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
1999
Conference Publication
A common neural mechanism for reversible figures and binocular rivalry?
Ngo, T. T., Miller, S. M., Liu, G. B., Tilley, A. J., Broerse, P. J. and Pettigrew, J. D. (1999). A common neural mechanism for reversible figures and binocular rivalry?. 19th Annual Meeting Of The Australian Neuroscience Society, Hobart, TAS Australia, 31 January - 3 February 1999. Sydney: Australian Neuroscience Society.
1999
Conference Publication
Clinical studies of binocular rivalry
Miller, S. M., Liu, G. B., Ngo, T. T., Gynther, B. D., Geffen, L. B., Mitchell, P. B., Martin, N. G. and Pettigrew, J. D. (1999). Clinical studies of binocular rivalry. 5th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Jerusalem, Israel, 11–15 July 1999. International Brain Research Organization.
1999
Conference Publication
Slow binocular rivalry in bipolar disorder
Miller, S. M., Ngo, T. T., Liu, G. B., Gynther, B. D., Geffen, L. B., Mitchell, P. B., Martin, N. G. and Pettigrew, J. D. (1999). Slow binocular rivalry in bipolar disorder. Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2–3 December 1999.
1999
Conference Publication
Neural mechanisms in binocular rivalry: Studies of image bias and alternation rate
Miller, S. M., Liu, G. B., Ngo, T. T., Hooper, G., Riek, S., Carson, R. G. and Pettigrew, J. D. (1999). Neural mechanisms in binocular rivalry: Studies of image bias and alternation rate. 19th Annual Meeting Of The Australian Neuroscience Society, Hobart, TAS, Australia, 31 January – 3 February 1999. Australian Neuroscience Society.
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
For media enquiries about Dr Trung Ngo's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team: