Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine

Head: Professor J J McNeil
Contact: Dr F Cicuttini, Research Director
Location: Third floor, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004
Address: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road, Prahran 3181
Telephone: (03) 9276 6553

• + Preventive medicine Measuring the progression of atheroma using ultrasonography; prevention of arterial damage in smokers using antioxidants; prevention of cataract development using antioxidants; assisting smoking cessation using various forms of nicotine replacement; clinical trials of new anti-hypertensive drugs.
• + Asthma epidemiology Determining the prevalence of asthma; relation of asthma admissions to pollen levels and other environmental factors; role of drug therapy in sudden death in asthmatics; genetic factors in asthma; indoor environmental factors such as house dust mites, cats and fungi; cost effectiveness of over the counter asthma medications; asthma education.
• + Clinical pharmacology Early phase clinical evaluation of novel drug therapies; new therapies for hypertension, heart failure and vascular disease; physiological studies of autonomic and endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular disease; gene expression in rat models of left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure; quality assurance studies of drug prescribing in public hospitals.
• + Drug assessment and safety issues Risk factors for development of drug induced jaundice; risk factors for the development of `surgam cystitis'; adverse effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients undergoing surgery; clinical trials and cost-effectiveness studies of new drugs; development of computer programs to assist sole prescribers.
• + Neuroepidemiology Prevalence study of stroke; risk factors and prognosis of intracerebral haemorrhage.
• + Quality assurance and health outcome Epidemiological assessment and markers of quality of care in hospitals; investigation of medical `accidents' and the development of strategies to prevent them.
• + Cost effectiveness Cost-effectiveness of various strategies to improve water quality; cost-effectiveness of recombitant blood products.
• + Occupational health Long term respiratory health amongst employees in the aluminium industry; role of occupational chemical exposures in the aetiology of brain tumour and mesothelioma; safety of organophosphorus insecticides when used for grain protection; safety of phosphine and other fumigants used for grain protection.
• + Environmental health Health effects from arsenic contaminated drinking water or from residence on soil with high arsenic levels; risk factors for high levels of organochlorine chemicals in breast milk.
• + CRC for water quality and treatment Development of health risk assessment methods applicable to water quality; intervention trial to determine the effectiveness of filtered drinking water in reducing the incidence of gastrointestinal disease.