Dr Margaret Loughnan - Researcher Profile

Biography

My particular area of interest is environmental health. My PhD is based upon developing a population-based approach to describe possible relationships between climate and non-fatal acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in Melbourne Australia. My aims are to provide information that has assimilated climactic knowledge into population health outcomes with the aim of identifying the environmental determinants of cardiac events and subsequently contribute to preventative medicine through public education and behavioural adaptation. I feel the economic, social and environmental characteristics of a sustainable society are the same as those required for a healthy society. Therefore, the concepts of health and environmental justice should be foremost in the development of both national and local strategies, which address issues such as climate change. The literature in Australia to date has not been able to provide strong evidence of the impact of climate change on cardiac events. My research argues that population susceptibility to climate change has not been fully assessed and requires alternative approaches and explanations such as the inclusion of confounding factors like population demographics and socio-economic factors. Thus, the best estimation of future health impacts of climate and climate change will necessarily come from assessments based on current understanding of climate on cardiac health that include a larger range of modulating factors. The aim of my project is to use health surveillance data and daily climate data to determine whether any observed changes in heart attack incidence is related to local temperatures. This has been assessed at a seasonal to daily level and threshold temperatures above and below which there are significant increases in heart attacks have been identified. By recognising that the susceptible population is not a homogenous group and is therefore unlikely, to respond to environmental stressors such as climate in a uniform way my study has deconstructed the susceptible population into age and gender groupings as well as specific types of heart attacks. This has lead to the identification of the most vulnerable populations. In addition, this information has been mapped and compared with SEIFA (socio-economic index) thereby presenting information to healthcare providers identifying which groups are most likely to be affected by climate, where they are located and how socio-economic demographics relate to health status and the impact of environmental factors such as climate. I think that this is the type of launching pad that is required to estimate the future health effects of climate change. I have a healthcare background and undertaking a thesis in health geography has provided me with an opportunity to learn from researchers and experts in physical climatological science and share my knowledge of public health with them. I have a keen interest in environmental health and environmental and social justice. This has been demonstrated through my participation in overseas aide projects in Tanzania, Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa, where I have worked as a nurse and educator with various healthcare teams. In the future, I would like to combine this aide work with my research in developing countries, which are already experiencing an increase in climate related health outcomes such as malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition.

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2008

BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS)

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2004

Publications

Journal Articles

Coutts, A.M., Tapper, N.J., Beringer, J., Loughnan, M.E., Demuzere, M., 2013, Watering our cities: the capacity for water sensitive urban design to support urban cooling and improve human thermal comfort in the Australian context, Progress in Physical Geography [P], vol 37, issue 1, Sage Publications Ltd., United Kingdom, pp. 2-28.

Loughnan, M.E., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N.J., 2012, Mapping heat health risks in urban areas, International Journal of Population Research [P], vol 2012, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, New York, United States of America, pp. 1-12.

Bi, P., Williams, S., Loughnan, M., Lloyd, G., Hansen, A., Kjellstrom, T., Dear, K., Saniotis, A., 2011, The effects of extreme heat on human mortality and morbidity in Australia: implications for public health, Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health [P], vol 23, issue 2, SAGE, USA, pp. 27-36.

Loughnan, M., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N., 2010, Mortality-temperature thresholds for ten major population centres in rural Victoria, Australia, Health and Place [P], vol 16, issue 6, Elsevier Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1287-1290.

Loughnan, M., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N., 2010, The effects of summer temperature, age and socioeconomic circumstance on acute myocardial infarction admissions in Melbourne, Australia, International Journal of Health Geographics [P], vol 9, issue 41, BioMed Central Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1-11.

Loughnan, M., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N., 2010, When the heat is on: threshold temperatures for AMI admissions to hospital in Melbourne Australia, Applied Geography [P], vol 30, issue 1, Elsevier Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 63-69.

Nicholls, N., Skinner, C., Loughnan, M.E., Tapper, N.J., 2008, A simple heat alert system for Melbourne, Australia, International Journal of Biometeorolgy, vol 52, Springer, New York USA, pp. 375-384.

Loughnan, M.E., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N.J., 2008, Demographic, seasonal, and spatial differences in acute myocardial infarction admissions to hospital in Melbourne Australia, International Journal of Health Geographics, vol 7, BiMed Central Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1-15.

Conference Proceedings

Loughnan, M., Nicholls, N., Tapper, N., Chandra, S., 2010, Which postcodes are most vulnerable to hot weather in Melbourne? A spatial analysis of human vulnerability to heat events, Abstracts: ISSE 22nd Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea, 28 August-1 September 2010, 28 August to 1 September 2010, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Inc, Philadelphia, United States of America, p. 140.

Loughnan, M., Tapper, N.J., Pfueller, S.L., Cameron, P., 2005, Seasonal Variation in hospital admissions for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) in Melbourne 1993 - 2003, Annals of Meteorologie 41, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Offenbach am Main, pp. 421-424.

Other

Bi, P., Williams, S., Loughnan, M., Lloyd, G., Hansen, A., Kjellstrom, T., Dear, K., 2010, The effects of extreme heat on population health in Australia, Discussion Paper Series: State of the Science and Policy, vol other, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Australia.

Loughnan, M., 2009, Climate and urban heat islands, Residential Aged Care Communique, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Climate, morbidity and energy consumption of heating and cooling: a Southeast Asia perspective.

Supervisors:

Tapper, N (Main), Loughnan, M (Associate).