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Research

Indigenous Australians harbour rich and unique genomic diversity. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestries are historically under-represented in genomics research and almost completely missing from reference datasets. Addressing this representation gap is critical, both to advance our understanding of global human genomic diversity and as a prerequisite for ensuring equitable outcomes in genomic medicine.

Research

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is highly prevalent within the Indigenous Australian community. Novel glucose monitoring technology offers an accurate approach to glycaemic management, providing real-time information on glucose levels and trends. The acceptability and feasibilility of this technology in Indigenous Australians with T2DM has not been investigated. 

Research

The Indigenous peoples of Australia have a rich linguistic and cultural history. How this relates to genetic diversity remains largely unknown because of their limited engagement with genomic studies. Here we analyse the genomes of 159 individuals from four remote Indigenous communities, including people who speak a language (Tiwi) not from the most widespread family (Pama-Nyungan). This large collection of Indigenous Australian genomes was made possible by careful community engagement and consultation.

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Pelvic health conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men are under-recognised and under-reported despite indication of the significant burden of these conditions. Access to effective management provided in a culturally safe manner appears lacking.

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Pregnancy and early infancy are increased risk periods for severe adverse effects of respiratory infections. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (respectfully referred to as First Nations) women and children in Australia bear a disproportionately higher burden of respiratory diseases compared to non-Indigenous women and infants. Influenza vaccines and whooping cough (pertussis) vaccines are recommended and free in every Australian pregnancy to combat these infections.

Research

More than 35% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults live with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. There is a pressing need for chronic disease prevention and management among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Therefore, this review aimed to synthesise a decade of contemporary evidence to understand the barriers and enablers of chronic disease prevention and management for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with a view to developing policy and practice recommendations. 

Research

Children spend almost one-third of their waking hours at school. Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) is a common childhood bacterial infection that can progress to causing serious disease. We aimed to detect Strep A in classrooms by using environmental settle plates and swabbing of high-touch surfaces in two remote schools in the Kimberley, Western Australia.

Research

While there are many skin infections, reducing the burden of scabies and impetigo for remote living Aboriginal people, particularly children remains challenging. Aboriginal children living in remote communities have experienced the highest reported rate of impetigo in the world and are 15 times more likely to be admitted to hospital with a skin infection compared to non-Aboriginal children.

Research

Traits associated with CVD, CRD and T2D in Aboriginal Australians provide novel insight into function of Arylsulphatase A Pseudodeficiency variants

Research

Aboriginal children and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds were over-represented with OM-related hospitalizations but had fewer TTIs