Message from the Executive Director Research: Professor Dan Chambers

Dear colleagues,

I am delighted, humbled and excited to address you as Executive Director of Research for Metro North. Research in all its forms – discovery, innovation, translation, implementation, and evaluation – is the engine room of a healthy and vibrant health service and is woven into the fabric of what we do. It helps us to help the communities we serve now and into the future, regardless of the challenges which inevitably arise. Metro North Health is already host to multiple research teams and programs with national and global impact and, together with our academic and other partners, is well placed to grow its reputation for health research excellence. I look forward to meeting those of you who I don’t know in coming weeks, and hearing about your experiences, your ideas, and your ambitions. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line – I would love to hear from you!

Last month, we celebrated our research community and achievements at the sixth annual Research Excellence Awards. As always, this was a great celebration of the wonderful research being conducted across Metro North. This year, the Researcher of the Year was Prof Ian Yang who is known internationally for his work in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic lung diseases, including COPD, asthma, lung cancer and mesothelioma. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of this the 2021 Research Excellence Awards winners. Further detail of the winners and highly commended recipients are available on the Awards website.

Discovery and Innovation Research Award:

Clinical Research Award:

Complex Health Challenges Research Award:

Health Services and Implementation Research Award:

Rising Star Award:

Research Support Award:

Professor Joan Webster Nursing & Midwifery Research Award:

Chief Executive’s Award:

The fourth Snapshot of Research report was also launched at the Research Excellence Awards. This report showcases the range of research across Metro North.

Hopefully you will all have heard that the fourth round of the Metro North Clinician Research Fellowships are open at present and will close on 29 September 2021. This scheme is a magnificent opportunity for Metro North Health to invest in our up-and-coming clinician researchers by providing them with the opportunity to concurrently pursue their research and clinical career pathway. The Clinician Research Fellowships program allows us to attract and retain our brightest and most promising clinicians and support their continuing professional development to create a strong foundation of evidence-based health care through research. The Metro North Office of Research will award up to five Fellowships. Full details of the scheme including details of previous recipients are available on the Research Awards website.

Also, a reminder that the Collaborative Research Grants are closing very soon so please ensure that all applications have been submitted before the deadline on 29 August 2021.

Metro North will be showcasing some of its research at the upcoming Symposia and other events that will be occurring across the facilities over the coming weeks:

The Herston Health Precinct Symposium will be taking place from 6-10 September 2021. The Herston Health Precinct Symposium is an opportunity to showcase the facilities strengths in research and innovation, strengthening partnerships and reinforcing the commitment to provide a wealth of opportunities for physicians, nurses, health professionals, researchers and students. Further detail can be found on the Symposium website.
The Redcliffe Hospital Research Symposium will be taking place on Thursday 16 September 2021. The Research Symposium is an annual showcase event for research at Redcliffe Hospital.
Charlie’s Week will be taking place from 18-22 October 2021. Charlie’s Week celebrates all things good about the Prince Charles Hospital.

The Metro North Office of Research will be re-instating the Metro North Research Staff bulletin over the coming months. If you are interested in receiving this bulletin, please ensure that you are subscribed.

The Metro North Office of Research also sends communications out directly to our research community from time to time. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send a request to MetroNorthResearch@health.qld.gov.au.

Regards

Dan