A buzz of collaboration and connection filled Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) last week, with more than 400 attendees taking part in CALHN’s inaugural Research Exchange.
Held from October 14-18, an enthusiastic crowd of researchers, clinicians, clinical support staff, university colleagues and students enjoyed a series of events across the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) precincts.
Previously known as Research Week, CALHN Research Exchange highlights ground-breaking research taking place across the network and fosters collaboration to improve patient care and health outcomes.
Education, connection, and collaboration
The 2024 CALHN Research Exchange kicked off at the RAH, with a guest plenary lecture from Professor Terence O’Brien, Chair of Medicine (Neurology) and Head of the School of Translational Medicine at Monash University, who updated us on the latest treatment developments for epilepsy and brain diseases.
Next, a skills workshop by Professor Stephen McDonald was incredibly popular. As Director of the Adelaide EpiCentre, Professor McDonald was the perfect tour guide through the nuts and bolts of conducting observational studies using health data.
Two poster pitch sessions at the RAH showcased a range of research topics, including kidney transplant decision-making, psychosocial impacts of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (a sudden tear in one of the blood vessels supplying the heart), and the benefits of proton beam therapy for paediatric cancers.
The final RAH events were a lively and entertaining debate on AI in healthcare, followed by the 2024 CALHN Research Awards (see below for more details).
The week concluded with the 33rd TQEH Research Expo. Over two jam-packed days, attendees participated in a busy program of student and clinician scientific presentations from across the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Research (BHI) and TQEH, as well as a guest lecture from Professor Maria Makrides (Executive Director at SAHMRI).
A fun session of 3-Minute Thesis presentations followed by award and scholarship announcements (see below for details) and networking rounded out the week.
CALHN CEO CRIPS Grants 2025-2027
The CALHN CEO Clinical Rapid Implementation Project Scheme (CRIPS) Grant program provides funding support for novel projects that benefit patients and/or improve health service delivery at CALHN. These grants are supported by donations held by the Health Services Charitable Gift Board (HSCGB).
Announced at the 2024 CALHN Research Awards, recipients for the 2025-2027 round are:
- Peter Psaltis (Heart and Lung) for the project Systematic lipid profiling and therapy optimisation in vascular surgical patients with very high-risk atherosclerotic disease.
- Morgyn Warner (Specialty Medicine 2) for the project Improve clinical outcomes in persons living with cystic fibrosis (CF) by supporting personalised bacteriophage therapy.
- Sonja Rogasch (Specialty Medicine 1) for the project Keep Your Feet – a proactive, preventive care model to reduce active foot disease in pre-dialysis patients.
CALHN Allied and Scientific Health, Pharmacy and Nursing Clinical Research Grants 2025
Clinical Research Grants for Allied and Scientific Health, Pharmacy and Nursing are designed to support and promote clinical research by non-medical health service staff within CALHN that will ultimately lead to improving health outcomes for patients.
Announced at CALHN Research Exchange 2024, recipients for the 2025 round are:
- Philip Selby (Cancer: Allied Health) for the project The Effectiveness of Implementation of Pharmacist Partnered Medication Prescribing (PPMP) within the CALHN Haematology Inpatient Unit.
- Tenneale Direen (Specialty Medicine 1: Allied Health) for the project IMPlementation of a dietitiAn-led metaboliC risk assessmenT clinic for Metabolic Dysfunction–Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (IMPACT-MASLD).
TQEH Expo Awards 2024
TQEH Expo Awards highlight the best annual presentations from research students and trainees at the BHI and TQEH. Recipients in 2024 are:
- Ellie Treloar
(John Morris Group – Best Mini Oral Presentation) - Harriet Cooling
(The Hospital Research Foundation Group (HRF) – Best Lay Description) - Bobak Bahrami
(The HRF – Best Clinical Research Trainee) - Lindsay Durr
(The HRF – Best Oral Presentation, Honours and Summer) - Bjoern Hendrik Kolbe
(UniSA – Best Oral Presentation: Junior Laboratory Research) - Getandale Negera AusHealth
(Best Oral Presentation: Senior Laboratory Research) - Samantha Plush
(The University of Adelaide – Best Oral Presentation: Junior Clinical Research) - Jesse Ey
(Medtronic – Best Oral Presentation: Senior Clinical research).
TQEH Research Expo Top-up Scholarships 2024
TQEH Research Expo Top-up Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis to BHI students who demonstrate excellence in high-quality research outputs, research impact, and contribution to the BHI community. These awards were presented by Minister Chris Picton and funded by the HRF.
The recipients for 2024 are:
- Rachel Davis
- Reza Maleki
- Runhao Li
- Kenny Yeo
- Bjoern Hendrik Kolbe
- Ellie Treloar
- Matheesha Herath
- Zahraa Al-Delfi
- Hanieh Heydarlou
- Jesse Ey
- Edward Young
- Samantha Plush
See you next year for CALHN Research Exchange 2025!
