JTI Newsletter – July 2025
Welcome
From media to new initiatives, the past weeks have been packed with energy and innovation at JTI. New collaborations are taking shape, like our work with the Townsville University Hospital Trauma Service, funded by their SERTA program, aimed at investigating the cost of complex trauma care in North Queensland. We also welcomed Leah Svenson as the new JTI Project Officer, who amongst many other roles will contribute to our website and newsletters; and Rabeya Basri, a new PhD student supervised by Clifford Afoakwah and Kirsten Vallmuur, who will investigate the economics of work-related injuries in Australia. In May, we celebrated Tasmiah Sutopa’s PhD confirmation, in which she took us on her project journey aimed at exploring enhanced longitudinal analyses for community opioid dispensing following injury. Finally, we would like to congratulate Fran Williamson, who has recently been appointed Adjunct Associate Professor at The University of Queensland.
Bridging gaps in rehabilitation: Introducing the Rehabilitation Innovation and Technology Assessment (RITA) service
The Rehabilitation Innovation and Technology Assessment (RITA) service aims to integrate rehabilitation engineers with physiotherapy and occupational therapy teams to enhance patient recovery through technology. The 21-month trial, funded by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, will be conducted at STARS and PAH hospitals. It will focus on increasing patient movement using technology and assessing technology needs before discharge. The project involves collaboration among several Queensland Health and academic institutions.
Our proposed RITA service aims at facilitating translation of rehabilitation research into clinical practice.
SafeAge: Tackling Product Injuries Among Seniors
The SafeAge Project is a three-year research initiative focused on reducing product-related injuries among older adults, led by Prof Kirsten Vallmuur and Dr Catherine Niven. Funded by the Australian Research Council, it aims to understand how consumer products contribute to injuries and deaths by analysing diverse data sources. The project will develop an open-access product safety dashboard and publish injury reports to guide safer product use, design, and regulation. It involves collaboration between researchers, government bodies, and consumer advocacy groups, with the goal of improving safety for older Australians in residential settings.
The SafeAge group workshop on 10 July.
Queensland Trauma Education delivers trauma training to clinical teams Queensland-wide
Queensland Trauma Education (QTE) has had a busy year so far, delivering nine trauma training courses throughout Queensland and receiving expressions of interest from 28 additional sites across Queensland. The program focuses on multidisciplinary, simulation-based training for medical, nursing, and paramedic teams, leading to improved trauma care practices and stronger hospital-prehospital linkages. Train-the-trainer sites in Townsville, Cairns, and SCUH have supported local networks with ten independent programs. The QTE website has seen significant growth, with over 15,000 users from 20 countries, and QTE has been recognised as the top emergency medicine resource in Australia and New Zealand.
QTE on-the-road courses.
Understanding long-term opioid use in operatively managed orthopaedic patients with fracture-related infections
Our latest study reveals that patients with infection after trauma (fracture-related infection) are at higher risk of chronic opioid use.
We found that patients with infection were more likely to require long term opioids if they had pre-injury use, high injury severity, increased length of stay and multiple surgeries. This highlights the burden that patients with post-operative infection suffer and advocates for improved infection prevention and treatment strategies.
Understanding these risk factors is key to improving pain management, reducing chronic opioid use, and optimising physical and psychological rehabilitation.
The results have been published in the journal Injury.
JTI’s work on e-mobility injuries featured on national TV
Findings of the e-mobility injury surveillance conducted by JTI and the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) has made several appearances on national television. Dr Gary Mitchell and Prof Kirsten Vallmuur appeared on Channel 9’s A Current Affair, followed Prof Michael Schuetz on ABC 7.30.
Did you know…?
Did you miss the last JTI Showcase Event or the Ken Jamieson Lecture? Do you want to learn more about our key projects? Visit the JTI Digital Hub, hosted on the QUT MediaHub platform, where our videos, presentations and events are available for public viewing.
JTI Digital Hub
14th Annual Kenneth Jamieson Lecture
Date: Thursday 4 September 2025
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: RBWH Education Centre