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About Health Translation SA

HTSA is a Research Translation Centre, accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) since 2015.

Our core aim is to accelerate research findings into healthcare practice and policy and increase whole-of-system research translation capacity to improve the health of all South Australians. 

Collaborating for effective health research translation

Every day South Australian, national and international researchers make important scientific innovations and discoveries in how to prevent and treat disease and promote health. The process of ensuring these innovation and discoveries are turned into cutting edge, reliable and safe healthcare for our community is known as research translation.

Research translation is a dynamic process taking place within a complex system and requires collaboration among diversely skilled teams and partners including researchers, clinicians, educators, policy makers, consumers and the community.

HTSA's role is to accelerate the pace and scale of scientific innovations and discoveries into healthcare by supporting and connecting people across all phases of the research journey.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you create effective collaborations. 

Contact Us
Wendy Keech
Executive Director
2015
Year Founded

25+

Collaborative Networks

$4.15M

Towards Advancing Research Translation in 2022

HTSA Impact Report 2019 - 2021

Our first Impact Report based on HTSA’s Strategy July 2019 to June 2021 highlights a selection of projects and initiatives that demonstrate the diversity and variety of our involvement in research translation across the state, and nationally.

These stories showcase HTSA's ability to build and support collaborative efforts to address major health service and system challenges.

We achieve this by acting as an independent catalyst and broker and effectively mobilising collaborations between our Partners and other key stakeholders. 

Our History

2023

Active across SA as an independent catalyst and broker, offering specialised training and services to advance health research translation projects and impact.

2022

Reaccredited by the NHMRC as a Research Translation Centre for 5 years (2022-2027).

Read Reaccreditation Submission

2021

Established new HTSA Strategy for 2021-24 and accepted 3 new partner organisations.  

2020

Established statewide capacity building networks and supported Flagship projects, including two new ones Mental Health and Health in All Policies.

2019

Expanded our statewide Impact Projects and our role as independent catalyst and broker to drive significant system reforms 

2018

Formally renamed Health Translation SA. Board of Partners established with eight key partners through a formal Partner Agreement and an Independent Chair. Established HTSA Stakeholder Forum.

2018

Received Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation (MRFF RART) funding to support new statewide collaborative projects and 2 National projects, working with interstate NHMRC Translation Centres.

2016

Established 5 Flagship Projects; Bowel Cancer, ROSA, SA Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium, Cardiac Rehabilitation, First 1000 days.

2015

SA Academic Health Science and Translation Centre formally accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), as one of the first four inaugural Advanced Health Research Translation Centre’s in Australia.

Image: Original Centre Logo, 2015

Our Governance

HTSA operates as an unincorporated Joint Venture with a governance structure that includes; a Board of Partners (four meetings per year); Board of Partners nominated working groups to address specific issues and projects; and a Stakeholder Forum (one meeting per year).

Stakeholder Forum

The Stakeholder Forum is a key component of HTSA's governance structure.

Its purpose is to inform, consult and involve key stakeholders in the development of HTSA's priorities, projects, enabling platforms, capacity building initiatives and advocacy activities.

HTSA defines stakeholders as any individual, organisation, sector or community that has a ‘stake’ in enhancing the rate of translation of research into healthcare to create a self-improving, sustainable and high-quality health system.

Join our mailing list to find out about future Stakeholder Forum events. 

Our Partners

Our unique partnership unites eleven academic, research and healthcare organisations within South Australia, and encompasses the full breadth of health service delivery across the state.

The partnership represents organisations who can contribute to, and directly influence, the activities of the HTSA across the three research translation elements; research, action and impact.

  • South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute
  • The University of Adelaide
  • Flinders University
  • University of South Australia
  • Torrent University Australia
  • Government of South Australia
  • Government of South Australia - SA Health
  • PHN Adelaide
  • PHN Country SA
  • CSIRO
  • Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia Inc.

Partnering for impact

By combining the expertise and strengths of our Partners, HTSA is effectively placed to tackle the most pressing healthcare challenges within our community and to create a self-improving, sustainable and high-quality health system.

 

Our Board

HTSA is led by a representative Board of Partners consisting of one member from each Partner organisation.

Dr Leanna Read

Board Chair

Prof Maria Makrides

Executive Director, SAHMRI

Prof Alison Kitson

Dean, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University

Prof Jonathan Craig

Executive Dean of the College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University

Prof David Waugh

Pro Vice Chancellor, Health and Medical Research and Engagement, University of South Australia

Mark Hartigan

Chief Executive Officer, Country SA PHN

Dr Michael Cusack

Chief Medical Officer, Department for Health and Wellbeing

Dr Nadia Corsini

Chair, HTSA Consumer Engagement Action Group

Prof Paul Ward

Professor of Public Health, Torrens University Australia

Michelle McKay

Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide PHN

A/Prof Bev Muhlhausler

Deputy Director, Human Health Program, CSIRO

Prof Tracy Merlin

Head of School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide
Our People

HTSA's projects and activities are supported by a dedicated team based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.

wendy

Wendy Keech

Executive Director

Ecushla Linedale

Program Manager / Deputy Executive Director

Rebecca Perry

Lead: Priority Driven Research Development

Alex Harris

Strategic Communications Manager

Agustina Gancia

Lead: Capacity Building

Sarah Eley

Senior Project Officer: Capacity Building

Mehrsa Zakershahrak

Research Translation Fellow

Tianna Winterburn

Senior Business Support Officer

Our Strategy 2021-2024

HTSA's overall mission is to accelerate research findings into healthcare practice and policy and increase whole-of-state research translation capacity to improve the health of all South Australians.

Working with our Partners, and other key stakeholders, we do this by focusing on four strategic priority areas for the period 2021-2024:

Bringing the right people together

Mobilising leadership and collaboration to activate and improve the translation of research into practice

Building the right environment

Driving state-wide system improvements to enhance and enable research translation

Getting the right projects done

Facilitating translation projects to address significant health and health system challenges

Celebrating and showcasing impact

Measuring, demonstrating and communicating HTSA’s role, successes and impact

These priorities are progressed through a series of state-based translation projects and system-improvement initiatives.

In addition, we also work on a number of national system-level initiatives as part of the Australian Health Research Alliance.

Download a copy of our HTSA Strategy July 2021 to June 2024 here.

Australian Health Research Alliance

At a national level, HTSA works within the Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA) Network.
AHRA is the voice of 11 National Health and Medical Research Council-accredited Research Translation Centres and three Emerging Research Translation Centres recognised by NHMRC.

The other centres are:

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