I am a clinician researcher in paediatric emergency medicine. My research focus is acute neurological problems and includes both high volume and rare but life threatening conditions in children. Award of an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship will allow me to address major evidence gaps in the acute care of children presenting to the emergency department with head injuries and brain attacks (acute neurological dysfunction), and to translate the findings into widespread practice.
Clinical Trials And Registries To Prevent Blindness For Macular Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,961.00
Summary
Injection of drugs into the eye is an unprecedented breakthrough in the treatment of macular diseases, however many questions must be addressed for our patients with diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration to reap the full benefits. My clinical research unit will conduct our own clinical trials, such as testing a new laser that has never been used in the retina. My observational studies unit will track “real world” outcomes of treatment of retinal disease in a large group of Australians.
Optimising Evidence-based, Equitable And Efficient Care For Common Child Health Conditions.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$481,156.00
Summary
Care for common conditions such as sleep problems, mental health disorders, and food allergy is often plagued by mismanagement, long wait times, inequitable access, and waste. These factors can worsen child health and quality of life, increase financial and social pressures on families, and deplete the limited health budget. I will develop, implement and evaluate innovative and sustainable solutions to improve care, access to care, and reduce waste in these conditions.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increasing in prevalence due to the ageing and increasing overweight and obesity of populations worldwide. This Fellowship will 1. Find new, cost-effective strategies to prevent and diagnose OSA; 2. Lead to a deeper understanding of the cardiovascular and neuro-behavioural consequences of OSA and the likely benefits of OSA treatment; and 3. Discover more effective and cost-effective therapies that are targeted toward a patient’s specific type of OSA.
This fellowship will allow the applicant to continue his studies into understanding and intervening in osteoarthritis. He will use a combination of observational studies and clinical trials to achieve this purpose.
Integration Of Basic And Translational Genitourinary Cancer Research Into Academic Clinical Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,961.00
Summary
Improvements in human health can only occur when the best basic research is tested in the best clinical trials and then applied in clinical practice across the board. Practitioner Fellowships are designed to support people who bridge these areas. This Fellowship will support an integrated program of research involving laboratory studies in prostate cancer, clinical trials in prostate and other types of cancer, application to clinical practice, and high level clinical and research leadership.
This fellowship will allow the applicant to continue to study the major musculoskeletal diseases in Australia (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis) using a combination of observational and interventional studies.
Modernizing The Knowledge Base For Reproductive Health Care: Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis As The New Standard For Evidence Synthesis In Reproductive Health.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$575,662.00
Summary
Characteristics of sick persons differ, and criteria that have been used to include them in studies may not match the individual profile of individuals who typically present to the health system. I propose a step towards more personalised medicine, which is new in the field of reproductive health. In a global collaboration, we plan to collect individual participant data of studies, and develop clinical rules and guidelines that tailor the individual profile of the sick individual.
Early Life Approaches To Obesity Prevention – The Role Of The In-utero Environment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$575,662.00
Summary
This proposal will comprehensively evaluate the role of maternal overweight and obesity, gestational weight gain, and the effects of antenatal dietary and lifestyle interventions on maternal, infant and childhood health outcomes. Over 50% of pregnant women are overweight or obese, with adverse outcomes for maternal and infant health, both immediately related to pregnancy, and in the longer term. Outcomes from this proposal will inform clinical guidelines and improve practice.
The growing momentum towards elimination of malaria and the need to control of drug-resistant parasites means that new drugs and vaccines are needed. In this Fellowship I will use the human malaria challenge system that I have developed to test whether new drugs and vaccines for malaria are working sufficiently well to justify their full development. In this system healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with malaria and then cured before they become unwell.