RESEARCHER PROFILE
Jason Rogers (Filmed April 2024)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Menzies Institute for Medical Research,
University of Tasmania
Jason Rogers is a Tasmanian physiotherapist clinician-researcher with a longstanding interest in improving musculoskeletal foot and ankle conditions. He completed his PhD at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania in 2022 investigating the clinical and imaging factors associated with a common foot complaint known as chronic plantar heel pain.
Chronic plantar heel pain, historically known as plantar fasciitis, is common and commonly recalcitrant, yet the optimal treatment for this condition is not clear. The focus of Jason’s postgraduate research is on improving treatment pathways for chronic plantar heel pain. In particular his research has identified that there are many different sub-groups of plantar heel pain that may warrant specific and individualised treatment approaches. For example his research found that up to half of people with this condition have a type of bone bruise or stress response in the heel known as a ‘bone marrow lesion’ (BML). His BALSA trial will test the effectiveness of targeting these lesions with a bone-sensitive treatment known as shockwave therapy, comparing pain and BML size outcomes against a sham shockwave control group.
As well as improving treatment outcomes for this specific and sizeable sub-group of heel pain sufferers, this research will help inform the future of targeted care treatment approaches for plantar heel pain.
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Food and fasting periods as medicine to prevent disease
Professor Leonie Heilbronn is based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), where she leads the Obesity and Metabolism laboratory. Her research is at the interface between basic and clinical science. She is internationally recognised for her work in nutritional modulation in humans and has made major contributions to our current understanding of mechanisms underlying conditions such as insulin resistance, particularly inflammation and lipid metabolism. She has also contributed significantly to current concepts of caloric restriction (CR), intermittent fasting (IF) and time restricted eating (TRE) in humans. She has published more than 110 peer reviewed papers in scientific journals and is an Associate Editor of Obesity, and Obesity Research and Clinical Practice.
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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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Genetics of the choroid and impact on eye health
Professor Daniel Fatovich is a senior emergency physician and clinical researcher at Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department (ED), with over 30 years’ experience in the design and conduct of clinical research in Emergency Medicine. He is also Head of the Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine (CCREM) within the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.
