Aboriginal Co-Director for the Djaalinj Waakinj Centre for Ear and Hearing Health and the Aboriginal Cultural Governance Advisor
A/Prof Swift is the Co-Director for the of the Djaalinj Waakinj Centre for Ear and Hearing Health and is the Aboriginal Cultural Governance Advisor for the Telethon Kids Institute’s Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in Perth, Western Australia. She is a qualified Aboriginal Health Worker, Adjunct Associate Professor at Curtin University, Aboriginal researcher with over 20 years of experience and Board Member of Moorditj Koort Aboriginal Wellbeing Centre and of Babbingur Mia Aboriginal Family Support Program and Yarramoup Aboriginal Corporation. Previously the Manager, Aboriginal Health for the South Metropolitan Health Services in Western Australia CI Swift has had a distinguished career in health services management driving new initiatives and striving for change to improve effectiveness of Aboriginal health programs.
Val has been working in the Ear Health team for 7 years, initially as part of the Djaalinj Waakinj birth cohort study. Currently, Val is the Co-Director of the Djaalinj Waakinj Centre for Ear and Hearing Care, which provides fast-tracked ear and hearing care for urban Aboriginal children. Val has received over 10 competitive research grants as an Associate or Chief Investigator totalling >$2M in funding, including: NHMRC CRE extension project (CIB), NHMRC Targeted Call (CIB, $1.1M), Perron Foundation, WA DOH Research Translation Project Funding. Val has been first and co-author on 7 peer-reviewed journal articles.
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Projects
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Publications
September 2023
Ear and hearing outcomes in Aboriginal infants living in an urban Australian area: the Djaalinj Waakinj birth cohort study
Describe the ear and hearing outcomes in Aboriginal infants in an Australian urban area. Aboriginal infants enrolled in the Djaalinj Waakinj prospective cohort study had ear health screenings at ages 2-4, 6-8 and 12-18 months and audiological assessment at ∼12 months of age. Sociodemographic, environmental characteristics, otoscopy, otoacoustic emissions, tympanometry and visual reinforcement audiometry data were collected.
Published research Ear Infections Early Childhood Development Aboriginal Health Ear HealthFebruary 2023Early onset of otitis media is a strong predictor of subsequent disease in urban Aboriginal infants: Djaalinj Waakinj cohort study
Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children in rural/remote areas suffer high rates of persistent otitis media (OM) from early infancy. We aimed to determine the proportion of Aboriginal infants living in an urban area who have OM and investigate associated risk factors.
Published research Ear Infections Aboriginal Health Child Disability Ear Health Vaccine Trials Group Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases -
Education and Qualifications
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Active Collaborations