| Friday, 30 October, 2009 |
The latest NHMRC and ARC grant rounds have provided a boost for discovery. Our researchers attracted more than one third of the total NHMRC funds awarded to UQ. Well done to those who were successful and to those who weren't, keep going! Our engagement activities are recognised internationally and nationally. It is a credit to our staff who are acknowledged for their contributions outside UQ that they can have major influence on improving the quality of life for people well beyond their direct sphere of activity. One such example this week is the recognition of Nick Lennox, of the Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability, School of Medicine, by the awarding of the New Zealand Eric Elder Memorial Medal. The work conducted by Nick and his team has had a major international influence on assessment and improved care and he has led many initiatives which have had major national policy changes (in Australia and other national jurisdictions). Congratulations to Nick! Another team which has major influences on policy agendas is that led by Professor Neville Owen, of the School of Population Health. In this issue, we congratulate Neville on his induction into the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. These awards are well deserved and follow many unique discoveries and application of research to real community issues and problems. We have significant strengths in our Faculty to solve such problems. We live in a time when the world should be getting smaller and closer together. We need to keep nurturing these relationships and developments.
QUOTE OF THE ISSUE: There is no more sure tie between friends than when they are united in their objects and wishes. Professor Sue Tett, Acting Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences |
The three pillars of our University – summarised as Discovery, Learning and Engagement – are all well represented by our Faculty.
Faculty NewsNHMRC & ARC Grants Boost ResearchThe Faculty has received 16 grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – the country's leading medical research grants scheme. The Faculty was awarded $11.14 million (an increase from $7.66 million in 2008) which is almost 35% of UQ’s total NHMRC project grant funding of $32.15 million. UQ also topped the state and came third nationally for Australian Research Council (ARC) research funding, announced recently. The Faculty attracted $2.035 million of the ARC Discovery Project funding. An ARC Linkage Grant of $280,000 was also among recent successes for our researchers. Congratulations to Professor Alan Lopez and Dr Abdullah Mamun (both of Population Health) and their teams, who recieved large NHMRC grants. Alan will received $1,869,625 for research on improving methods to measure comparable mortality rates by cause. Abdullah will receive $1,151,675 to continue his work on early origins, progression and aetiology of obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes - a 30 years follow-up study. FULL LIST ARC DISCOVERY GRANTS International Honour for Neville Owen
Neville was named as one of two International Fellows of AAKPE, an honour which signifies the top individuals in the fields of Kinesiology and Physical Education, who have demonstrated significant contributions to the field for at least 10 years. These include contributions to the scholarly and professional literature and leadership activities in professional associations. Neville, who is the Director of the Cancer Prevention Research Centre, said he was delighted with the opportunity to join this elite academy, which strongly represents the basic science that underpins his own research field. “As a behavioural researcher who works on chronic disease prevention and the health of populations, to be welcomed as a peer by these eminent people in exercise science is a great honour for me,” he said. “I'm particularly pleased that research on physical activity and public health is now recognised as a strong mainstream area of exercise science." “Our collective body of work is recognised internationally for its innovative approaches to understanding the negative health consequences of physical inactivity and prolonged sitting, and the crucial role of behaviour in chronic disease prevention.” VISIT CANCER PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTRE WEB SITE Award for Disability Researcher
Nick, pictured being presented with the medal by Dr Harry Pert, President of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, is internationally recognised by the World Health Organisation as an authority on the health of people with intellectual disability. His randomised controlled trials are the largest worldwide in this population. Nick, who trained as a GP, has focused on the health of adults with intellectual disability through working as a researcher, educator, advocate and clinician. The major theme of his research has been to better understand the general practitioner interface and with this understanding enhance the healthcare provided. This has involved a comprehensive survey of GPs throughout Australia and then testing of two strategies designed to improve healthcare - the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) and the Ask health diary. He has also performed research that examines the mental health, general practice and education of medical practitioners about health and intellectual disability. He has been instrumental in the IASSID (International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability) ratification of health guidelines and has successfully advocated for systemic change at local, state, national and international level. This includes the adoption of the CHAP health review process by most state governments and many NGOs across Australia and overseas, and the implementation of a Medicare payment to support general practitioners to provide health assessments. Online Community for Teaching & Learning LaunchedFrom next week, Faculty teaching staff will begin developing their own e-community aimed at supporting teaching and learning excellence. The initiative will be launched this Monday, 2 November with a workshop where participants will help build an interactive web site. The workshop will be held from 2pm to 4pm at the Ezone Lab, Biological Sciences Library, St Lucia. Places are still available and registrations will be taken on the morning of the event. (Email Karen Von Ahledfeldt.) The web site will act as a hub for collaboration. It will also provide a portal for information on teaching-focused appointments and the scholarship of teaching and learning, Associate Professor Michelle Groves, Associate Dean (Academic), said. "I encourage staff to become a members, contribute their ideas and take advantage of the resources that will be provided," Michelle said. To become a member, email Carrie Ritchie. The web site will play a central role in the Faculty's Teaching-Focused Support Network (TFSN). The TFSN is a joint initiative with TEDI and is designed to foster the development of a culture of excellence in scholarship and practice in teach and learning within the Faculty of Health Sciences. HMS-Qatar Partnership Invests in the Future
The agreement, signed by Aspetar director-general Dr Mohamed al-Maadheed and HMS Head of School Professor Doune Macdonald (pictured) will enhance co-operation in teaching, research and service to the community through international exchange programs for staff and students of the institutions. “We hope that with this agreement, both Aspetar and UQ can be on the leading edge of sports medicine and research advancements to not only improve sporting performance but improve the well-being of the population,” Dr al-Maadheed said. Professor Macdonald said the most important aspect of the partnerhip would be research collaboration in the exercise sciences and socio-cultural aspects of physical activity and health. TetraQ Expands into Japanese MarketTetraQ and Q-Pharm Pty Ltd are set to collaborate with Japanese clinical trial organisation, MORE Medical, in a step to promote Queensland’s high quality drug development capabilities, particularly in preclinical drug development and early phase clinical trials. TetraQ, the commercial arm of the Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development, believes establishing itself in Japan will help promote the benefits of outsourcing clinical and preclinical research and development to Queensland. “It is a great opportunity for TetraQ and Q-Pharm to establish a significant presence within Japan, which is encouraging the ‘outsourcing model’. This model is used very effectively by both U.S. pharmaceutical companies as well as biotechnology companies in Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere to control costs of new drug development. Excellence Award for Sylvia
Sylvia was awarded for her local, national and international contributions to occupational therapy education and research. She received the award at OT AUSTRALIA's Occupational Therapy (OT) Week breakfast this week. OT Week is celebrated internationally to raise awareness about occupational therapy. UQ also hosted a special breakfast for occupational therapy students, staff and OT AUSTRALIA (Qld) in conjunction with the OT Students Association (OTSA). Academic Joins Sexuality Education Honour RollFamily Planning Queensland has nominated Associate Lecturer Louise McCuaig (Human Movement Studies) for inclusion on the 2009 honour roll of educators. The honour roll features educators who have made a substantial contribution to sexuality education over the past 21 years. Louise was recognised for decades of leadership and commitment to the education and training of pre-service teachers. She joined three other people nominated for 2009, including former Queensland Premier, Mike Ahern, who advocated for sex education to be included in school curriculums. Conference Awards for PhysiotherapistsDr Pauline Watter and Melinda Franettovich (Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) have both won awards at major conferences recently. Pauline won the very prestigious and hotly contested 'Yvonne Burns Award for contribution to Paediatric Physiotherapy' awarded by the national paediatric association and the national conference. This award is conferred by peers for excellence in clinical practice, exceptional leadership leading to improved health outcomes for children and their families, commitment to conveying information to a broader audience and commitment to the paediatric physiotherapy profession through advocacy, tertiary education and/or mentoring of peers and trainees. Melinda, who is soon to submit her PhD candidature, presented brilliantly to be awarded a clear winner at the Sports Physiotherapy Association Conference earlier this month. Time to Update UQ Experts ListingProduction of the 2010 UQ Experts Directory hard copy book is underway. If you would like to increase your media profile, make sure you are part of the new edition. UQ Experts is a database of academics interested in sharing their specialist knowledge for media stories and who wish to inform the public about new research findings. It is available as a book (for journalists) and online. To be included in the book, register online at www.uq.edu.au/uqexperts. If you are already a UQ Expert, please update your details through the website. If you wish to be removed from the directory, please email mcd.admin@uq.edu.au. Do You Know a Defining Moment in UQ Research?Input and feedback would be appreciated on a list of research highlights from the past 100 years on the UQ Centenary website. Please email your suggestions to Shannon at centenary@uq.edu.au and copy to update@uq.edu.au. More highlights pre-1970s are particularly needed. New Awards Recognise Great StaffThe Vice-Chancellor has announced the introduction of two new awards for staff to recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the University. Nominations for the new awards: The Chancellor's Award for Individual Excellence and the UQ Leadership Award, close on Friday, 20 November. Nominees are to be proposed by sponsors who can be either a supervisor or other member of staff. Staff are encouraged to nominate colleagues who are exemplary leaders or individual contributors. Details: are available online. |
Professor Neville Owen (School of Population Health) has been inducted into the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE).
Professor Nick Lennox, Director of the School of Medicine's Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability is the winner of the prestigious New Zealand Eric Elder Memorial Medal for 2009.
The School of Human Movement Studies has represented UQ at the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital – Aspetar to further academic co-operation between the two institutions.
Associate Professor Sylvia Rodger (pictured), Head of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences' Division of Occupational Therapy, has been awarded the Mary Rankine Wilson Award for Professional Excellence for 2009.
EventsEvolution of the Athlete Conference - 2 to 4 NovemberFaculty staff and students are invited to take advantage of a special offer to save $100 off the registration price for the 3rd Annual Evolution of the Athlete Conference. The coach education conference is expected to atttract more than 250 coaches, teachers, trainers, sports administrators and sports scientists from across Australia who will hear from leading authorities in coach training to help them develop and inspire athletes to greater sporting success. The conference, which is a joint initiative between UQ Sport and the School of Human Movement Studies, focuses on mental toughness, leadership and coaching behaviours. Key topics covered by conference speakers will include high performance sport, sports psychology, skill acquisition, strength and conditioning, sport science, youth development and talent identification. By drawing on a large and diverse pool of conference speakers from performance sport, academia and business, the conference aims to benefit sporting and coaching professionals from any sport and any level from amateur to professional grade. Keynote speakers for the conference include premiership-winning Melbourne Storm Coach Craig Bellamy, Tennis Australia’s Director of Tennis and Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley, former Wallaby Pat Howard and West Coast Eagles High Performance Manager Glenn Stewart. Staff and students can register online for the conference at the special UQ Faculty of Health Science price of $650. For more information on the conference, visit the Evolution of the Athlete website or call 3871 1155. Successes & Failures in Telehealth 2009 – 10 & 11 NovemberThis conference provides a unique forum which explores both successes and failures in telehealth. Its uniqueness, as the only academic telehealth conference in the southern hemisphere, attracts prominent national and international speakers and delegates. Joanna Briggs Systematic Review Training - 7 to 10 DecemberThe UQ/Blue Care Research & Practice Development Centre in collaboration with The Queensland Centre for Evidence Based Nursing and Midwifery is conducting Joanna Briggs Institute Systematic Review Training. There are a total of five modules conducted over the four days: Day 1 - Introduction to Evidence Based Health Care and Evidence Translation Day 2 - Appraising, extracting and pooling of quantitative evidence Day 3 - Appraising, extracting and pooling of evidence arising out of qualitative research and Appraising, extracting and pooling of evidence arising out of text, expert opinion and discourse. Day 4 - Appraising, extracting and pooling economic evidence. Participants can attend for one or more days, although some pre-requisites apply. Total cost for four days is $1,500. The course is ideal for research higher degree students, post doctoral fellows, clinicians and academics. For more information contact Sue Wright on 31638181 or by email nurad9@mater.org.au . Assessment of Professional Behaviours of Medical Students Forum - 5 March, 2010
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Staff SpotlightDr Anthony Smith - Deputy Director, Centre for Online Health
This is an enduring memory for Dr Anthony Smith, Deputy Director of the Centre for Online Health (COH). The COH is a telemedicine research and service delivery hub that is finding ways to beat the tyranny of distance that makes it difficult for people living in rural and regional Queensland to access specialist medical services. Not only does the Centre provide the facilities to enable delivery of teleconsultations, it conducts research into the feasibility and benefits of delivering virtual health services. Most link ups involve connecting country patients with specialists – sometimes with lifesaving results. White-faced parents of babies with heart problems only have eyes for the paediatric cardiologist, who is watching an ultrasound of their baby’s tiny heart beat in real-time. But behind the scenes, the COH has coordinated and streamlined the consultation, which will tell them whether an emergency dash to Brisbane is needed. Sitting in the COH’s telemedicine studios at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), the specialist can assess the baby visually, discuss symptoms with the parents, oversee an ECG and discuss the appropriate treatment with the local doctor. According to Anthony, one of the most positive outcomes of this type of consultation has been that out of about 145 urgent cases, only four were required to make the emotionally and financially draining journey to Brisbane for treatment. Since November 2000, Anthony and his committed staff at the COH have conducted more than 8,000 telepaediatric consultations for thousands of children with a range of conditions. Many would have otherwise needed to travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers to Brisbane. The telepaediatric service is one of the largest of its kind reported in the world. The COH links to 97 sites throughout Queensland, provides access to doctors covering 37 different subspecialist areas and involves more than 260 medical, nursing and allied health staff. Many of these links replace outpatient appointments for patients who would normally have to travel to Brisbane. “Our work with the Stuart Pegg Paediatric Burns Centre at the RCH is a good example. Following specialist burns care in Brisbane, children require post-acute care Depending on the severity of the burn injury and the age of the child, this may last for many years. Instead of travelling to Brisbane for outpatient consultations, a proportion of cases can be provided at a distance,” said Anthony, who spent nine years as a clinical nurse, prior to joining the COH. “The use of telemedicine for burns care is one of our leading applications. Currently, about 17% of all burns outpatients at the RCH are delivered via videoconference. “Other hospitals in Australia are looking at the COH model and making plans to replicate it,” Anthony said. The COH is recognised as a world leader in telemedicine, hosting an almost continuous stream of international students and visitors keen to learn about the successes and failed experiences in the field. Approximately 120 delegates from Australia and around the world will attend the annual Successes and Failures in Telehealth (SFT-09) Conference hosted by the COH next month. “We’ve come a long way from the concrete shell which I walked into with the founding centre director, Richard Wootton, 10 years ago,” Anthony said. “I was attracted by the research opportunity. It was a new idea, innovative and clearly had lots of potential, especially in Queensland where the distances are significant.” “I believe that all kids, should have access to the best possible health care – no matter where they live. Telemedicine is a very good enabler, especially for patients living in underserviced areas. Anthony completed his PhD in 2004 and he says it is the Centre’s strong commitment to research that is now paying dividends. “We’ll never have all the evidence and be able to say definitively ‘Here’s how it should be done’. Telemedicine is a rapidly evolving field, with new technologies and new ideas being introduced all the time. This highlights the importance of a centre such as the COH. “The Centre has an important role developing and evaluating new models of health care – particularly those which involve the delivery of health services at a distance,” Anthony said. The COH has successfully shown the feasibility, clinical benefits and the economics of its telepaediatric service. It has demonstrated that telemedicine helps build clinical capacity and supports regional health professionals. “The economic studies clearly show substantial savings, mainly due to reduced patient travel costs. In one published analysis, we were able to show savings of about $600,000 for two regional hospitals during a five year period,” Anthony said. However, Anthony said obtaining research funding for telemedicine remains a challenging exercise. “It’s quite difficult. One of the factors thought to be a barrier for investment in telemedicine is ironically related tothe lack of evidence to demonstrate clinical and economic benefit. We conduct our research in a service environment – with an emphasis on gathering this evidence,” he said. The funding support provided by the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation has been critical for our research involving telepaediatrics. We are also grateful for funding provided by the Commonwealth Government through the Medical Specialist Outreach and Assistance Program and the Queensland Government via the Royal Children’s Hospital. “Telemedicine needs to occur with a clear understanding of its purpose and should be carefully designed in response to a clinical need. As an incentive to do telemedicine, efforts need to made to ensure that telemedicine presents no additional burden to the health service provider. Systems need to be developed to ensure that telemedicine services are easily accessible and delivered in the most efficient manner. “We’ve shown that by having a centralised coordination centre, which liaises between the sites and manages all telepaediatric referrals, is vital and we’ve developed a successful operational model for this.” But, says Anthony, the opportunities are endless. “We are currently exploring the use of telemedicine to support children living in Indigenous communities, to deliver specialist paediatric support into the homes of children with chronic health conditions and to provide specialist support for critically ill children.” Driven by Professor of Geriatrics, Len Gray, the co-director of COH since 2008, the Centre has begun applying the principles of the successful paediatric service to the other end of the life cycle. With very few geriatricians practicing outside the state’s south east corner and an ageing population, the COH is examining whether telemedicine can play a role. Services now include a memory disorder clinic in north western Queensland, specialist support for multidisciplinary case conferences in Rockhampton and a full ward service to a geriatrics and rehabilitation ward in Toowoomba. “One of the rewarding aspects of my work is seeing many of the telemedicine services evolve from pilot trials to mainstream services. This is certainly the case for the majority of telepaediatric services provided through the COH. “We have a well established model which delivers a useful and sustainable service to clinicians and to patients. It’s also very important to acknowledge the service providers (including the administrative and clinical staff) who provide telemedicine – undoubtedly for the genuine benefit of patients living in regional and remote areas. “I also appreciate the opportunity we have to collaborate with other centres internationally. Our centre attracts experts throughout the world with a common interest in telemedicine,” he said. The global nature of telemedicine means Anthony doesn’t work normal hours. His family, wife Sarah and their four children, Elijah 3, Alexander, 6, Jacinta 8 and Zachary 11, know that he often has one eye on his computer. Which is probably why camping is a favourite ‘after hours’ activity. “We like to explore campsites in northern NSW and near the Sunshine Coast - and enjoy the rugged experience, with water bottles, tents and camp oven,” says Anthony, who does admit to being “sprung” climbing up a mountain in an attempt to to find mobile reception to check emails on his iphone. “We also like to fit in the occasional day trips to the beach for barbecues and picnics,” he said. Anthony has plans to do more carpentry, after successfully building a window seat – storage box for his children. But he’ll have to fit that in between sport drop- offs and pick-ups, grant writing and helping steer health services towards a more equitable future.
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It’s Christmas Day and amid the sounds of festivities a mother smiles tearily at her baby. The unusual thing about this picture, is the mother, with several of her children, is in a northern Queensland town, while her baby is thousands of miles away in a Brisbane hospital – and they are sharing Christmas via videoconference.| © 2009The University of Queensland ABN 63 942 912 684 CRICOS Provider No:00025B Authorised by: Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences |