RESEARCHER PROFILE (Filmed May 2024)
Dr Matthew Wallen PhD, AES, AEP
Senior Research Fellow, Caring Futures Institute
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Flinders University,
South Australia
Dr Matthew Wallen PhD, AES, AEP is a Senior Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, the Deputy Lead of the Cancer Survivorship Program, and a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, in South Australia. His clinical interest focuses on improving outcomes for people requiring major surgery, specifically (1) lifestyle interventions, including exercise, nutritional, and psychological support to improve the health and wellbeing of people prior to surgery, termed ‘prehabilitation’, (2) novel physical function assessments aimed at identifying people at risk of treatment-related complications, and (3) implementation of new models of care in cancer.
Since graduating from his PhD in 2017, Dr Wallen has published over 55 peer-reviewed articles, including international guidelines and position statements in cancer care and lifestyle-related conditions, in high-impact international journals such as CA: a Journal for Clinicians and The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine. He has attracted more than AUD$10 million in research income and has supervised research projects for 7 PhD students (1 completed, 6 on-going), 21 Master’s students (completed), and 3 honours students (completed). Dr Wallen is the Course Coordinator for the Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology at Flinders University, and currently advises for the Exercise and Sport Science Australia Research Committee and South Australian State Chapter.
Source: Supplied
* AES is the acronym for Accredited Exercise Scientist (AES), AEP is the acronym for Accredited Exercise Physiologist
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Cellular interactions responsible for development, maintenance, and strength of the skeleton
Professor Sims directs the Bone Cell Biology and Disease Unit at St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and is a Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University.
She leads a team who studies the cellular interactions responsible for development, maintenance, and strength of the skeleton. She completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide, followed by postdoctoral work at the Garvan Institute in Sydney then at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied the role of the estrogen receptor in regulating bone structure.
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Genetic disease research imitating function and architecture of organs
Professor Wolvetang was among the first to bring the first human embryonic stem cells to Queensland, with his Wolvetang Group at the AIBN now renowned for its work with organoids: growing them, studying them, and using them to try and understand diseases and human development.
Using cutting edge technology, Professor Wolvetang designs and grows organoids both for their own work and for labs across the country, coaxing pluripotent stem cells or tissue samples into 3D structures that mimic the function and architecture of real brains, livers, kidneys, spinal cords, and intestines.
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Genetic alterations in prostate cancer initiation and progression
Watch Dr Kelsie Raspin, a dedicated Postdoctoral Research Fellow specialising in Cancer Genetics at Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, talk on bridging a critical knowledge gap in the understanding of genetic alterations implicated in prostate cancer initiation and its progression into metastatic forms.
