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Accelerating the translation of Research findings into Action to ensure new scientific evidence can positively Impact on the health of South Australians.
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Welcome to our first E-Newsletter for 2021. I trust that you’ve all had a relaxing holiday break and are looking forward to the opportunities that a new year brings!
This month I would like to welcome three new board members to our Board of Partners; Ms Maree Geraghty, Dr Michael Cusack and Dr Gokhan Ayturk.
Ms Maree Geraghty is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and will be representing all of South Australia’s Local Health Networks (LHN). Of note, this is the first time HTSA’s had LHN representation on the Board, and I believe this will significantly improve our connectivity with, and awareness of, research activities across all of SA Health’s Local Health Networks. Dr Michael Cusack is the Chief Medical Officer, SA Health and is replacing former Board member Professor Paddy Phillips and Dr Gokhan Ayturk is Manager of Research and Ethics at the Aboriginal Health Council of SA (AHCSA) and will attend when Shane Mohor (CEO, AHCSA) is not available. To read their biographies, please visit our website.
It was a big end to 2020 for HTSA, with the release of findings from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) Funding Program Evaluation, and news that this funding will now become an open, competitive process that is no longer administered by the National Health Medical Research Council Accredited Translation Centres.
Discussions are underway with our partner organisations about how we can work collaboratively together to identify project proposal ideas that will build upon our strong, statewide foundations, and address some of the big priority health challenges in our state. I look forward to keeping you updated on this process in the coming months.
Finally, I would like to note that SAHMRI held their annual awards event in December 2020 and HTSA sponsored a Research Translation Award which showcases and recognises an individual or a team who had successfully translated the findings of their research into policy, health service improvements, commercially available tools, clinical trials or drug development.
Seven really interesting projects were nominated, and we were really pleased that two very impactful projects ended up being joint winners; Associate Professor Gillian Caughey, Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) for her work using ROSA to inform the Aged Care Royal Commission and SAHMRI’s Health Policy Centre for their work with producing the COVID Rapid Reviews that were used to inform the decisions of the SA COVID Taskforce.
Both award recipients demonstrate the important role of using evidence to inform policy and influence decision making for significant population health issues.
Wendy Keech, CEO
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Congratulations! SAHMRI Research Translation Award Winners 2020
Health Translation SA would like to congratulate Associate Professor Gillian Caughey, Registry of Senior Australians and the Health Policy Centre for winning the 2020 SAHMRI Research Translation Award. The Award was designed to recognise an individual or a team who had successfully translated the findings of their research into policy, health service improvements, commercially available tools, clinical trials or drug development.
A/Professor Gillian Caughey, Registry of Senior Australians
A/Prof Gillian Caughey led the development of a major report titled, ‘International and National Quality and Safety Indicators for Aged Care’, which provided evidence-based recommendations for quality and safety indicators to routinely monitor care of older Australians.
With the endorsement of this report by the Commission, the Royal Commissioners concluded that “it is unacceptable that in 2020, the aged care system in Australia is without this”. A motion was subsequently passed by the Australian Senate “to immediately move to implement routine monitoring and public reporting of aged care...as outlined in the SAHMRI report, to enhance transparency and accountability”.
SAHMRI Health Policy Centre
Led by Professor Caroline Miller, the Health Policy Centre team rapidly delivered and presented the best available evidence to the South Australian COVID-19 Taskforce and Chief Public Health Officer to inform its response.
As the virus was only discovered recently, definitive findings on issues around COVID-19 were inherently difficult to discover. Despite this, Caroline and her team generated around 20 Rapid Reviews, which represented a significant volume of evidence (more than 1000 articles) being extracted, synthesised, and disseminated in a relatively short period.
Rapid synthesis of the evidence, and presentation of findings, was essential for South Australia’s COVID-19 Taskforce to plan and make critical decisions. Some evidence updates were also used to inform national policy and response.
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Evaluation of the Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) Initiative
The RART is an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). It supports the rapid translation of research findings into clinical practice and solutions to health service problems that affect patients.
In 2020, Department of Health commissioned an evaluation of the RART to inform options for future investment. The evaluation looked at:
- How the RART has been implemented
- Implementation models
- Alignment with Australian health research priorities, top-down and bottom up strategy planning, and international best practice
Read the outcomes of the Evaluation of the RART Initiative here.
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Have your say! Consultation on Mission Roadmaps and Implementation Plans
MRFF missions are large programs of work that bring together key researchers, health professionals, stakeholders, industry partners and patients to tackle big health challenges.
You now have the opportunity to comment on the development of Roadmaps and Implementation Plans for six MRFF research missions:
Have your say through the Department of Health’s consultation hub by 23 April 2021.
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Call for Expression of Interest – South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC) Scientific Advisory Committee
The South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC) is a state-wide genomics facility that supports researchers, clinicians and industry partners by providing a nationally and internationally recognised fee-for-service genomics facility supported by an advanced bioinformatics platform.
The SAGC is currently calling for Expressions of Interest, from appropriately qualified researchers, to take up positions on their newly established Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC will help advise the Board and Scientific Director, Professor David Lynn.
Applications close by 7 February 2021.
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Current Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Grant Opportunities:
- Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Grant
- Indigenous Health Research Grant
- Cardiovascular Health Grant
- Improving Diagnosis in Cancers with Low Survival Rates Grant
- International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant
- Childhood Cancer Research Grant
- Quality, Safety and Effectiveness of Medicine Use and Medicine Intervention by Pharmacists Grant
- Maternal, First 2000 Days and Childhood Health Grant
- Primary Health Care Research Data Infrastructure Grant
- Genomics Health Futures Mission Grant
- Traumatic Brain Injury Mission Grant
- Stem Cell Therapies Grant
- Efficient Use of Existing Medicines Grant
- Targeted Translation Research Accelerator for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Grant
Other Grant Opportunities:
- National Foundation Research Innovation: General Grant
- Department of Health: Primary Care Rural Innovative Multidisciplinary Models Grant
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Have your say! Community Research Priorities Portal
The Community Research Priorities Portal enables community and professional groups to propose research topics to NHMRC that may warrant a dedicated funding call, in the form of a Targeted Call for Research.
Potential research topics submitted through the portal must address a significant research knowledge gap or unmet need and/or link to national, state and territory and/or community priorities. Submissions developed and/or driven by individuals and academic/research institutions will not be considered.
The Portal is currently open for submissions, closing on 05 February 2021. Further information is available on the NHMRC website.
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Consumer and Community Involvement Lunchtime Seminars
Monash Partners are launching a monthly lunchtime seminar series about consumer and community involvement in health and medical research.
Seminar topics for the upcoming year will include discussions on the practicalities of CCI in research, what is participatory research, ethics of CCI, evaluation of CCI and more topics. Visit their website for more information.
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Seminars & Events
- Research Impact Academy: How to approach the NHMRC investigator grant impact sections webinar - 5 Feb
- University of Melbourne: Digital Health Week 2021
- Monash Partners: The how and why of Consumer and Community Involvement seminar - 11 Feb
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Predatory Publishing in Systematic Reviews - 24 Feb
- National Institute for Health Research: Impact Frameworks and Cultural Change Conference - 25 to 27 Feb
- Medical Device Partnering Program: MedTech Monday's - Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs - 1 Mar
- Monash Partners: A research approach for co-designing education with healthcare consumers - 11 Mar
Workshops & Training
- Research Impact Academy: NHMRC Investigator Grant Impact Track Record Workshop - 11 Feb
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Scoping Review Workshop - 3 Mar & 17 Jun
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Evidence Implementation Workshop - 15 to 17 Mar
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Evidence Implementation Training Program - 15 to 19 Mar
- Research Impact Academy: Creating, Capturing and Communicating Research Impact - 16 to 18 Mar
- Specialist Knowledge Translation Training: Learn how to create a pathway to impact in just two days - 20 to 23 Apr
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Comprehensive Systematic Review Training Program - 10 to 14 May
- Joanna Briggs Institute: Grade Workshop - 10 Jun
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Connect with us in the links below
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