Medical Research

Bionic eye trial shows improvements in functional vision for retinitis pigmentosa

Results of the first clinical trial of Australia’s ‘second generation’ bionic eye have demonstrated ‘substantial improvement’ in four participants’ functional vision, daily activities and quality of life over a period of more than two and a half years.

Led by the Centre for Eye Research Australia, Bionics Institute, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the trial findings add to interim results which showed that the second-generation bionic eye developed by Australian company Bionic Vision Technologies provided rapid improvements for four patients with blindness caused the genetic eye condition retinitis pigmentosa.

Study: First time stroke survivors have substantial immediate and accelerated long term cognitive decline

New evidence from the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) indicates that older adults who experience a stroke for the first time will have substantial immediate and accelerated long term-cognitive decline. 

Developing the next generation of medicines to target and enhance the microbiome

Australian Health Journal spoke to Associate Professor Sam Forster, Research Group Head
Microbiota and Systems Biology, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Team Leader, Australian Microbiome Culture Collection & Chief Scientific Officer, BiomeBank and Dr Sam Costello, Co-Founder and CEO of BiomeBank about the microbiome, partnering and some of the breakthroughs in recent years.

Detection and prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Professor Vicky Vass serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer’s Research Australia, which is based in Perth, Western Australia. Australian Health Journal met with Professor Vass to hear of the organisation’s mission to solve the mysteries surrounding Alzheimer’s disease, and focus on detection as the key to their efforts.

Landmark research projects tackle critical issues in emergency healthcare

For two decades, the demand for emergency department services in Australia has outpaced population growth and wait times have increased. In 2022-2023 more than 8.8 million emergency department presentations occurred nationwide.

While demand is a contributing factor, EDs are currently being impacted by various factors across the entire health system.

The Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) is a non-profit organisation funding innovative Australian research that improves the way people are cared for in a medical emergency. The aim of the research is to deliver better and more effective health services to save lives and money.

Brain cancer Professor mentors Tasmanian researchers

Rosemary Harrup trained in Victoria and Tasmania in Medical Oncology and Clinical Haematology, completing a dual Fellowship in 2001. She is the current Director of Cancer and Blood Services at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH), a role she has held since 2009.

Australian Health Journal spoke to Rosemary about her journey in medicine and specifically her work in Clinical Trials in Brain Cancer and the value she placed on her senior clinicians as mentors and how she now mentors others.

SAHMRI Celebrates 10 Years of Research

SAHMRI represents an exciting and unique statewide concept, bringing together basic and translational research, South Australia’s three universities and the health system. SAHMRI works in collaboration with its partners to provide a clear focal point for health and medical research, including paving the way for new partnerships, innovative research projects and improved health outcomes.

Executive Director, Professor Maria Makrides spoke to Australian Health Journal about 3 achievements in the past 10 years that have had significant impact

International leadership breakthroughs in leukaemia research
Culturally appropriate Indigenous health research and clinical care
Omega 3 fatty acids as a preterm birth prevention

Improved treatment in advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma

A global clinical trial successfully reduced toxicity and side effects in advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma patients by using a modified treatment regimen.

Australian Health Journal spoke with Professor Mark Hertzberg in his role in the ALLG HD10 Clinical Trial and as a former Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australasian Leukaemia & Lymphoma Group (ALLG), an organisation involved in improving the treatments and lives of blood cancer patients.

Tasmanian researchers and clinicians working together

Tasmanian medical research charity funds projects that have a global impact and improve community health and well-being.

Australian Health Journal spoke to Stephanie Furler the Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation about the impact of this research locally and in global health.

Landmark brain shape study

For over a century, researchers have thought that the patterns of brain activity that define our experiences, hopes and dreams are determined by how different brain regions communicate with each other through a complex web of trillions of cellular connections.

Now, a Monash University Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health-led study has examined more than 10,000 different maps of human brain activity and found that the overall shape of a person’s brain exerts a far greater influence on how we think, feel and behave than its intricate neuronal connectivity.

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