Carl (Saibai Koedal) is a PhD Candidate studying the epidemiology of rheumatic heart disease in Queensland using linked hospital and administrative data. Currently, Carl holds an academic appointment (Lecturer, Physiotherapy) in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the University of Queensland, and maintains a clinical role as a Staff Physiotherapist at The Prince Charles Hospital. Alongside research, Carl is also working to strengthen relationships between remote Torres Strait Islander communities and UQ to explore opportunities for education, student clinical placement and research partnerships.
Dr Victor M. Oguoma (BSc, MScPH, PhD, MBiostat) is a Senior Research Fellow at the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health.
Dr Oguoma joined UQ in February 2022. Before this time, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Health Research Institute University of Canberra (UC) and Senior Research Officer at the Menzies School of Health Research Darwin (Menzies). He held an honorary appointment at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait and currently holds an honorary appointment at the Menzies in Darwin.
Dr Oguoma completed his PhD studies in cardiometabolic disease epidemiology at Charles Darwin University before taking up an academic appointment at the Menzies where he conducted research on chronic middle ear and respiratory disease in Indigenous children. He then moved to UC Health Research Institute where he worked on the Kuwait Diabetes Epidemiology Program and the ACT Health and Wellbeing Survey as lead epidemiologist and biostatistician. He also holds a Master of Biostatistics degree from Macquarie University through the prestigious Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia program, a Master of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Medical Parasitology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Before his relocation to Australia in 2013, Dr Oguoma held several roles in implementing strategies to control neglected tropical diseases in Nigeria, West Africa. Since 2017, he has led/contributed to the design, implementation, and analyses of large-scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and epidemiological studies in the Indigenous populations of Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, and diverse populations in Kuwait. He has over 10 years of experience in public health, epidemiological, and applied biostatistics research across sectors - non-governmental organisations and academia in Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.
In collaboration with other researchers, Dr Oguoma has attracted over AU$10M in competitive National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), and International-funded collaborative research grants as Chief Investigator since 2017. He has over 60 published works in peer-reviewed journals of national and international reputation. Dr Oguoma is an Associate Editor for the Australian Journal of Rural Health. He is available to supervise Ph.D. students.
Funding awarded prior to joining UQ:
2021-2026 ‘Azithromycin before Birth’- Single dose azithromycin shortly before birth to reduce infection in Aboriginal mothers and babies: a randomised controlled trial. NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies. AU$3,632,163 (CIG)
2020-2025 ‘Deadly Ears at Discharge’ - A hospital-based randomised controlled trial of an additional ear and hearing assessment to inform discharge planning by a trained Aboriginal Ear Health Worker in Aboriginal children with chronic ear infection. NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies. AU$2,212,847 (CIE)
2017-2021 A community-based randomised trial of lifestyle intervention using targeted shared care approach on pregnancy outcomes in Nigerian women with gestational diabetes mellitus but without diabetes mellitus - (Enugu State) Nigeria. Bringing Research in Diabetes to Global Environments and Systems programme (BRIDGES 2) - The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). USD 127,982 (CIF)
2017-2021 A randomized trial of an intensive education intervention using network of involved diabetes patients to improve glycaemic control of type 2 diabetes patients - (Delta State) Nigeria. Bringing Research in Diabetes to Global Environments and Systems programme (BRIDGES 2) - The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). USD 66,350 (CIB)
Associate Professor Rae received her PhD in 2007 in the area of reproductive physiology and has been working in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and infant health and chronic disease since that time. She began as the Group Lead for the Indigenous Health Research group at the Mater Research Institute in a role that bridges the Mater, University of QLD and is actively growing partnerships with the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector in QLD. The importance of maternal health for Indigenous communities has been identified as a critical national research priority by Indigenous communities. Her work has had a multidisciplicinary nature and while always focused on the health of Indigneous Australians she has published in areas including pregnancy and birth outcomes, nutrition, psychosocial health, growth and development during infancy, the use of arts in health education to name a few.She has a particular passion for working in partnership to co-design research projects that support improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Her specific focus has primarily been to develop programs that reduce chronic diseases which afflict Aboriginal people more commonly through early detection and diagnosis, health education, and developing a thorough understanding of risk factors that impact on this community. She has mentored her team of staff and students to co-produce and co-disseminate findings from these programs of work and to build research capacity for all team members including those who identify as Indigenous and for those from rural locations of research studies.
Prior to her role at Mater Research, she was the inaugaral Director of the Gomeroi gaaynggal program (2007-2019), which had two major programs of work 1. ArtsHealth for community engagement, health education and health promotion and 2. A Health research program for understanding the development of chronic disease in the Indigenous community through the Gomeroi gaaynggal cohort. Program 1 was successful in transitioning its funding to local Aboriginal community-controlled sector in Tamworth (2019). Prior to its transition, she led a community focussed ArtsHealth program to improve health knowledge, particularly in the areas of social and emotional wellbeing in the community, with the assistance of a team of beginning Indigenous researchers. Over 100,000 hours of community education were delivered through this program. 2. The Gomeroi gaaynggal cohort work has involved the recruitment and retention of a prospective longitudinal cohort of Indigenous women from pregnancy through until the infants are 10 years of age highlighting her expertise in working with Indigenous families during their antenatal and early childhood years. The importance of maternal health for this population is a critical priority to improving the life-long health of the Indigenous communities of Australia.
