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| Dr Michelle Blumfield and Dr David Scott |
Two
School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) researchers have been acknowledged
by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) through Career
Development and Early Career Fellowships.
Dr
David Scott from the Department of Medicine received a Career Development
Fellowship to reduce risk factors for falls and fractures in obese older
Australians while Department of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Dr Michelle Blumfield
will study the impact of sleep in pregnancy on maternal and child weight-related
outcomes.
Dr Scott’s
Fellowship, worth $425,000 over four years will address two of Australia’s
significant public health issues: our ageing population and obesity epidemic.
“40%
of Australia’s older adult population will soon be obese—while this population
generally have normal life expectancy, they can develop functional disability
at a much younger age than non-obese older adults,” said Dr Scott.
As
an exercise scientist, Dr Scott is particularly interested in how exercise can
reduce disability, and the increasing number of falls and fractures now
occurring in our growing obese older adult population.
“My
research to date has demonstrated that low muscle mass and function (sarcopenia)
and high levels of fat inside our muscles (IMAT) are important risk factors for
falls, osteoporosis and fractures in obese older adults,” said Dr Scott.
“Over
the next four years, I will conduct exercise studies targeting improvements in
muscle and bone health in older adults with obesity, and investigate strategies
to ensure exercise programs are achievable and provide optimal outcomes in this
population.”
By
improving physical function and preventing falls and fractures, Dr Scott
believes his research can help reduce health costs and improve the quality of
life of older adults.
Dr
Blumfield’s research is tackling another serious public health problem, childhood
obesity.
“Strong evidence supports the tracking of overweight and
obesity from infancy to adult life and reduced sleep is a strong risk factor
for obesity in infants, children and adults,” said Dr Blumfield.
Sleep disruption has been linked to increased energy intake, poorer
food choices, decreased signals to stop eating and a lowered metabolism.
“In pregnancy, sleep deprivation has been associated with
higher rates of caesarean section, preterm birth, risk of gestational diabetes
mellitus and postnatal depression, however, no research has examined the
relationship between sleep, diet and maternal-child adiposity using reference
measures.”
Dr Blumfield has developed a research program to optimise
maternal and child weight-related outcomes by improving sleeping practices in
pregnancy.
Dr Blumfield’s
projects include several ‘world
firsts’— the
use of reference methods for sleep measurement in pregnancy with longitudinal
assessment of maternal-child outcomes, and a randomised controlled trial to
test the effect of increased sleep opportunity in pregnancy on prenatal
predictors of childhood obesity.
Drs Scott and Blumfield
thank their supervisors and collaborators, including Professor Peter Ebeling, Professor
Helen Truby, Dr Sean Cain, Professor Euan Wallace and Associate Professor Arul
Earnest.
