A project led by Western's School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute (THRI) has secured more than $990,000 through the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) 2024 MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researchers Initiative. The research team will create vital safe nutrition messaging, for implementation within schools, to support youth mental health.
The Early to Mid-Career Researchers Initiative aims to enable or support emerging research leaders to make breakthrough discoveries, develop their skills, and progress their careers in Australia, and address intractable health issues and/or accelerate research translation with the potential to transform health care and/or health systems.
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research, Enterprise and Global) Professor Deborah Sweeney congratulated all involved in this funding success.
"This funding success underscores the excellence and innovation of Western's incredible early to mid-career researchers who are some of our future health leaders. This project – with its focus on youth mental health and strong partnership – also speaks to Western's core mission of addressing the world's most complex challenges. I look forward to seeing the outcomes, and lasting impacts, of this work," said Professor Sweeney.
Associate Professor Gabriella Heruc from the School of Medicine, THRI and the Eating disorders and Nutrition Research Group (ENRG) secured $991,669 to lead the project, 'First, do no harm: Implementing safe nutrition messaging in Australian schools.' The project aims to equip schools and teachers with the knowledge and resources to deliver positive food and nutrition messages to support the mental health of young people; a vital need considering eating disorders now affect 22% of children and adolescents. The project will develop world-first guidelines on safe nutrition messaging for primary and secondary schools and co-design and pilot online introductory teacher training and classroom resources to guide teachers on the new safe nutrition messaging guidelines.
Associate Professor Heruc's multi-disciplinary research team includes Dr Catharine Fleming from the School of Health Sciences, THRI and The Eating disorders and Nutrition Research Group (ENRG), Dr Sarah Kennedy from the School of Health Sciences and THRI, Dr Lyza Norton from the School of Medicine and ENRG and Professor Robert Gorkin from THRI. Additionally, Dr Kirrilly Pursey from the University of Newcastle brings her expertise and adds cross-institutional collaboration to the strengths of the project.
The research project will also be supported by investigators from institutions across Australia, including University of Technology Sydney, Victoria University, Deakin University, Monash University, James Cook University, Mickleham Secondary College and the University of Adelaide; and partner organisations: The Embrace Collective; Dietitians Australia; National Eating Disorders Collaboration; Eating Disorders Families Australia; Australian Council of Health, Physical Education & Recreation; Nutrition Australia ACT; Nutrition Australia Queensland and Life Education Australia.
