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Dr Ross Richards joined the School of Community Health in January 2000 as a lecturer in biomedical science. He graduated Master of Applied Science in 1992 from Charles Sturt University, his dissertation being on the molecular diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Newcastle for a research thesis on the role of erythrocytes in the detoxification of free radicals in 2000. He has held the positions of Discipline Leader in Biomedical Science and Chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee and received a Faculty research excellence award in 2010. Dr Richards accepted the position of Courses Director for the School in 2011. He is also currently acting as Associate Head of School. Dr Richards’ interests include curriculum design and delivery and most aspects of biomedical science including free radical biology and medicine.

Roles

• Courses Director; 
• Acting Associate Head of School (Jan-July 2012);
• Chair, Courses Committee;
• Chair, Teaching and Learning Committee;
• Course Coordinator: GradCertAppSc, GradDipAppSc, MAppSc.

Teaching

In his capacity as senior lecturer, Dr Richards has been constantly involved in the development of subjects in BMS and improving the content and delivery of subjects that he has coordinated and/or taught. He was also heavily involved in the development of the latest degree in the SCH stable, the B Health and Rehabilitation Science. As Courses Director, he is now responsible for the quality of curriculum design and delivery of all subjects and courses provided by the SCH.

Subject Delivery

• BMS263 Pharmacology
  
• BMS236 Pathophysiology

Innovations in Teaching

As a lecturer, Dr Richards has incorporated a number of innovations into his teaching:

• Virtual pracs – computer-based practical sessions that simulate an actual laboratory experience.
• Recording lectures – Allows students to revisit difficult concepts and listen to lecture material outside scheduled lecture time and is very popular amongst both the internal as well as the external students.
• Podcasting – an extension of the above where recorded lectures are subscribed to by students and are downloaded to their portable media player.
• Chat rooms – These are very useful to provide tutorials to external students.
• Wimba – Dr Richards has been using a “virtual classroom” to provide tutorials to both internal and external students. The classroom provides a whiteboard, PowerPoint presentation and visual and audio contact with individual students
• Captivate – a program that allows a lecturer to build a teaching tool for lectures that can be voiced-over and a number of other tools to be incorporated. This technology has been replaced by CSU-Replay that allows a number of improvements to be made.
• Skype – A communications tool that allows video calls to anywhere in the world. This is a valuable tool for extending the sense of presence in the student – an important aspect of successful postgraduate student supervision.

In his new role of Courses Director, one of Dr Richards' duties is to improve Interprofessional education in the School. He organised a school retreat on the subject and will be coordinating a combined courses review over the next 18 months.

Research

Dr Richards is published widely in the field of free radical biology and medicine with particular reference to erythrocyte markers of oxidative damage in disease (see publications tab and personal site) with over 30 papers and 15 conference presentations to his name. Dr Richards is a pioneer in establishing the proposition that erythrocytes behave as a sink that serves to remove and detoxify free radicals in vivo. This phenomenon enables them to be employed as markers of oxidative damage by free radicals in disease and provides a link to the ageing process. For more information on this proposition, see Dr Richards’ personal site.  Currently his research involves the investigation of evidence for oxidative stress in diabetes and other disorders as well as exercise and ageing. Dr Richards has research collaborations with Professor Isaac Ginsburg in Jerusalem, Israel and Dr Uba Nwose in Penrith, NSW, Australia.

Fields of Research Code: 1103, Clinical Sciences.

Current Research Projects

• Richards, Ginsburg   
  The antioxidant properties of erythrocytes.
• Richards, Nwose   
  The use of erythrocyte markers of oxidative damage in disease states, exercise and ageing.
• Richards   
  Reduction in free radical damage through the use of polyphenolic antioxidants, and facilitation of repair of this damage by provision of essential nutrients and applied exercise improves cellular activity in vitro and longevity in laboratory animals.

Current Research Higher Degree Students

• Diane Hughes    BSc(Hons)
• Prajwal Gyawali    MAppSc

Professional & Community Engagement

Dr Richards' research has implications for the general health of the community. Most diseases have an inflammatory component that generates free radicals and which causes tissue damage. Increased inflammation and free radical generation over the lifetime causes damage to DNA and essential proteins that decrease longevity in a variety of ways that include the development of cancer. Demonstration through his research that reduction in oxidative damage can improve longevity can only be of benefit to individuals and the community.