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
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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'
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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).
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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
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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.
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Scientometrics of research benefits
— developing quantitative indicators of interdisciplinary conceptual & empirical synthesis, scientific impact, translational & innovation outcomes using machine learning (A.I.) analytical methods.
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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