Overview
Background
I completed a PhD in Neuroscience with Jack Pettigrew (FRS) at Vision, Touch & Hearing Research Centre followed by an NHMRC Clinical Research Fellowship at Alfred Health & Monash University.
Back in QLD I'm continuing a transdisciplinary research & innovation program to Bring Discoveries of the Brain to Life!
I'm currently focused on developing novel MedTech Biotech diagnostics & therapeutics for enhancing human performance, recovery & resilience with the following projects:
[1] Precision Pain Medicine — the largest genetic study of persistent (chronic) pain in Australia, in collaboration with QIMR Berghofer & Monash University, aims to identify pharmacogenomics causal pathways for the design of personalised therapeutics & effective early intervention approaches (e.g., screening, education, prevention).
[2] Brain Switcha — A digital transdiagnostic biomarker and cloud-based large-scale population phenotyping & analytics platform to improve early intervention strategies in sleep & mental health conditions (esp. at-risk youth cohorts) and recruitment screening for Defence forces.
[3] VCS — vestibulocortical stimulation: A simple, inexpensive, non-invasive & non-pharmacologic neurotherapeutic treatment technique for fibromyalgia (with US colleagues) and other centralised pain syndromes, sleep apnoea, dementia & mental health conditions (e.g., depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder).
I also have >5 years professional services experience providing specialist research performance evaluation, consultation, reporting & training workshops that successfully delivered several major strategic priorities to a large internal & external client base — such as organisational unit leaders/managers at multiple levels (e.g., Centre/Department) and senior executive business missions for national/international strategic partnerships. This work includes mapping, monitoring & benchmarking of research capacity, capabilities/strengths, gaps & collaboration networks (e.g., clinical, corporate & government) across diverse disciplines for Annual & Septennial Departmental Reviews (e.g., patent, policy & clinical guideline citations; external stakeholder engagement including media); ARC Engagement & Impact assessments; and workforce capability development (e.g., recruitment for senior leadership positions and ranking of NHMRC/ARC funding applicants).
In particular, I enjoy meeting & connecting people with a shared vision & commitment towards building innovative & sustainable public-private partnerships to deliver meaningful solutions for the wider community.
Availability
- Dr Trung Ngo is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
-
VCS — Vestibulocortical Stimulation: Applications & mechanisms
— effectiveness of non-invasive vestibular neuromodulation protocols as a treatment for psychiatric & neurological illnesses (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia, epilepsy, persistent pain) and enhancing affective-cognitive Resilience in Contested Environments #RiCE | #PrecisionPainMedicine — clinical and performance-enhancing applications of repeated VCS (#rVCS) — and the genetics & neuroimaging of its (therapeutic) response — with the aim of elucidating novel electroceutical pathways, response biomarkers and personalised treatment protocols across a spectrum psychiatric & neurological disorders | 'Electroceutomics'
-
Minimal phenotyping: Perceptual & cognitive biomarkers
— validating the clinical utility of novel visual task measures for identifying individuals at increased risk of developing mental illness (e.g., young people, at-risk/early psychosis cohorts). — multi-platform development of candidate diagnostic/endophenotype perceptual & cognitive task measures for large-scale user-friendly testing in genotyped and at-risk/youth cohorts (e.g., web, mobile, tablet, gaming, virtual reality).
-
Phylogenetics & evolution of bistable switching and VCS network
— from bacterial chemotaxis & fruit fly optomotor responses to binary decision-making in mammals (e.g., approach/avoidance choice behaviour) and disordered mood/cognitive states in humans (e.g., mania/depression, denial/insight) — investigating the comparative genetics, neural network dynamics (e.g., vestibulocortical circuitry) and molecular mechanisms of bistable (anti-phase) interhemispheric oscillations — which have been observed across a range of phenotypes (e.g., biological rhythms, autonomic functions, oculomotor activity, perception/attention, cognitive/behaviour changes) and in different species (e.g., Drosophila, sandlance, birds, cetaceans, rodents, humans) | #PrecisionSwitchMedicine
-
MedTech & Biotech platform development
— autonomic activity recording devices with real-time analysis output of endogenous rhythms and their clinical (diagnostic) utility in psychiatry, neurology & sleep medicine | #PrecisionSleepMedicine — portable/wearable devices with integrated software applications for (i) perceptual rivalry viewing (e.g., stereoscopic 3D displays), data collection & analyses; (ii) probing interhemispheric rhythms (e.g., autonomic respiratory/nasal cycle periodicity); and (iii) inducing, recording & real-time analysis output of VCS.
-
Scientometrics of research benefits
— developing quantitative indicators of interdisciplinary conceptual & empirical synthesis, scientific impact, translational & innovation outcomes using machine learning (A.I.) analytical methods.
Works
Search Professor Trung Ngo’s works on UQ eSpace
2019
Conference Publication
A phylogenetic switch model of brain and behavior: From E. coli to e-Mental Health applications
Ngo, Trung Thanh (2019). A phylogenetic switch model of brain and behavior: From E. coli to e-Mental Health applications. Memorial Celebration of Emeritus Professor Jack Pettigrew’s Life in Science, St Lucia, QLD Australia, 18 October 2019.
2019
Conference Publication
Dissecting the genetic architecture of chronic pain using CTG-VL — Complex-Traits Genetics Virtual Lab
Lundberg, Mischa, Campos, Adrian, Rentería, Miguel, Ngo, Trung and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2019). Dissecting the genetic architecture of chronic pain using CTG-VL — Complex-Traits Genetics Virtual Lab. 49th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, Stockholm, Sweden, 26–29 June 2019. New York, NY United States: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/s10519-019-09973-8
2019
Conference Publication
Precision switch medicine: transdiagnostic stratification of bipolar and related disorders with an integrated phenotyping and genetics analysis cloud platform
Ngo, Trung T. , Rentería, Miguel E. and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2019). Precision switch medicine: transdiagnostic stratification of bipolar and related disorders with an integrated phenotyping and genetics analysis cloud platform. 21st Annual ISBD Conference: Global Advances in Bipolar Disorder and Depression, International Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia, 20–23 March 2019. Hoboken, NJ, United States: Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1111/bdi.12746
2019
Conference Publication
Towards precision pain medicine: Characterising persistent pain and its underlying genetics in 288,118 adults
Campos-González, Adrian, Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Rentería, Miguel and Ngo, Trung (2019). Towards precision pain medicine: Characterising persistent pain and its underlying genetics in 288,118 adults. International Neuromodulation Society’s 14th World Congress, ICC Sydney, NSW Australia, 25–30 May 2019. Hoboken, NJ United States: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1111/ner.12958
2019
Conference Publication
Genetic epidemiology of back pain: Examining causality with Complex Traits Virtual Lab
Ngo, Trung Thanh, Lundberg, Mischa, Campos-González, Adrian, Kho, Pik Fang, D’Urso, Shannon, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Rentería, Miguel and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2019). Genetic epidemiology of back pain: Examining causality with Complex Traits Virtual Lab. Australasian Epidemiological Association 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting — 'Epidemiology in the real world', South Brisbane, QLD Australia, 23–25 October 2019.
2019
Conference Publication
Dissecting the genetic architecture of chronic pain using CTG-VL — Complex-Traits Genetics Virtual Lab
Lundberg, Mischa, Campos, Adrian, Rentería, Miguel E., Ngo, Trung Thanh and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2019). Dissecting the genetic architecture of chronic pain using CTG-VL — Complex-Traits Genetics Virtual Lab. PAH Health Symposium & Translational Research Symposium, Woolloongabba Brisbane, QLD Australia, 5–6 Aug 2019.
2018
Journal Article
An update on adjunctive treatment options for bipolar disorder
Dean, Olivia M., Gliddon, Emma, Van Rheenen, Tamsyn E., Giorlando, Francesco, Davidson, Sandra K., Kaur, Manreena, Ngo, Trung T. and Williams, Lana J. (2018). An update on adjunctive treatment options for bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 20 (2), 87-96. doi: 10.1111/bdi.12601
2018
Conference Publication
Improving memory in dementia and healthy older people with rVCS: a study protocol
Trung T. Ngo and Miguel E. Rentería (2018). Improving memory in dementia and healthy older people with rVCS: a study protocol. BDHP Ageing Theme Conference: “Improving the Health of Older People”, Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba QLD, Australia, 3 August 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Complex network signal analysis of sleep EEG: brain switching dynamics and potential applications
Zhu, Guohun and Ngo, Trung T. (2018). Complex network signal analysis of sleep EEG: brain switching dynamics and potential applications. 11th Australasian Workshop on Neuro-Engineering & Computational Neuroscience, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia, 27–29 November 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Advancing a neurogenomics oscillator model of bistable affective-cognitive states, behaviour and disorders
Ngo, Trung T. , Rentería, Miguel E. and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2018). Advancing a neurogenomics oscillator model of bistable affective-cognitive states, behaviour and disorders. 5th Annual Australasian Society for Social & Affective Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane QLD, Australia, 20–21 June 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Persistent pain and depression: examining clinical comorbidity and shared risk factors
Campos-González, Adrián , Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel , Byrne, Enda M. , Medland, Sarah E. , Hickie, Ian B. , Wray, Naomi R. , Martin, Nicholas G. , Rentería, Miguel E. and Ngo, Trung T. (2018). Persistent pain and depression: examining clinical comorbidity and shared risk factors. Brisbane Pain Research: Multidisciplinary Perspectives & Therapeutics, IMB Centre for Pain Research, St Lucia, QLD, 7 December 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
E-mental health transdiagnostic stratification: A cloud-based platform for multi-phenotyping and genetic analyses
Ngo, Trung T. , Rentería, Miguel E. and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2018). E-mental health transdiagnostic stratification: A cloud-based platform for multi-phenotyping and genetic analyses. 40th Annual Society for Mental Health Research Conference, Noosa Heads, QLD Australia, 28–30 November 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Bistable visual perception and switching behaviour: investigating a fundamental brain mechanism with computational biology methods
Trung T. Ngo and Gabriel Cuéllar-Partida (2018). Bistable visual perception and switching behaviour: investigating a fundamental brain mechanism with computational biology methods. International Congress of Neuroethology, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, 15–20 July 2018. International Society for Neuroethology.
2018
Conference Publication
EEG brain switching activity in sleep apnoea: examining a putative chronobiological marker with fuzzy entropy
Zhang, Zhimin , Ertekin, Deniz , Zhu, Guohun and Ngo, Trung T. (2018). EEG brain switching activity in sleep apnoea: examining a putative chronobiological marker with fuzzy entropy. 38th Australasian Neuroscience Society Annual Scientific Meeting, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane QLD, Australia, 3–6 December 2018.
2018
Conference Publication
Characterising a putative EEG switching biomarker in chronobiology
Zhu, G. and Ngo, T. (2018). Characterising a putative EEG switching biomarker in chronobiology. 30th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of Australasian-Sleep-Association and the Australasian-Sleep-Technologists-Association (Sleep DownUnder), Brisbane Australia, 17-20 October 2018. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley.
2017
Journal Article
Evidence that eye-movement profiles do not explain slow binocular rivalry rate in bipolar disorder: support for a perceptual endophenotype
Law, Phillip C. F., Gurvich, Caroline T., Ngo, Trung T. and Miller, Steven M. (2017). Evidence that eye-movement profiles do not explain slow binocular rivalry rate in bipolar disorder: support for a perceptual endophenotype. Bipolar Disorders, 19 (6), 465-476. doi: 10.1111/bdi.12515
2017
Journal Article
The effect of stimulus strength on binocular rivalry rate in healthy individuals: Implications for genetic, clinical and individual differences studies
Law, Phillip C. F., Miller, Steven M. and Ngo, Trung T. (2017). The effect of stimulus strength on binocular rivalry rate in healthy individuals: Implications for genetic, clinical and individual differences studies. Physiology & Behavior, 181, 127-136. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.08.023
2017
Conference Publication
Non-invasive DBS with caloric vestibular stimulation: clinical research applications and putative mechanisms
Ngo, Trung T. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2017). Non-invasive DBS with caloric vestibular stimulation: clinical research applications and putative mechanisms. Asia-Pacific Centre for Neuromodulation Deep Brain Stimulation Symposium, Brisbane, Australia, 24–25 November 2017.
2017
Conference Publication
A perceptual endophenotype for mental illness: Characterising normal genetic variation in the trait
Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Ngo, Trung T., Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste, Rentería, Miguel E., Colodro Conde, Lucia, Gordon, Scott D., Hansell, Narelle K., Medland, Sarah E., Wright, Margaret J. and Martin, Nicholas G. (2017). A perceptual endophenotype for mental illness: Characterising normal genetic variation in the trait. BLiSS 2017 — Brisbane Life Science ECR Symposium, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, 24 November 2017.
2017
Conference Publication
GWAS of complementary perceptual endophenotype measures: How do they rate?
Ngo, Trung T., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste, Rentería, Miguel E., Colodro Conde, Lucia, Gordon, Scott D., Hansell, Narelle K., Medland, Sarah E., Wright, Margaret J. and Martin, Nicholas G. (2017). GWAS of complementary perceptual endophenotype measures: How do they rate?. Australasian Society for Bipolar & Depressive Disorders (ASBDD) 2017 Conference, Deakin Edge, Melbourne, 15–17 September 2017.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Trung Ngo is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
-
Honours / Masters / PhD / DPsych / DBiotech / MBBS / MD research projects
The following research projects are open to enthusiastic & driven individuals from a wide range of background disciplines/industry experience, e.g., biomedical/electrical engineering, physics, computer science, mathematics & statistics, biological/life sciences, medicine & allied health, information technology, psychology:
Minimal phenotyping: Perceptual & cognitive biomarkers
- validating the clinical utility of novel visual task measures for identifying individuals at increased risk of developing mental illness (e.g., young people, at-risk/early psychosis cohorts).
- multi-platform development of candidate diagnostic/endophenotype perceptual & cognitive task measures for large-scale user-friendly testing in genotyped and at-risk/youth cohorts (e.g., web, mobile, tablet, gaming, virtual reality).
VCS — VestibuloCortical Stimulation: Applications & mechanisms
- effectiveness of non-invasive vestibular neuromodulation protocols as a treatment for psychiatric & neurological illnesses (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia, epilepsy, persistent pain) and enhancing affective-cognitive Resilience in Contested Environments #RiCE | #PrecisionPainMedicine
- clinical and performance-enhancing applications of repeated VCS (#rVCS) — and the genetics & neuroimaging of its (therapeutic) response — with the aim of elucidating novel electroceutical pathways, response biomarkers and personalised treatment protocols across a spectrum psychiatric & neurological disorders | 'Electroceutomics'
MedTech & Biotech platform development
- autonomic activity recording devices with real-time analysis output of endogenous rhythms and their clinical (diagnostic) utility in psychiatry, neurology & sleep medicine | #PrecisionSleepMedicine
- portable/wearable devices with integrated software applications for (i) perceptual rivalry viewing (e.g., stereoscopic 3D displays), data collection & analyses; (ii) probing interhemispheric rhythms (e.g., autonomic respiratory/nasal cycle periodicity); and (iii) inducing, recording & real-time analysis output of VCS.
Phylogenetics & evolution of bistable switching and VCS network
- from bacterial chemotaxis & fruit fly optomotor responses to binary decision-making in mammals (e.g., approach/avoidance choice behaviour) and disordered mood/cognitive states in humans (e.g., mania/depression, denial/insight)
- investigating the comparative genetics, neural network dynamics (e.g., vestibulocortical circuitry) and molecular mechanisms of bistable (anti-phase) interhemispheric oscillations — which have been observed across a range of phenotypes (e.g., biological rhythms, autonomic functions, oculomotor activity, perception/attention, cognitive/behaviour changes) and in different species (e.g., Drosophila, sandlance, birds, cetaceans, rodents, humans) | #PrecisionSwitchMedicine
Scientometrics of research benefits
- developing quantitative indicators of interdisciplinary conceptual & empirical synthesis, scientific impact, translational & innovation outcomes using machine learning (A.I.) analytical methods.
Media
Enquiries
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