Your Health

Autism spectrum disorders appear very early in a child's life, generally before the age of three, and are characterised by problems in the following areas of development: social interaction, communication skills and behaviour.

Binge drinking, defined as more than five drinks on one occasion, has become a common and more extreme pattern of drinking among young Australians.

Bipolar disorder is a debilitating psychiatric illness that affects around 1% of the Australian population.

Road trauma is a leading cause of death and disabling injury for children in Australia.

One in five Australians experience chronic pain serious enough to disable them, costing the country approximately $35 billion a year. People who experience chronic pain (pain that continues for more than three months) often struggle to find effective treatment, and can experience disability and even depression.

The term dyslexia describes a difficulty with language and words. Common problem areas include spelling, comprehension, reading and identification of words.

Increased susceptibility to falling is one of the most serious problems associated with ageing.

Frontotemporal dementia is the second most common degenerative disease causing dementia in younger adults.

There is a growing concern that long-term HIV infection and aging may increase the risk of developing degenerative brain diseases similar to Alzheimer's disease.

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes rapidly progressive muscle weakness.

Spinal cord injuries can be devastating, resulting in paralysis, loss of sensation, disruption of body functions and permanent disability.

We are interested in how the body’s tissues respond to mechanical forces, both as a part of normal function and in injury, such as in physical trauma or when a nerve is compressed.

Obstructive sleep apnoea is more than just an extreme form of snoring. In this disorder, the muscles in the throat and upper airway repeatedly collapse while you sleep, leading to a decrease in the amount of oxygen in your blood.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that causes trembling, stiffness, slowness of movement and a loss of fine motor control.

Restless legs syndrome is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in the limbs and a powerful urge to move the legs, particularly at night. While we don't know what causes the disease, we do know that it tends to run in families.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that emerges in adolescence or young adulthood and affects approximately 1 in 100 people in Australia and worldwide.