Archived News for Health Sector Professionals - May, 2012
The University of Wollongong’s newly appointed Australian Laureate Fellow Professor Gordon Wallace has launched a new $4.7 million medical bionics research program to develop ways to regenerate damaged nerves and muscles and ground-breaking brain implants for epilepsy patients.
Professor Wallace leads the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at UOW’s Innovation Campus.
His team is already recognised as a world leader in the field of materials and bionics, by creating specialised three-dimensional structures made from ‘smart’ materials which are accepted by the human body and can enable regrowth of damaged nerves and muscles.
Research shows complexity of body clock
International travellers, shift workers and even people suffering from obesity-related conditions stand to benefit from a key discovery about the functioning of the body's internal clock.
Researchers call for open sharing of clinical trial data
Australian researchers are calling for the open sharing of clinical trial data in the medical research community, saying it would be instrumental in eliminating bottlenecks and duplication, and lead to faster and more trustworthy evidence for many of our most pressing health problems.
New blood processing facility opened in Melbourne
A new $213 million blood processing facility has been opened in Melbourne which will manufacture about 30 per cent of Australia’s national fresh blood supply.
The new centre, the largest in Australia, replaces an older facility that was no longer fit for purpose.
The Australian Government is contributing more than half of the cost of the new facility and its future running costs, with the remainder funded by the state governments.
The Australian Government contribution is through its $5 billion Health and Hospital Fund established in 2009.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service will operate the new Melbourne centre under a funding agreement with the National Blood Authority.
New National Manager for TGA
The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) has appointed Dr John Skerritt as the new National Manager of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Nursing research centre launched
Australia’s first National Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing has been launched at Griffith University's South Bank campus.
Griffith University Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian O'Connor, described nursing at Griffith University as a major teaching and research strength and said NCREN was a platform for the further development of clinical nursing research expertise in Australia.
More than 10,000 nurses have graduated from Griffith University.
NCREN has received $2.5 million funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council for an initial five-year program of research focused on skin integrity and symptom management.
Ten chief investigators, among them eight nurses, are leading the research which is building an unprecedented body of evidence to inform nursing practices into the future.
The centre is partnered with the Gold Coast, Princess Alexandra and Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospitals in southeast Queensland, and the partnerships have already also extended to the Prince Charles and Royal Children's hospitals in Brisbane.
Universities funded to improve Canberra medical care infrastructure
The Australian National University, the University of Canberra and the Southern General Practice Network have received joint funding of $31 million to improve medical care infrastructure in the Canberra region.
Mental health survey open for feedback
Australians are now able to have their say on the nation’s first Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, through a new online survey available at http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/report_card
The release of the online survey follows a series of four Roundtable discussions, with over 140 prominent Australians from across the mental health and related sectors, which were held in Sydney.
Government forms expert groups to help form NDIS
The Federal Government has announced the formation of three expert groups to help inform the design of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Smoking in cars with children now illegal in ACT
ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Health Katy Gallagher MLA welcomed the start of the ban on smoking in cars with children under the age of 16.
World first Huntington study
Edith Cowan University (ECU) researchers are leading a world-first study which could change the way Huntington’s disease is treated.