DE-PRESCRIBING MEDICATIONS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH DEMENTIA
Dr Daniel Hoyle
Senior Lecturer, Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology,
University of Tasmania, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | January 2025
Dr. Daniel Hoyle is a Senior Lecturer in Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Tasmania. He is also an experienced clinical pharmacist with expertise in medication management in older people. Dr. Hoyle’s research interests focus on improving medicine use in older people with dementia.
He earned his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 2020, where his doctoral research examined the clinical and economic outcomes of psychotropic deprescribing within the multidisciplinary “Reducing Use of Sedatives” project implemented across 150 Australian aged care homes. This research has received several accolades, including First Place in the International Psychogeriatric Association Junior Research Awards in 2019.
Currently, Dr. Hoyle leads several projects, including research aimed at improving anticoagulant use in older individuals with dementia and atrial fibrillation using national primary care provider datasets, and the implementation of a hospital-based antipsychotic stewardship program for patients with dementia and/or delirium.
A current project is Geriatric Antipsychotic Stewardship (GApS) Program for Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia and Delirium. This program is funded by the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation through an Incubator Grant.
Additionally, Dr. Hoyle serves as an investigator within an educational intervention aimed at improving anticholinergic prescribing in hospitals. Dr. Hoyle is a guest editor with Pharmacy MDPI and holds elected positions on the Australian Deprescribing Network Executive Committee and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Tasmanian Branch Committee.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2867-3736
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Non-invasive tools for CVD screening and monitoring
Dr Hadi Afsharan is a Research Fellow Cardiovascular Science & Diabetes at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research; is a translational research and innovation fellow in medical technologies at The University of Western Australia, holding dual titles as Translational Fellow and Innovation Fellow within UWA’s Medical School and the FHRI (Future Health Research and Innovation) program.
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Investigating the benefits of donor human milk for preterm infants
Together, SAHMRI and Lifeblood are leading a consortium to revolutionise the way human milk, and novel products made from human milk, are used as nutritional and medical interventions to improve health outcomes in vulnerable infants, but with potential application for a diverse range of medical indications.
Currently, babies who are born early preterm – before 32 weeks – are given donor milk when their own mother’s milk is not available or in short supply. Whether donor milk is beneficial for babies born just a few weeks early is unclear, as very little research has been undertaken with these babies.
The GIFT Trial will soon commence as an investigation between SAHMRI, the University of Adelaide, the Red Cross Lifeblood Milk Bank conducted at five sites across three states in Australia.
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Pathogenicity, modelling & treatment of inherited retinal Stargardt disease
Dr Di Huang is a Research Associate at the Lions Eye Institute (LEI), working with A/Professor Fred Chen and Dr Sam McLenachan. Her research focuses on developing a robust platform of retinal pigment epithelium cells and retinal organoids derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to model inherited retinal diseases, particularly Stargardt disease (STGD1).
