Three new scholarships have been awarded to conduct research into areas of unmet need across Western Australia.
The three projects will focus on improving the medical workforce in rural areas, investigating a new blood cancer treatment and supporting breastfeeding in ICU.
The Hospital Research Foundation Group has again collaborated with the WA Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund (FHRI) to fund the scholarships, as part of FHRI’s Clinician Researcher Training Program.
The program has been designed to build the clinician researcher workforce by encouraging and supporting PhD studies across pre-consultant medical and dental, allied health, nursing and midwifery professionals.
Scholarship recipients receive a support package for up to 3.5 years full-time or equivalent part-time, with funding contributions from both the Fund and THRF.
Briony Marshall, THRFG Deputy CEO, said that the funding would allow all three recipients to conduct research into areas of unmet need across Western Australia.
“This is another important co-funding relationship with the WA Government’s FHRI Fund and reflects our ongoing investment in improving the health outcomes of all Western Australians,” she said.
The recipients were chosen from a competitive field and underwent a rigorous approval process and reflect a broad spectrum of health needs in Western Australia and align with the WA government’s identified priority populations.
The recipients include:
Dr Lachlan O’Sullivan
WA Country Health Service | North Metropolitan Health Service | Curtin University
Dr O’Sullivan’s research will focus on rural medical vocational training to support future senior medical workforce development.
He said it was great to see The Hospital Research Foundation Group supporting research in rural, regional and remote healthcare – one of the WA Government’s identified priority populations.
“I am hopeful that this research partnership between The Hospital Research Foundation, Department of Health, WA Country Health Service, North Metropolitan Health Service, and Curtin University will produce research that has value to people receiving and providing healthcare across Western Australia,” he said.
Danelia Craill
South Metropolitan Health Service | UWA
As an intensive care nurse at Fiona Stanley Hospital, Ms Craill’s project will investigate breastfeeding initiation and outcomes after a major postpartum haemorrhage or pre-eclampsia admission to ICU.
She described being awarded the Clinician Researcher Training Program Scholarship as “an incredible honour”.
“This opportunity allows me to undertake my PhD in my area of clinical practice whilst supporting my role as a mother to my toddler and young baby,” she said.
“This group’s experiences are often overlooked despite their complexity and vulnerability.
“I am deeply grateful for The Hospital Research Foundation Group’s investment in clinician-led research that has the potential to deliver meaningful, real-world change.”
Zo Ee Wong | PathWest | UWA
A senior medical scientist in clinical immunology, Ms Wong will look at functional characterisation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells in haematological malignancies and transplantation.
More simply, her research aims to improve cutting-edge CAR T-cell therapy (where a patient’s own cancer-fighting T-cells are genetically engineered to better target cancer) as a treatment for blood cancers and make stem cell transplantation safer and more effective.
“This scholarship gives me the chance to study a new type of treatment that uses a person’s own immune cells to fight disease,” she said.
“This kind of therapy is already helping some people with blood cancers, but it doesn’t work the same way for everyone.
“With this support, our team hopes to find ways to improve these treatments and make them work for more people. I am very grateful for this opportunity and excited to be part of work that could make a real difference to patients’ lives.”
