The University of Newcastle, Australia

 A University of Newcastle PhD student will investigate how different cultures cope with cancer and its treatment with the help of a Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award.

Lisa Mackenzie from the Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour has won a 2011 Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award and will travel to Kyoto, Japan to take part in a collaborative research study.

Currently undertaking a PhD in behavioural science in relation to medicine, her research will focus on the psychosocial experiences of cancer patients in Australia and Japan.

“My research will delve into the ways cancer psychologically affects patients and how possible treatments and clinical choices can affect their mental state,” she said.

“The Japanese data will be compared with the experience of the Australian cancer patient. The research will help assess methods psychologists and behavioural scientists can use to better assist in the care of cancer patients.”

Professor Dennis Foley, from the University’s Research Institute for Social Inclusion and Wellbeing, has been awarded an Endeavour Research Fellowship for Indigenous Australians. He will travel to Ireland in 2011 to work with colleagues from the Dublin Institute of Technology to complete research on the Irish indigenous population known as ‘Travellers’.

“The Fellowship has allowed me to discover and experience indigenous approaches to knowledge that cannot be duplicated in texts or interview,” Professor Foley said.

“This unique research will look into possible similarities between the ‘Travellers’ and other indigenous communities such as the Australian Aboriginals, and will investigate possible synergies in cultural issues like language, custom and rituals, as well as how the society and economy works.”

The aim of the awards is to develop internationally aware, skilled future leaders and the establishment of ongoing education and professional links between Australia and overseas.

For more information on the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards visit www.deewr.gov.au/International/EndeavourAwards

Interview opportunity: The Endeavour Award winners are available for interview and photographs. For more information contact: Leonie Brann, Media and Public Relations Officer, 02 4921 6856 or 0448 898 813.