 3functional measures identified in Part 1 –building our database of DLW measures in olderAustralian adults towards future developmentof the Monash equation using our pre-existingprotocol of primary measures. Part 3: Conduct secondary data analysis of theIAEA DLW database on an aspect of ageing. Skills acquired may include: indirectcalorimetry, bioelectrical impedence, hand gripstrength, Intake 24 and the isotope ratio massspectrometer (IRMS).

For more information A/Prof Judi Porter [email protected] Dr Kay Nguo [email protected]

12| Monash Nutrition

Exploring the role of dietarypatterns and the gutmicrobiota in patientsundergoing immunotherapyfor advanced cancer


Background The gut microbiome has become a rapidlyexpanding area of nutrition science researchdue to its potential impact on the gut-brainaxis, impacting appetite and satiety controlas well as a host of other long and short termsignals relating to nutritional status.Although descriptive information isavailable that both the diversity andquantity of the gut microbiota in differentgroups of the population, how the gutmicrobiota may impact on cancer treatmentis unknown.



Background The use of immunotherapy in advancedcancer treatment has shown early promiseand can impact positively on outcome inaround 50% of cancers. It being particularlyrelevant in melanoma, lung and geno-urinary cancers. Nutritional status plays animportant supportive role as an enablingstrategy for the body to cope with thecancer treatment. Guiding a patient throughtheir cancer journey using nutritionalsupport is challenging with some evidencebased treatments largely reliant on methodsto maintain an adequate energy, protein andmicro-nutrient sufficient diet over time. Therole that different dietary patterns play incancer outcomes is unknown although,anecdotally we know many patients changetheir diets after a cancer diagnosis, theimpact of these changes on the gutmicrobiota is currently unknown.

Proposed research: This proposal is the initial step of understandingif dietary patterns or food choices can play apivotal role in outcomes for those undergoingimmunotherapy. It will utilise the expertise andskills from the supervisory team to examine thedietary patterns of patients undergoingimmunotherapy and their microbiota. Usingadvanced techniques such as deep sequencing itwill explore if changes in the gut microbiota canbe achieved by dietary manipulation and furtherelucidate if these can be used either as ascreening tool or as a prognostic indicator fortreatment. Overall it aims to advance ourunderstanding of diet and its role inimmunotherapy. This study will take place predominately at theMonash Health Translational Research (MHTP)precinct, in Clayton which provides an excellentenvironment for the clinical trials to beconducted in those with advanced stage cancersundergoing immunotherapy. The MHTP bringstogether practitioner-researchers, clinicians,allied health professionals and laboratory basedscientists to advance the care and outcomes forpatients undergoing cancer treatment. ADomestic PhD stipend may be provided to anoutstanding applicant, along with opportunitiesfor clinical experience in patients with cancer.

For more information Professor Helen Truby helen. [email protected] Professor Eva Segelov [email protected]

Additional pre-requisites The applicant must be eligible forAccreditation as a Dietitian in Australia.


Sleep: the final frontier formanaging glucose toleranceduring pregnancy




Background Impaired glucose tolerance is associatedwith increased adverse pregnancy outcomesand by definition, gestational diabetesdiagnosis (GDM). In Australia, it is estimatedthat GDM affects 9-16% of the obstetricpopulation, equating to just under 50,000women every year. Preventing earlyexcessive weight gain and optimisinglifestyle choices are key factors inprevention of GDM but the role of sleep hasnot been explored fully. Short sleep durationand poor quality sleep are both risk factorsfor Type 2 diabetes and this projectexamines and will test in a pilot study ifoptimising sleep can be useful duringpregnancy to improve glucose tolerance.

Proposed research: The initial steps in this project will be to design anew on-line delivered intervention whichsupports healthy sleep during pregnancy(including addressing barriers to sleep,managing sleep disturbance and light exposureincluding screen time) alongside evidence basedinformation about food choices and physicalactivity. It will harness co-design techniques toensure its applicability to a range of youngwomen. The project will then evolve into afeasibility study in a sample of women attendingpublic antenatal clinics who will either receivestandard care or the intervention - theintervention group will be provided with openaccess to the intervention for the entirety oftheir pregnancy. This intervention is designed tobegin earlier in pregnancy and be self-directed.Objective data from medical records will beused to establish gestational weight gain,glucose tolerance and birth outcomes andqualitative data from participants will assess itsfeasibility, applicability and

For more information Professor Helen Truby helen. [email protected]

Additional pre-requisites Accreditation as a Dietitian in Australia isessential as much of the work will becarried out in clinical hospital settings.


Dark, sticky and treacherous –targeting dietary AdvancedGlycation End-products (AGEs)in female infertility

R E S E A R C H T H E M E :M E T A B O L I S M

Background Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs)are compounds formed when sugars attachto proteins. Excessive AGE levels in bodytissues cause damage through increasedprotein cross-linking, elevated production ofreactive oxygen species and enhancingchronic inflammation by interacting withRAGE, the Receptor for Advanced GlycationEnd-products. AGEs are generated duringthe production of highly processed food,some of which are gastro-intestinallyabsorbed during consumption of thesefoods.

Want to participate inresearch aimed at improvingfertility outcomes in the 15%of Australian couples whoexperience infertility?


RESEARCH THEME:METABOLISM

Background Women with obesity have four-fold greaterconcentrations of AGEs in their uterinecavity than women with healthy bodyweights. AGEs in the uterus negativelyimpact endometrial function and preventembryo implantation, potentiallycontributing to the increased rate ofinfertility observed in obese women. Short-term dietary modification to restrict AGEconsumption (even in the absence of weightreduction) may represent a novel, simpleand low-cost strategy to reduce uterine AGEconcentrations and addressinfertility in obese women.

Proposed research: 1. Determine whether infertile women withobesity consume more dietary AGEs thanwomen with healthy body weights, andinvestigate whether dietary AGE consumptionis associated with body composition or othermetabolic markers such as fasting glucose, lipidlevels or insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Theproject will involve collection of detailed dietaryand body composition information from a groupof women of reproductive age, analysis ofdietary intake using a nutritional analysisdatabase, determination of dietary AGE intakeusing validated food AGE databases andstatistical analyses to determine whether anyrelationships exist between dietary AGE intake,body composition and serum markers ofmetabolic dysfunction. We will also collectdietary and body composition information fromthe male partners of the women participating inthe study, to determine whether a high AGE dietdetrimentally effects sperm quality. 2. Determine the efficacy of an 8-week low-AGEdietary intervention to reduce AGEconcentrations and inflammation in the uterineenvironment of infertile women with obesity. Arandomised controlled trial (RCT) will beconducted involving 30 women and theirpartners attending Melbourne IVF.

For more information Dr Nicole Kellow [email protected]


How does the body respond toan unhealthy meal, and canwe provide protection?


Background Some meals, especially if high in fat andcarbohydrates, cause an immediate post-prandial stress on the body, which results ina short term dysfunction of the blood vesselwalls. Too many of these types of mealincrease the risk of developing type 2diabetes and heart disease. There arecomponents in fruits and vegetables such asphytochemicals, which may be able tocounteract this effect.



Background This PhD involves designing humanintervention studies on healthy andoverweight/at-risk volunteers to test howeffective this protection is. One of theimportant markers of cardiovascular healthis the ability of the blood vessels to dilate i.e.their flexibility. Blood vessel stiffness isassociated with heart disease risk, and isalso temporarily impaired after a highfat/high carbohydrate/high sugar meal. Thisis measured using a non- invasive techniquecalled “flow mediated dilatation”abbreviated to FMD. The risk of developingheart disease can be indicated by measuringsomeone’s baseline fasting FMD. FMD canalso be used to measure the body’s reactionto an “unhealthy” meal.

Proposed research: The PhD student would be trained in the use ofFMD, which is totally non-invasive. Several“unhealthy” meals would be designed and thengiven to volunteers, and their FMD responsemeasured. This would be correlated to otherbiomarkers measured in blood to build a pictureof what happens after a meal, and how long thislasts for. The ability of other components in thediet, as present in fruits and vegetables, wouldbe tested for their protection. Most of the workwould be on volunteers, either healthy or “atrisk” i.e. obese, metabolic syndrome etc. Theproject would involve designing studies,recruiting volunteers, becoming expert in FMDmeasurements, designing meals, measuringblood biomarkers in the lab, writing up resultsfor publication and presentation at conferences.

For more information Dr Aimee Dordevic [email protected] Gary Williamson [email protected]


Improving metabolic healthoutcomes in shift workers: a three arm parallel weightloss intervention inoverweight shift workers




Background Shift workers are a significant subset of theAustralian population who aredisproportionately at greater risk forobesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer andcardiovascular disease. Weight loss is alogical target for reducing disease risk in thispopulation, however the uniquephysiological, behaviour and environmentalexposures faced by shift workers is achallenge for designing effective weight lossstrategies. There is persuasive evidencefrom our research group to show that mealtiming, or eating late into the night, as iscommon in shift workers, is associated withmetabolic complications such as impairedglucose tolerance and insulin resistance (3-5) potentially contributing to weight gain.Yet this weight gain appears to be in theabsence of a greater caloric load (6)

Proposed research: The NHMRC have invested in a four yearproject (SWIFt) to compare unique approachesto weight loss in shift working populations withcontinuous energy restriction. Intermittentfasting (IF) involves alternating between adlibitum ‘feeding’ days (5 per week) and ‘fasting’days (2 per week) and is otherwise known as5:2. The flexibility in choosing ‘fasting’ daysshould enable shift workers to tailor theirdietary intakes around shift schedules. This PhDwill contribute to our understanding of whatdietary behaviours best support the needs ofshift workers to reduce metabolic risk factors.This project will involve actively contributing toa large RCT and provide a detailed analysis ofhabitual dietary intake in a shift workingpopulation, assessment of phenotype (includingmetabolic markers and anthropometry),assessment of lifestyle behaviours such asexercise and sleep patterns. Finally, relating thephenotypes, behaviours and weight lossoutcomes to genotype.

For more information A/Prof M Bonham [email protected] C Huggins [email protected]


Unravelling the complexity ofenergy metabolism throughan exploration of big datafrom ‘omics technology




Background Our ability to metabolise the foods that weeat is indicative of our overall health status.When we eat food, we absorb nutrients thatinteract with the tissues in our bodies andactivate a series of pathways to return ourbody to homeostasis. With advances inunderstanding the human genome we arenow in the position of acquiring large ‘omics’datasets. Transcriptomics, metabolomicsand proteomics have advanced biomedicalapplications; however, the application ofthese technologies to nutrition has beenslower than predicted due to the complexityof data interpretation and the lack ofcomputational methods targeted towardsnutritional biology. This project aims toaddress these issues and explore the humanresponse to food through the multiple omicstechnologies.

Proposed research: Part 1: Access data from open-access databasesGene Expression Omnibus (GEO) andArrayExpress, and use analytical models toapply the latest tools of nutritionalbioinformatics. Gene expressionoverrepresentation and pathway analyses willbe performed, and gene ontology will beexplored to interpret the affected biologicalprocesses from postprandial interventionstudies. Part 2: Learn techniques to measure plasmametabolome and cellular proteome fromsamples collected during the postprandialperiod. Use bioinformatics analyses to profilepostprandial responses of humans to aprocessed meal. Explore data to identifymetabolites that appear during the postprandialperiod. Assess the impact of the meal on proteinsignalling pathways in immune cells.

For more information Dr Aimee Dordevic [email protected] Gary Williamson [email protected]


How feasible are current publichealth frameworks in creatinghealthy eating enablingenvironments in a competitive andmulti-operator retail environment?

R E S E A R C H T H E M E :P U B L I C H E A L T H

Background Healthy food environments are needed tohalt the rise in global obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs).Food environments are the collectivephysical, economic, policy andsociocultural surroundings, opportunitiesand conditions that influence people’s foodchoices and nutritional status.Comprehensive actions by governments, thefood industry, private business and citizensare needed to achieve World HealthOrganization (WHO) targets to halt the risein obesity and diabetes and reduce NCDs by25% by 2025.


RESEARCH THEME:PUBLIC HEALTH

Background The Victorian Government’s AchievementProgram has been designed to supportworkplaces, schools, hospitals and healthservices and early learning centres to createhealth enabling environments. One of the fivepriority areas of the program is “health eating”.Benchmarks are set for retail outlets, vendingmachines and catering through its HealthyChoices: Policy guidelines for hospitals andhealth services and its healthy eating policy:catering guidelines for workplaces and Healthychoices: food and drink classification. TheMonash University campus provides a foodretail environment to staff and students that isnot unlike a large shopping centre in itsdiversity of food offerings and business leasingarrangements. The University is striving toachieve the Healthy Eating benchmarks afterreceiving recognition for the four other areas ofthe Achievement Program and globalrecognition as a preferred workplace provider.Lease agreements have been successfullyarranged for all vending machines on thefour campuses of Monash in Australia to complywith the healthy eating benchmark. Achievingthe Healthy Eating benchmarks for the widerfood vendor environment has to date not beenfeasible due to itscomplexity, the market economy in which thevendors operate and the large number ofvendors. Healthy eating benchmarks co-designed with retailers that are contextuallyrelevant are called for.This research will be carried out within thesetting of a university that due to the nature ofits food environment lends itself to being ahealthy food environment lab.

Proposed research: The PhD project will investigate the feasibility ofthe Victorian Government’s AchievementProgram benchmarks in a competitive and multi-operator retail environment and consider thepublic health policy implications of this in publiceffort to create healthy eating enablingenvironments. This PhD project has state, nationaland global significance and will contributeevidence much needed at aglobal level on measures needed within thecurrent market economy to enable citizens tomake healthy food choices. The implications of therecommendations arising from this research willbe investigated in the context of settings outsideof the university setting such as large shoppingcentres, entertainment precincts, foodcourts orother multi-operator environments. This PhDproject will link directly with Monash Health andWellbeing and Monash Buildings and Propertywhose remit is to create a health enabling foodenvironment for students and staff. There is alsoopportunity to link with the Centre for ResearchExcellence REFRESH that brings together worldleading researchers in food systems, food policyand healthy food retailing from Australia, NewZealand and Canada to demonstrate how theretail setting can shift to healthier food and drinkprovision. We are seeking a highly motivatedleading thinker to join Monash Public HealthNutrition and undertake studies for a PhD. ThePhD is positioned within a supportive team todevelop and test innovative methodsfor co-development and implementation ofinterventions to create healthier foodenvironments in a complex retail setting. The PhDstudent will gain practical experience in evidence-based food environment planning,implementation and evaluation and developstrong skills in community and stakeholderengagement, systems thinking, statistical andqualitative evaluation. The PhD program seeks todevelop a strong and capable future leader in foodenvironment interventions.

For more information Associate Professor Julie Brimblecombe [email protected] H Truby [email protected]


Training alliedhealth professionalfor jobs of the future

R E S E A R C H T H E M E :E D U C A T I O N

Background Hundreds of nutritionists and dietitiansgraduate from multiple universities acrossthe world each year. Traditionally thesegraduates are trained to work in a clinical,hospital and food service settings.It has yet to be identified where the majorityof dietetics graduate ultimately findemployment and if current coursecurriculum adequately prepares them forthese roles. In Australia, anecdotally, manydietitians find themselves employed within aprivate practice setting, the skills for whichare not the focus of practical placementrequired to meet current accreditationstandards.


RESEARCHTHEME:EDUCATION

Background Current rates of diet relatedchronic disease are high and dietitians andnutritionist are the experts best placed toaddress these nutrition related outcomes. Itis important to find out if we are properlyutilising this work force or losingthem to alternative industries. These issuesmay also be applicable to the wider alliedhealth workforce (physiotherapists,occupational therapists, speak pathologistsetc). Where are allied health professionalsfinding employment and is their universitytraining adequately preparing them forthese roles? How may we better orientatethe workforce to meet community healthand nutrition needs? What may be novelareas of employment that allied healthgraduates may be qualified to fill?

Proposed research: The PhD will include but not be limited tothree key phases:1. Systematic literature review of dieteticsworkforce needs and challenges.2. Scoping current allied health universitydegrees to determine the aspects of futureworkforce needs (eg. business orentrepreneurship) that are imbedded withinthe teaching framework3. Data analysis of Australian graduateoutcomes data to identify where themajority of allied health graduates findemployment. Compare this to currentaccreditation standards and competencystandards to identify gaps. It is anticipated the outcomes will contributeto the international dialogue on the future ofthe nutrition and dietetics workforce. Weare seeking an applicant with interest andpassion for preparation of futurenutritionists and dietitians to join oureducation research theme and undertakestudies for a PhD. The PhD is positionedwithin a supportive team of world leadingdietetics education experts. The PhDstudent will gain skills in education research,in particular literature review and mixedmethodologies.

For more information Associate Professor Claire Palermo [email protected] Simone Gibson [email protected]


Monash UniversityDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food

Be Active Sleep & Eat (BASE) Facility Level 1 / 264 Ferntree Gully Road

Notting Hill Vic 3168

Email: [email protected]: +61 3 9902 4270

Facebook: MonashNutritionTwitter: MonashNutrition

MONASHNUTRITIONDIETETICS ANDFOOD


MN: PhD project booklet · THE DEPARTMENT OF NUTRITION, DIETETICSl AND FOOD W h e r e will I be lo...

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