QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

guest today is a PhD candidate who led the analysis of the Australian Parkinson's genetic studies, recent findings about sex-based differences in Parkinson's disease.

This is the first major analysis of the APGS led by QIMR Berghofer and revealed substantial differences in how Parkinson's manifests and progresses in men and women, which really highlights the need for more personalised approaches to prevention, diagnosis and care.

So to tell us more about that, please welcome to the podcast Fangyuan Cao.

Thank you for the introduction.

And then, and it just became obvious that mammals were, I was attracted to them.

And then I went and I did a, um, I, I got a job for the, Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, uh, studying mosquitoes.

Uh, yeah, I just, it was back in the day when you could literally just message anyone and trust them.

And so I, I messaged someone that worked for the municipality or something.

It's twin study language.

And there's a paper out of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research with a title I want to read you in full because it deserves it.

No evidence for a genetic basis of tongue rolling or hand clasping.

They went with the descriptive approach.

So what we're asking is that for firefighters who've experienced bushfire smoke, whether through bushfires themselves or prescribed burns, to please go online and find our study.

So if they just search the terms RFIRE, Q-I-M-R, for Queensland Institute of Medical Research, They'll find our study webpage where they can sign up and participate in the survey.

So what it will involve is a quick and easy survey online.

And if they would like a paper survey, they can also contact us for that.

So if you might be physically separated from people due to having to stay indoors, making sure that you're keeping in contact with people through phone calls or social media and keeping those social connections going.

That's Dr Jodie Thomas, who's leading the RFIRE brain health study at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.

Better get to rural news.

Emma Field has that for you today.