Tracy Adams, CEO of yourtown, which runs Kids Helpline, said the program was needed more than ever in 2020 – even though schools were often empty. Our counsellors were connecting to schools and to students’ homes, using whichever platform that state’s education department was operating with.

"We’ve been developing digital platforms to reach children and young people for a number of years now, so we were able to quickly shift our support from classroom-based to home-based programs during periods of state and regional lock-downs last year.

“A special COVID-19 topic was introduced in the early days of the pandemic, and the overall demand highlighted the importance of young people connecting with others to improve their mental health during what was an incredibly challenging school year,” said Ms Adams.

An evaluation conducted by yourtown at the end of 2020, showed 70 per cent of children involved intended to try a new positive behaviour as a result of the Kids Helpline @ School program, and 81 per cent said they would consider contacting Kids Helpline if they had a concern or worry.

Julie Bissinella, Bupa’s Director of Community Engagement, said the program supported the Bupa Health Foundation’s focus on developing mentally healthy and resilient communities.

“Kids Helpline is playing a vital role in Australia’s health response to COVID-19 by ensuring children and young people of all ages can get timely access to mental wellbeing services when they need it most.” 

“Innovative programs and delivery models such as Kids Helpline @ School extend the reach and impact of these services, providing critical support and skills development for our young people,” said Julie.

Kids Helpline @ School is aiming to reach a further 30,000 young people in 2021 with ongoing development of the counsellor sessions available to schools and the digital platforms that are used to deliver the service.

Bupa Health Foundation’s partnership with Kids Helpline formed part of more than $3.9m it invested in the community in 2020.

Media reference number: 20/121

Annette Schmiede, Executive Leader of the Bupa Health Foundation (BHF) announced the two successful recipients of the grants. They are:

• Best care, first time – Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

• Follow my journey - Central Queensland Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast PHN

​This is the first time BHF has provided funding of this nature under a new grants submission process.

"We believe that these projects show great potential in addressing this pressing healthcare matter for Australia," said Ms Schmiede.

“Mental health has been a focus for the BHF for some time. As a health insurer, Bupa has seen mental health claims growth far exceed all other areas of claims. When talking to the community and Bupa customers we hear consistently that they want community-based care.”

“We undertook considerable testing across the research community and the general community to identify the challenges. We then asked the research sector to respond, with high impact research that would translate into improved services.”

Following an overwhelming response from the research community, the two successful projects were selected for their collaborative approach to research aimed at improving the consumers experience and wellbeing through new models of care.

Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre responded to the BHF’s call with a youth-focused, technology driven proposal. Professor Ian Hickie from the Sydney Brain and Mind Centre said it was important to measure the tangible benefits technology provides in empowering young people to access the best care.

"We want to test whether better coordinated care with new technology saves lives and makes more productive lives by better coordinating the care," said Professor Hickie.

Taking a person-centred approach, the Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast PHN use their funding to evaluate and improve on care delivery following the recent introduction of a stepped care model in their region.

Assoc. Professor Pattie Hudson, CEO of Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network, said little is known about how consumers move through various stages of mental health care, or the emotional toll moving between providers may take.

"The research project will use evidence to determine the patterns of service usage across the system, but it will also be heavily informed by the voices and experiences of those that use these services. As far as we know, this will be the first system-wide evaluation of the mental health system from a consumer perspective," said Assoc. Professor Hudson.

2) Why you should care about ‘phubbing’

3) A resident at our Pottsville home broke waves and barriers for women around the world

4) Bupa Blog Awards announced for 2018

5) A revolutionary robot is teaching Victorians with severe spinal and brain injuries how to walk again

6) Aged care staff in the spotlight - Dedication and the right attitude

7) Technology used for elite athletes is now aiding stroke patients in their rehabilitation

8) The magic of Meccano and its ability to help those living with Dementia

9) Meet Evelyn Bourke: From milking cows to running Bupa

10) BeYouAtBupa kicked off - here is the first person we interviewed

11) Study questions cannabis use for pain

12) Residents drive down memory lane

13) Australia launches biggest global music therapy trial

14) Wilhelmina celebrates her 110th birthday in style with tips from her daughter to living a long life

15) Rethinking obesity - Bupa Health Foundation tackles the tough topics

16) A GoPro + therapy dog + aged care home = just what the dogtor ordered

17) Bupa delivers lowest increase of the large insurers

Finished reading? Click here for more great reads.

This is the seventh year of the award which aims to highlight the important contribution early career researchers make toward improving health and healthcare for Australians.

The finalists have been recognised for their research in the following areas:

• Reducing hospital readmission and death after heart failure

• Reducing obesity through nutrition guidelines and programs in childcare centres

• Using technology to improve the physical and mental health of Australian adolescents

• Identifying new therapies for colorectal cancer using the immune system

Annette Schmiede, Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader, said the entrants for this year’s awards were quite diverse.

“The role of the Foundation is not only to support research through funding and partnerships, but also to develop the capabilities, skills and networks of researchers to improve the translation of their findings to have real impact on health and care,” said Ms Schmiede.

The Bupa Health Foundation Emerging Health Researcher Award recipient will be announced on 5 December 2018, at an evening event in Melbourne.

Bupa Health Foundation 2018 Emerging Health Researcher Award Finalists

Dr Katrina Champion, Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use, NDARC, University of New South Wales

Nominator: Professor Maree Teesson, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use.

Research Area: Using technology to improve the physical and mental health of Australian adolescents

Dr Katrina Champion is currently working to reduce the risk of chronic disease in high school students by helping them to modify key lifestyle risk behaviours.

She has been working with a range of professionals and young people across Australia to develop a digital intervention that uses computers, smart phones and interactive cartoons to educate young people about six key risk behaviours that are associated with chronic disease. The big six risk behaviours are identified as: alcohol use, smoking, inactivity, poor sleep, poor diet and excessive recreational screen time.

Dr Champion will lead a trial to evaluate the Health4Life program among 8,000 Year 7 students across Australia to show if the intervention can improve both physical and mental health during adolescence and reduce risky behaviours before they become entrenched.

Dr Jennifer Huynh, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI)

Nominator: Professor Matthias Ernst, Scientific Director, ONJCRI

Research Area: Identifying new therapies for colorectal cancer using the immune system.

Dr Huynh has a keen interest in understanding how the immune system works and how cancer cells can evade detection by the immune response. She has discovered that a molecule produced in our bodies called IL-11 can drive the growth of tumours, by preventing the immune system from attacking and killing colorectal cancer cells.

Dr Huynh is currently actively working with clinicians, researchers and industry to develop and test drugs that can block IL-11 to deliver a new therapy for cancer patients.

With colorectal cancer being among the deadliest cancers, Dr Huynh’s work has the potential to have lasting impact on the survivorship of Australian’s suffering from colorectal cancer.

Dr Quan Huynh, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

Nominator: Professor Tom Marwick, Director, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

Research Area: Reducing hospital readmission and death after heart failure

Dr Quan Huynh has developed a risk assessment tool to predict patients who are at greater risk of readmission and death following heart failure. With this information cardiologists can target the appropriate interventions to those at high risk. This will not only improve prognosis for patients but will also reduce health care costs.

Dr Huynh has validated the tool with an Australia-wide sample of heart failure patients and his findings on the interventions are already being adopted into clinical practice. The next step for his research is to improve efficiency by integrating mobile technology into the care of heart failure patients after hospital discharge. This model of care also has promising potential to help solve the barriers of those living in rural or remote areas.

Dr Serene Yoong, University of Newcastle

Nominator: Associate Professor Luke Wolfenden, MHMRC Career Development Fellow, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle

Research Area: Reducing obesity through nutrition guidelines and programs in childcare centres

Dr Yoong’s background as a behavioural scientist and experienced dietician has led to her research to help prevent obesity in children by implementing effective nutrition guidelines and programs in childcare centres.

Dietary habits are established in early childhood and can persist into adulthood, so by educating the childcare centres and giving them the right tools, knowledge, resources and support, Dr Yoong aims to reduce the burden of obesity. Dr Yoong is actively applying her research by engaging with end-users to deliver effective and scalable strategies targeting an important population group.

In addition to the four finalists, four outstanding nominees have been recognised with Commendation Awards and will receive a $1,000 prize.

• Dr Jing Jing Wang, Flinders University of South Australia

• Dr Natalie Bradford, Queensland University of Technology

• Dr Annmarie Hosie, University of Technology Sydney

• Dr Bridget Kelly, School of Health and Society and Early Start, University of Wollongong

Previous Emerging Health Researcher Award winners:

2017 Dr Amanda McCullough, Bond University

2016 Associate Professor Gail Garvey, Menzies School of Health Research

2015 Dr Gabrielle McCallum, Menzies School of Health Research.

2014 Dr Greg Ebert, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

2013 Dr Andy Hsu, Peter McCallum Cancer Centre

2012 Dr Priya Sumithran, University of Melbourne

More information on the Bupa Health Foundation and Emerging Researcher Awards

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of Australia’s leading corporate foundations dedicated to health. We are committed to improving the health of the Australian community and ensuring the sustainability of affordable healthcare through collaborative partnerships.

The Bupa Health Foundation was established in 2005 and has invested more than $30million to support over 120 projects in real health and care improvements.

The Emerging Health Researcher Awards is celebrating its sixth anniversary after being established in 2012.

For more information please visit www.bupa.com.au/foundation.

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Researcher focused on reducing the threat of antibiotic resistance wins Bupa Health Foundation Award

Bupa Health Foundation recognises future leaders in health and medical research

Indigenous health researcher wins Bupa Health Foundation Award 2016

Advancing Australia's healthcare system

The Chair of Bupa’s Board, The Hon. Nicola Roxon, when in government led anti-tobacco policy that brought about this world leading success in reducing rates of smoking in Australia. With 12.4% of people smoking, it is among the lowest in the world.

Our recent Bupa Health Foundation thought leadership lunch brought together researchers, clinicians and health leaders to generate renewed interest and ideas on how to address this looming public health crisis.

“Some people have said #food is not #tobacco. When the tactics of those industries are similar... we can apply some of those lessons to food,” Alexandra Jones @georgeinstitute #BHFobesity in context of how we approach unhealthy food and policy reform.

— Bupa Australia (@BupaAustralia) October 26, 2018

The message from the day was clear - we must rethink obesity. Obesity is about more than personal responsibility. If we were being honest, there is a belief that obesity is just a matter of self control - eating less and exercising more. We learnt that it is much more complex than that.

Our keynote speaker, The University of Sydney’s Professor Stephen Simpson reminded us that obesity is a chronic relapsing disease process that has complex drivers and as such there is “no single solution”.

It is now well understood that obesity is a complex condition with genetic, biologic and societal roots. We explored these issues through a panel discussion expertly facilitated by ABC journalist Ellen Fanning, who brought together the diverse perspectives on how to address obesity.

The panel included clinician Dr Kathryn Williams and health policy researcher Ali Jones, as well as playwright Alana Valentine, who was a writer in residence at Sydney University’s Charles Perkins Centre, a multidisciplinary research institute with a focus on obesity and improving global health.

Alana read a monologue from her new play Made to Measure which demonstrated the stigma associated with obesity and how as a society we need to change how we speak with those who are living in a bigger body.

Alana’s play is the result of a year spent alongside researchers and clinicians who are looking for new solutions to ease the burden of obesity. It is a great example of how communication of complex scientific topics can be improved by bringing different disciplines together.

Many guests left the event with a new perspective on this major health challenge and a renewed energy to achieve the goal set out in the Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation plan released by Innovation Science Australia to be the healthiest country on the planet. This will take a big effort as a recent CSIRO Report found that 63% of Australia’s adults are overweight or obese. If current trends continue it is expected that 83% of men and 75% of women over 20 will be overweight by 2025.

“We had stigmatised behaviours around #HIV & we wouldn’t shame someone with HIV who sought appropriate treatment. Similarly, we need to remove as much shame as we can for those seeking treatment for #obesity,” Alexandra Jones @georgeinstitute #BHFobesity

— Bupa Australia (@BupaAustralia) October 26, 2018

The Bupa Health Foundation has been a long-time supporter of Obesity Australia and a partner in their recent initiative the Obesity Collective whose vision is to transform the way society speaks, thinks and acts on obesity to reduce its impact on us all.

As part of this partnerships we have also committed to funding the Obesity Evidence Hub a comprehensive, easy to use website that will identify, analyse and synthesise the growing science on obesity, obesity prevalence and provide an important platform for policy issues.

Bupa Health Insurance is also currently investigating how it can better support customers to achieve their personal goals around a “healthy” weight.

As a leading provider of health and care in Australia and New Zealand, we understand that tackling obesity cannot be prevented by individual action and needs a whole of community approach.

Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader, Annette Schmiede, said there are more than four million Australians living with mental health conditions with the cost of mental health related services estimated to be close to $8.5bn per annum.

“There is a clear need for progressive models of care that are aligned with the health needs and care preferences of today’s population. Along with the opportunity to utilise the available data and technology of a modern health system,” Ms Schmiede said.

“At the moment services are often delivered in isolation of the broader health care and social care needs of the individual. We’re looking for a cross-section of research and industry groups to work together on this project to represent different perspectives, organisations and parts of the health sector.

The following mental health research themes have been identified as areas of interest:

• community delivered mental health care designed and delivered to meet that needs of the modern consumer;

• holistic models of care that integrate mental wellbeing and illness care with wider healthcare and social systems;

• evaluation and/ or scalability of innovative mental health models of care; and

• digitally-enabled models of care that promote accessibility, appropriateness and efficiency of mental health care, including use of data for informing and evaluating models of care.

The Bupa Health Foundation is accepting Expression of Interests from 13 August 2018 until Monday 17 September.

All details on the Foundation Grants Program including criteria can be found at: www.bupa.com.au/foundation

The successful project/s will be announced in December.

Associate Professor Dr John Parsons of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland led a team reviewing the clinical needs and resources used to provide care to older people across 61 Bupa residential care facilities.

The research was funded by the Bupa Health Foundation.

The findings validate the use of the interRAI classification (RUG-III) for use in New Zealand, paving the way for better targeting of funding and care for older people in residential care facilities.

Under the current funding system the District Health Boards (DHBs) distribute funding to the aged care sector across different levels of care.

The most expensive to fund is specialist hospital (psychogeriatric) care, followed by dementia care, continuing (hospital) care and rest home care.

Currently, people in New Zealand in residential care facilities have their needs assessed every six months using the interRAI LTCF (Long-Term Care Facilities Assessment System), a comprehensive assessment tool for older people.

This tool, mandated for use in July 2015, was originally devised in Canada.

In the research, Dr Parsons's team suggests that use is made of the system called RUG -III (Resource Utilisation Groups) to better distribute funding to improve the quality and personalisation of care plans for older people.

“What we know from work we’ve done in New Zealand and internationally is that if you change the funding model it incentivises innovation. It’s a way of improving care to our older people.

"This latest research confirms the applicability of the RUG-III case-mix for residential aged care in New Zealand.”

Jan Adams, Managing Director of Bupa New Zealand said, “Bupa has been happy to participate in this significant research with The University of Auckland."

"This research will help policy makers and providers better understand the care needs of older people and the resources required to meet their needs.”

Annette Schmiede, Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader said that the potential impact of Dr McCullough’s work was huge.

“Dr McCullough’s contribution in this area of research could be far reaching, and help us address a global health challenge. Ultimately, finding strategies to overcome antibiotic resistance can save lives – in Australia and around the world.”

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria can resist being killed by antibiotics – medications that are used to help the body fight off bacterial infection.

“By 2050, around 10 million people each year could be dying because of antibiotic resistance,” said Dr McCullough.

The more antibiotics are used unnecessarily, the faster the world will be overcome by bacteria that no longer responds to our medicines.

Her research has shown that Australian GPs prescribe nearly 6 million antibiotics annually, which Dr McCullough has demonstrated is 4 to 9 times higher than what is recommended by Australian guidelines.

As part of her research, Dr McCullough has been reviewing the evidence on why GPs and members of the public use antibiotics, and how this could be reduced for common conditions such as coughs, colds, flus and ear infections.

To help change prescribing behaviour, she is also involving a psychologist in her work. “It’s different to what’s often done in these things. So, I guess that is where my work is quite different in that I’ve set the benchmark, and now I’m trying to close the gap.”

Dr Chris Del Mar, Professor of Public Health at Bond University, nominated Dr McCullough for a Bupa Health Foundation Emerging Health Researcher Award in recognition of her driving ambition, hard focus and potential.

Professor Del Mar said the importance of Dr McCullough’s research lies in the seriousness of antibiotic resistance, and the potential harm it could cause people all around the world.

“If we can’t be sure that antibiotic cover is effective then all of our lifesaving treatments- hip replacements, chemotherapy for cancer, stents in the heart - will be too dangerous to do. Medicine will be retreating back to the 1930s,” said Professor Del Mar.

The prize money from this prestigious award will allow Dr McCullough to expand her work to change antibiotic prescribing practices nationally.

“To my mind, there is actually no point of doing research if you can’t get it into practise so that it improves health. So, that’s really my driving force, I guess,” adds Dr McCullough.

In addition to Dr McCullough, five additional outstanding health researchers have been acknowledged as finalists and have been awarded $5,000 to continue their research that is driving changes in health policy and practice in Australia.

More information on the Bupa Health Foundation and Emerging Researcher Awards

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of Australia’s leading corporate foundations dedicated to health. We are committed to improving the health of the Australian community and ensuring the sustainability of affordable healthcare through collaborative partnerships.

The Bupa Health Foundation was established in 2005 and has invested more than $30million to support over 120 projects in real health and care improvements.

The Emerging Health Researcher Awards is celebrating its sixth anniversary after being established in 2012.

For more information please visit www.bupa.com.au/foundation

Details on research projects below:

Dr Amanda McCullough, Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Bond University

Area of research: ‘Reducing antibiotics prescribing in general practice’

Nominator: Dr Chris Del Mar, Professor of Public Health, Bond University

Dr Amanda McCullough’s research is focused on reducing antibiotics prescribing. This work aims to help lessen the impact of antibiotic resistance, which could kill 10 million people every year by 2050. Her research has shown that Australian GPs prescribe nearly 6 million antibiotics annually, which is 4-9 times higher than Australian Guidelines. Dr McCullough is now working on a translational research programme to close this gap. She has been reviewing the evidence on why GPs and members of the public use antibiotics to identify how that could be reduced, and including psychologists in the process as well. She will translate her research into local general practice to show that GPs can safely reduce the amount of antibiotics prescribed.

Dr Bridianne O’Dea, Black Dog Institute

Area of research: Using technology and social media to identify, treat and prevent mental illness and promote wellbeing in youth

Nominator: Professor Helen Christensen, Chief Scientist, Director, Black Dog Institute

Dr Bridianne O’Dea has been researching the impact the internet, social media and mobile phones have on the younger generation. Her research has shown how they can be useful tools in helping to identify, treat and prevent mental illness and promote wellbeing in young people. She has developed an online service called Smooth Sailing, which young people can visit in the classroom. The website screens their mental health and allocates them to a level of care. And if they’re in need of help, it automatically alerts the school counsellor and then follows up with them every two weeks through SMS and email check ins.

Dr Emma Beckett, The University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health

Area of research: Gene-nutrient-environment interactions

Nominator: Associate Professor Mark Lucock, Associate Professor and Program Convenor (Food Science and Human Nutrition)

Dr Emma Beckett is a scientist who is researching how our genes, nutrients and the environment interact to help find out how everyone live longer and healthier lives. Her research considers factors in our environment, including how much sun we get, what bacteria we have in our guts, drinking alcohol and smoking, and how this influences the way our genes and nutrients interact. Dr Beckett says that nutrition affects everyone and that’s why she is doing research in the field. Her work is important because within the field of nutrition, there is a lot of misinformation, hype and media that can mislead consumers.

Dr Jaquelyne Hughes, Menzies School of Health Research and Royal Darwin Hospital

Area of research: Reducing rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Indigenous communities

Nominator: Professor Alan Cass, Director of Menzies School of Health Research

Australia’s first and only Indigenous nephrologist (kidney specialist), Dr Jaquelyne Hughes is conducting research into chronic and end stage kidney disease, potentially preventable conditions that affects a high number of Indigenous Australians. Dr Hughes is a national leader in kidney disease research and works with policy makers, clinicians, and the community to help drive awareness of the issue. As part of her research, she helped lead the Indigenous patients voice symposium at the annual Nephrologists scientific meeting. The recommendations helped shape the symposium report with the recommendations for policy taken into consideration.

Dr Rae-Anne Hardie, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Area of research: Enhancing quality of pathology testing in general practice

Nominator: Professor Andrew Georgiou, Head of Diagnostic Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Over half of Australians live with at least one chronic condition, and collectively they are the leading cause of illness and death. Dr Rae-Anne Hardie has been researching the use of pathology and laboratory testing in general practice. It’s one of the first projects in Australia to be able to use general practice to look at this testing in the context of preventing and detecting chronic diseases early on. Dr Hardie has access to data from 2 million Australian patients and has identified key pathology tests as indicators to monitor conditions, including diabetes, prostate cancer, arthritis, thyroid disease, mental illnesses, genetic conditions, and cardiac diseases. By analysing the general practice data for any indicators of chronic illness, it will benchmark pathology testing and help to measure the impact of testing on patient care.

Dr Thushara Perera, Bionics Institute

Area of research: Precise instrumentation to measure hand tremor, balance, posture, rigidity, and gait in movement disorder patients

Nominator: Professor Hugh McDermott, Neurobionics Research Program Leader, Chief Technology Officer, Bionics Institute

Dr Thushara Perera is developing new technologies to assess movement in those living with disabling neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and multiple sclerosis. He is working closely with neurologists, neurosurgeons, physiotherapists and engineers to develop clinical tools to help optimise and guide treatment for patients. With over 75,000 Australians living with Parkinson’s disease, Dr Perera’s research has tremendous potential to improve clinical practice and health outcomes nationwide.

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Bupa Health Foundation recognises future leaders in health and medical research

Indigenous health researcher wins Bupa Health Foundation Award 2016

Advancing Australia's healthcare system

Now in its sixth year, this prestigious award highlights the importance of supporting research that will have a real impact on how health care is delivered in Australia.

The finalists are being recognised for the following projects:

• Reducing antibiotics prescribing in general practice

• Using technology and social media to identify, treat and prevent mental illness and promote wellbeing in youth

• Reducing rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Indigenous communities

• Enhancing quality of pathology testing in general practice

• Precise instrumentation to measure hand tremor, balance, posture, rigidity, and gait in individuals with movement disorders.

• Gene-nutrient-environment interactions

Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader, Annette Schmiede said the 2017 award had a strong focus on research translation.

“More than 120 nominees were proposed by the research community, drawing attention to and celebrating the research achievements of early career scientists, academics and clinicians,” Ms Schmiede said.

Ms Schmiede was impressed with the high calibre achievements of those nominated. “Our 2017 Emerging Researcher Award finalists have already made significant impact on improving healthcare for individuals and populations.

“Continuing to recognise and celebrate this important group of early career researchers is essential to ensuring a vibrant research sector.”

The Bupa Health Foundation Emerging Health Researcher Award recipient will be announced on 16 March 2018, at a breakfast event in Sydney.

Watch the videos below with all the finalists:

Bupa Health Foundation Emerging Health Researcher Award finalists

Dr Amanda McCullough, Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Bond University

Area of research: ‘Reducing antibiotics prescribing in general practice’

Nominator: Dr Chris Del Mar, Professor of Public Health, Bond University

Dr Amanda McCullough’s research is focused on reducing antibiotics prescribing. This work aims to help lessen the impact of antibiotic resistance, which could kill 10 million people every year by 2050. Her research has shown that Australian GPs prescribe nearly 6 million antibiotics annually, which is 4-9 times higher than Australian Guidelines. Dr McCullough is now working on a translational research programme to close this gap. She has been reviewing the evidence on why GPs and members of the public use antibiotics to identify how that could be reduced, and including psychologists in the process as well. She will translate her research into local general practice to show that GPs can safely reduce the amount of antibiotics prescribed.

Dr Bridianne O’Dea, Black Dog Institute

Area of research: Using technology and social media to identify, treat and prevent mental illness and promote wellbeing in youth

Nominator: Professor Helen Christensen, Chief Scientist, Director, Black Dog Institute

Dr Bridianne O’Dea has been researching the impact the internet, social media and mobile phones have on the younger generation. Her research has shown how they can be useful tools in helping to identify, treat and prevent mental illness and promote wellbeing in young people. She has developed an online service called Smooth Sailing, which young people can visit in the classroom. The website screens their mental health and allocates them to a level of care. And if they’re in need of help, it automatically alerts the school counsellor and then follows up with them every two weeks through SMS and email check ins.

Dr Emma Beckett, The University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health

Area of research: Gene-nutrient-environment interactions

Nominator: Associate Professor Mark Lucock, Associate Professor and Program Convenor (Food Science and Human Nutrition)

Dr Emma Beckett is a scientist who is researching how our genes, nutrients and the environment interact to help find out how everyone live longer and healthier lives. Her research considers factors in our environment, including how much sun we get, what bacteria we have in our guts, drinking alcohol and smoking, and how this influences the way our genes and nutrients interact. Dr Beckett says that nutrition affects everyone and that’s why she is doing research in the field. Her work is important because within the field of nutrition, there is a lot of misinformation, hype and media that can mislead consumers.

Dr Jaquelyne Hughes, Menzies School of Health Research and Royal Darwin Hospital

Area of research: Reducing rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Indigenous communities

Nominator: Professor Alan Cass, Director of Menzies School of Health Research

Australia’s first and only Indigenous nephrologist (kidney specialist), Dr Jaquelyne Hughes is conducting research into chronic and end stage kidney disease, potentially preventable conditions that affects a high number of Indigenous Australians. Dr Hughes is a national leader in kidney disease research and works with policy makers, clinicians, and the community to help drive awareness of the issue. As part of her research, she helped lead the Indigenous patients voice symposium at the annual Nephrologists scientific meeting. The recommendations helped shape the symposium report with the recommendations for policy taken into consideration.

Dr Rae-Anne Hardie, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Area of research: Enhancing quality of pathology testing in general practice

Nominator: Professor Andrew Georgiou, Head of Diagnostic Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Over half of Australians live with at least one chronic condition, and collectively they are the leading cause of illness and death. Dr Rae-Anne Hardie has been researching the use of pathology and laboratory testing in general practice. It’s one of the first projects in Australia to be able to use general practice to look at this testing in the context of preventing and detecting chronic diseases early on. Dr Hardie has access to data from 2 million Australian patients and has identified key pathology tests as indicators to monitor conditions, including diabetes, prostate cancer, arthritis, thyroid disease, mental illnesses, genetic conditions, and cardiac diseases. By analysing the general practice data for any indicators of chronic illness, it will benchmark pathology testing and help to measure the impact of testing on patient care.

Dr Thushara Perera, Bionics Institute

Area of research: Precise instrumentation to measure hand tremor, balance, posture, rigidity, and gait in movement disorder patients

Nominator: Professor Hugh McDermott, Neurobionics Research Program Leader, Chief Technology Officer, Bionics Institute

Dr Thushara Perera is developing new technologies to assess movement in those living with disabling neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and multiple sclerosis. He is working closely with neurologists, neurosurgeons, physiotherapists and engineers to develop clinical tools to help optimise and guide treatment for patients. With over 75,000 Australians living with Parkinson’s disease, Dr Perera’s research has tremendous potential to improve clinical practice and health outcomes nationwide.

Previous Emerging Health Researcher Award winners:

2012 Dr Priya Sumithran, University of Melbourne

2013 Dr Andy Hsu, Peter McCallum Cancer Centre

2014 Dr Greg Ebert, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

2015 Dr Gabrielle McCallum, Menzies School of Health Research.

2016 Associate Professor. Gail Garvey, Menzies School of Health Research

More information on the Bupa Health Foundation and Emerging Researcher Awards

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of Australia’s leading corporate foundations dedicated to health. We are committed to improving the health of the Australian community and ensuring the sustainability of affordable healthcare through collaborative partnerships.

The Bupa Health Foundation was established in 2005 and has invested more than $30million to support over 120 projects in real health and care improvements.

The Emerging Health Researcher Awards is celebrating its sixth anniversary after being established in 2012.

For more information please visit www.bupa.com.au/foundation.

UP NEXT:

Indigenous health researcher wins Bupa Health Foundation Award 2016

Advancing Australia's healthcare system

Blog by Annette Schmiede, Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader

The Bupa Health Foundation held a lunch in Sydney recently for over 100 leaders from across the health sector. It was a very diverse group from government, providers, both public and private, industry and consumer associations. I am pleased to say it was a very successful event so I thought I would share some of my short talk that set the scene for the day’s discussion which was the Future of Healthcare.

On all measures, Australia’s health system comes up in the top group of health systems in the world. I have heard many senior people say if they had to choose any country in the world in which to be sick Australia is the one.

Despite this endorsement our health system is facing many challenges related to the increasing longevity and frailty of older Australians, the emergence of many people with multiple chronic diseases related to our modern sedentary lifestyle and diet of processed foods.

Ken Hillman, a professor of intensive care with many years of experience running ICU’s across Sydney, recently gave an interview on ABC Radio that summed up the stark change he has seen over his professional lifetime.

When he began his career in the ‘80s, most patients in ICU were young people with life threatening conditions that were reversible, such as trauma or infections.

Today, he said the majority are patients in their 80’s, 90’s, and even over 100, who are often receiving complex and invasive life prolonging treatments, when all they want to do is die at home in peace with their families.

This is because our health system is not really a system.

We have multiple funders, including PHI, multiple providers from single practice GP’s right up to the most complex teaching hospitals.

Donald Trump had it right when he said: “Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.”

Governments in Australia have a history in Australia of undertaking national reviews of the health system, usually about every decade.

The last national review in 2008 was chaired by Prof Christine Bennett AO who was the chief medical officer of MBF at the time. Some of their recommendations around primary care and hospital funding and governance were taken up, but many were not.

We rarely undertake big system-shaping national health reform in Australia and this task is made even more complicated with our Federal-State structure.

Health reform is daunting because of the complexity. Any change must consider the reality of our current structures and arrangements: the public/private mix; how we finance healthcare; the role of private health insurance; how we pay for services; the under-resourcing of prevention; priority driven research; the list goes on.

It is further complicated when different stakeholders are focused on their needs and interests which may not be in the best interest of the system overall.

If we can reach consensus across a diverse group of stakeholders on this fundamental principle, we are far more likely to give the government courage to act on complex and sensitive reforms.

The Bupa Health Foundation’s recent lunch included former Health Ministers Nicola Roxon and Michael Wooldridge sharing their expertise and outlining their vision for the future.

They both believe the health system needs to be re-shaped, but we are still grappling with identifying the exact problem that needs fixing, and what success looks like.

Ms Roxon pointed to our major health reforms – like Medicare, Medibank, and tobacco controls – as successful because everyone wanted the same thing.

“Governments can’t make it happen if there isn’t enough agreement amongst these very difficult stakeholders,” she said.

Dr Wooldridge said Australia had some catching up to do in several areas.

“I would like to see an environment where there’s far more incentive to innovate than exists today and I’ll just give you one example. In 2000, we led the world in health IT. Today in 2017 health IT is an absolute unmitigated disgrace in Australia,” he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has widely consulted across the entire sector as he develops his next wave of health reforms.

Bupa has been working with Minister Hunt to address affordability, which is our customers’ number one priority.

As a diverse health and care company operating in health insurance, aged care, dental, optical and many other areas, we have a broad view of our health system, and we see there are many opportunities to make the system more efficient by reducing duplication and eliminating waste as a start.

The Bupa Health Foundation is funding several research initiatives with a focus on health system sustainability starting with children in their first 1000 days to ensure they have a strong foundation to a healthy life.

A flagship project is the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) Partnership Centre on System Sustainability administered by Macquarie University and the Australian Institute for Health Innovation that began this year.

This is a multimillion dollar project that will focus on reforms across many areas of the health system with the aim of improving affordability and thus long term sustainability of the whole health system. The Bupa Foundation was instrumental in the establishment of this project and have invested over $2 million.

We are all part of Australia’s changing population and health needs – funders, frontline service providers both public and private, academics and researchers, advocacy groups, consumers, professional organisations, start-ups.

We all need to have a voice in discussions about the future of healthcare and agree on a way forward.

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of Australia’s leading corporate foundations dedicated to health and has invested $30 million over the last ten years, including $13.5 million to the university sector through 49 projects across 17 universities.

The Bupa Health Foundation’s 2017 Annual Report can be read here.

By Dr Dwayne Crombie, Managing Director Health Insurance

In thinking about the future of healthcare, I thought I might return to those things I trained in before I passed to the dark side of “health insurance”, namely public health.

On one level, we do very well in Australia, typically we come in the top three for life expectancy with an Australian male child born in 2010 actually topping the world rankings at 80.1 (Lancet, 2017). The health system here compares favorably to our natural peers as evidenced by the recent Commonwealth Fund Survey.

And we don’t even spend that much being a fraction under the OECD average percentage (and that is helped by the static state health spending in Europe post GFC). But there is widespread evidence that our health system (like most western countries) is not fit for our future challenges.

In reminding ourselves that any system exists to serve our community, not serve itself, I thought I might highlight three vignettes about current and future challenges.

The first is about our children. Often infant mortality is used as a crude measure of ‘health in a country’, ours is okay at best, we just make it inside the top 20 but do better than our traditional peers (UK, USA, Canada & NZ).

However, at a more granular level, we now know a lot about how important the first 1000 days really are (from the time of conception). From conception to the age of two, babies grow at an astonishing rate and adapt constantly and with considerable plasticity in their key systems.

When I trained, we thought DNA explained pretty much everything with the odd dose of nurture.

Now we know that the interplay between the environment we face can have a considerable impact on how our genes are expressed – through the newish science of epigenetics. With really strong evidence that the what and how we are exposed to our environment at the start of life affects our propensity to many conditions later in life. Indeed we know these experiences can be passed on epigenetically from mothers and grandmothers in particular. (Telomeres provide a weathervane on how things are going)

As well as that we know that how our brains wire up (synaptic pruning) is also a key factor along with the complex interaction with our microbiome including gut microbiota.

At a practical level, social and emotional bonding and attention has a profoundly positive impact, so one challenge is how can we improve resilience in those babies and families who are disadvantaged and whether we can undo some of negative impacts earlier in life (much less expensive than fixing the downstream problems) by much more proactive interventions with families.

Obesity and being overweight is a much more recent challenge to humanity. It is a leading cause of ill health and a rapidly increasing factor in all cause mortality. 35% of adult Australians are overweight and 30% are obese, making some 2/3’s of the adult population. We manage 600 million visits to fast food outlets annually! Even more alarmingly the Deakin Research Centre on Obesity (WHO Collaborative) found rates of up to 38% for obese or overweight children in grade 4 in rural Victoria and it is in children and young people where the battle is being lost (compare this with a 7% rate when I was a child).

Now, at one level of healthcare sustainability, one could keep building bigger and bigger hospitals with more doctors to keep up with more and more stenting, more amputations or even being more proactive with lots more invasive and non-invasive bariatric (obesity) surgery.

Looking back at photos of the 1970’s, it is not just the hair and clothes you notice, but how thin everyone is. The editor of the Harvard Public Health Magazine went so far as to suggest we need a 1970’s protest movement to undo the powerful convergence of the food industry, food availability, the substitution of fat by even more energy dense carbohydrates from the flawed focus around low fat only. Indeed there may be plenty to learn from that other great crusade in public health – reducing tobacco use on how we might solve a challenge like this, but this is much more multi-dimensional.

The major near term public health goal is to try and slow down the current trends, especially in children and young adults, where it may be easier to undo. Getting the science right and updating the key public messages is in train, but the science is complex because epigenetics and the microbiota may underlie many of the changes.

How do we mobilize communities? How do we find common ground with industry that at least moves in the right direction and how do we try to align economic incentives with health ones, using regulation only as necessary?

Our success as a species has especially relied upon our development of language and an amazing adaptive ability to share culture socially, by creating knowledge and expertise to share and pass on. Nowhere is this clearer than in human brain development, where the capacity to adapt through learning, plasticity and undoubtedly epigenetics is an evolved characteristic.

When the previous US surgeon general as asked, what was the most challenging disease of the 21^st century? He answered that it is social isolation.

How ironic, as Thomas Friedman pointed out in his recent book. We are the most technologically connected generation in human history and yet more people feel isolated than ever. Connections that seem to matter most, and are in most short supply today, are the human to human ones.

Isolation and weak social connects are known risk factors for many diseases. They increase the risk of heart disease by 30%, as well as substantially increasing your chance of being admitted to hospital and your risk of dying.

They also weaken communities and their resilience and ability to adapt. How we should respond from a system level is less clear. If a biochemical marker raised your risk by 30%, we’d be taking it very seriously and probably looking for a miracle drug for it. We won’t get our young people to give up their smart phones but how we help them with their loneliness?

Working with soldiers who feel isolated on deployment has shown that effective interventions focus on how one perceives social cues and then helps them reorient how they interact with others.

With older people the causes may be slightly different, it is often to do with “your world dying before you do”, as one older person put it. Therefore structured and routinized social support is proving more successful. Similarly, with middle age men who tend to let their friendships lapse.

In summary, if you ponder how we might address these three big issues it is not hard to see that strategies and programmes to proactively manage them up front do NOT occupy much of the time or resources of the traditional health system.

All require an ‘investment’ mindset with long lead times to show change (10+ years). All require complex behavioural, cultural and social change, there isn’t a magic bullet to fix them.

As a Kiwi, we have successfully applied an investment mindset to workers compensation, the same philosophy is now being applied to disadvantaged families and children by the Ministry of Social Development. It has support all the way up to our current PM, who as an ex Treasurer buys into this investment mindset.

I am inclined to think that the current health system is struggling to provide the kind of joined up leadership to strategically address any of these issues, given many require a clearly desired outcome and a much broader and shared community coalition, much akin to a ‘protest movement’. This may sound naïve but the pressure to solve these challenges upstream will increase dramatically.

As was pointed out at the recent CEDA forum, hoping for constitutional change to the split federal responsibility for health and the funding silos, is like hoping for the Tooth Fairy to wave her magic wand.

The clear implication is that we will have to rely upon incremental disruption. As with other sectors, this will principally come from: changing consumer expectation (as slow as that might be in healthcare), technology including digital and genomics, workforce roles, robotics and automation, partnerships - especially diverse and novel ones and reforming incentives for non inpatient care. Our fundamental task is to re-think how we better solve patient and consumer problems, needs and care.

Thank you.

Ms Roxon, Health Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments (2007-2011) was speaking at a Bupa Health Foundation event in Sydney to discuss the future of healthcare in Australia.

Innovation, in the form of disruption- and where to find it- was a key theme of the panel conversation.

“Because of the way our system works, the disrupters could actually be completely outside the health professions,” said Ms Roxon.

Ms Roxon warned the audience, which was largely made up of health industry professionals that they needed to give ground to each other so consumers didn’t go for quick fixes in the absence of major health reforms.

“We already spend a huge amount of money on non-pills and vitamins for a whole range of things. The worry is that disrupter could actually be more damaging than a more modest disruption that would actually require people to give up a bit more territory.”

She was joined by Dr Michael Wooldridge, Health Minister in the Howard government (1996-2001) Bupa’s Managing Director of Health Insurance, Dr Dwayne Crombie, and ABC broadcaster Dr Norman Swan.

“I think the key question is to figure out what is the problem and what are you trying to fix,” said Dr Wooldridge. “I think the health funds could be the disrupters if they were allowed to.”

“But they’re not allowed to at the moment and they’re not rewarded for being disrupters,” said Dr Wooldridge.

“The challenge inside the healthcare system, especially around more integrated care is to find ways to continuously adapt and innovate that don’t require big bang changes or major political reform,” said Dr Crombie.

Ms Roxon pointed to major reforms health reforms like Medicare, Medibank and tobacco controls, stressing a wide coalition is needed.

“The sorts of success on areas where there have been big reforms you’ve all the stakeholders wanting the same thing, so tobacco control (for example) that was relatively simple in a way because everyone agrees about the harms of tobacco and all sorts of unusual partners everyone agreed to do it.”

“I think we need to build the platform for what are the things that these unusual partnerships all want, because governments can’s make it happen if there isn’t enough agreement amongst these very difficult stakeholders all want.” said Ms Roxon.

At the centre of the discussion was keeping the consumer at the centre of all change.

Bupa Health Foundation chief, Annette Schmiede, reminded the audience to advocate for the consumer in the complexity of our current system.

“Any change has got to consider the current reality: how our structures currently are, what arrangements are in place, the public-private mix, what should that be, how we finance healthcare, the role of private health insurance, how we pay for services, the under-resourcing of prevention, priority driven research, the list goes on. But at the end of the day, the system needs to work for all consumers,” she said.

“I want us to talk about the outcomes for people and work out how all the different bits of the system can deliver that,” said Ms Roxon.

Dr Crombie outlined current and future challenges for the health system: the importance of the first 1000 days of life; obesity as the leading cause of ill health; and social isolation.

“If you ponder how we might address these three big issues it is not hard to see that strategies and programmes to proactively manage them up front do not occupy much of the time or resources of the traditional health system.

“All require an ‘investment’ mindset with long lead times to show change (10+ years). All require complex behavioural, cultural and social change, there isn’t a magic bullet (or pill) to fix them,” said Dr Crombie.

Dr Sumithran won the Bupa Health Foundation's Energing Researcher Award in 2012 for her study of how genetics plays a role in weight loss and obesity.

Dr Sumithran's research found changes in appetite regulating hormones after weight loss may add to difficulty in maintaining that weight loss.

Demystifying research

The Bupa Health Foundation has been funding Australian research for 12 years, investing about $30 million in health and medical research.

The Foundation's Annette Schmiede says one of the aims of the organisation is to bring research to the community.

Read about the latest alarming statistics on Obesity in Australia.

More work needs to be done on obesity

"The Health Foundation Award allowed us to conduct this study to try and answer the question of why there's so much variability in how people respond to a weight loss treatment," says Dr Sumithran.

"We need more research into obesity because contrary to what a lot of people thinks that it's just a lifetsyle choice, we know that there are strong biological reasons why certain people are predisposed to becoming obese and why certain people who become obese won't necessarily have any health problems related to that."

"Whereas some people will have a lot of complications associated with their excess weight, so the reason for the variation is not too well understood."

Find out more about the Bupa Health Foundation.

She will receive $25,000 to further her research to improve cancer treatment for Indigenous Australians after being announced as the winner of the Bupa Health Foundation Emerging Health Researcher Award last night at the Research Australia Awards dinner.

“My research is focused on cancer and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and I’m doing that because cancer has impacted on my family and my community and it’s an important issue that requires addressing,” said Assoc. Prof. Garvey.

“My research involves looking at Indigenous people’s participation in prevention strategies such as cancer screenings and investigating the support needs of Indigenous cancer patients and how that can impact on their uptake of services.”

Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader, Annette Schmiede, said a record number of nominations were submitted this year.

“There were many outstanding researchers so choosing the finalists was rather a daunting task. Our finalists are a very special group and I congratulate each of them and look forward to watching their careers’ progress.

“Our 2016 Emerging Researcher Awards finalists have already made significant contributions that have been recognized at home and globally,” she said.

“Early career researchers often work in an uncertain environment and the Bupa Health Foundation’s funding helps to provide additional financial support.

“We want to keep encouraging our Australian researchers to think big and make breakthroughs that can improve the health of all Australians. Supporting and funding emerging researchers is vital to our research sector remaining a leader and globally competitive.” she said.

Along with the winner’s grant, the other four finalists were each awarded $5,000 to continue their research in clinical and translational science. Another five shortlisted researchers will receive $1000 to use towards their research career. (Full background on projects available below)

About the Bupa Health Foundation

The Bupa Health Foundation is one of the country’s leading private charitable organisations dedicated to health. The Foundation has invested almost $30 million since its establishment in 2005 to support over 100 projects to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.

The Bupa Health Foundation is listed on the Australian Competitive Grants Register. For more information, go to: www.bupa.com.au/foundation.

Details on research projects below

Bupa Health Foundation 2016 Emerging Health Researcher Award finalists

Associate Prof. Gail Garvey, Menzies School of Health Research - winner

Area of research: Improving cancer treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Nominator: Professor Joan Cunningham, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Menzies School of Health Research

Associate Prof. Gail Garvey is an Aboriginal research leader based in Brisbane whose research is committed to closing the gap through improvements in cancer treatment for Indigenous Australians. Her project aims to reduce deaths from cancer through earlier detection and appropriate treatment, as well as improving overall quality of life for Indigenous people with cancer by reducing their unmet needs. An emerging leader in this field, Associate Professor Garvey’s early achievements include pioneering a tool to assist with measuring the supportive care needs of Indigenous cancer patients which is now being used across Australia.

Dr Laura Dagley, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research - finalist

Area of research: Innovating more accurate ways to identify acute rheumatic fever in Aboriginal children Nominator: Dr. Andrew Webb, Laboratory Head, Proteomics, Systems Biology and Personalised Medicine Division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

When acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is left untreated, it can lead to rheumatic heart disease (RHD), with disease-affected children often requiring multiple open-heart surgeries over their lifetime. ARF and RHD remains disproportionally high in Indigenous communities where Aboriginal people are nearly 20 times more likely to die from RHD than other Australians. This project aims to combat a clear need, with diagnosis of ARF changing little over the last 50 years. Dr Dagley has helped to innovate more accurate ways to identify ARF in Indigenous children. This new test identifies certain diagnostic markers circulating within the blood and will be available to clinics, therefore having the potential to reduce instances of RHD and its burden on Indigenous communities and our health system.

Dr Johana Paola Tello Velasquez, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University - finalist

Area of research: Preparation for a large-scale trial that aims to repair spinal cord injury following recent successful restoration of partial function in a human Nominator: Dr James St John, Head of the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, Griffith University

Dr Johana Paola Tello Velasquez is an emerging innovator in neuroscience who is preparing for an upcoming trial that aims to repair spinal cord injuries; a devastating condition that currently has no effective treatment. With over 12,000 Australians currently living with spinal cord injury, the total economic cost in Australia is $2 billion annually. The upcoming trial follows recent exciting results – including successful restoration of partial function in a human – that indicate we are on the verge of a life-changing discovery. The trial will involve transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells taken from a patient’s nose into their injured spinal cord, to promote repair and regeneration. Dr Velasquez will provide intellectual input in preparation for the clinical trial as part of a large team of experts.

Dr Emily Reeve, Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital - finalist

Area of research: Guidelines to withdraw low-value medication for people with dementia Nominator: Professor Sarah Hilmer, Head of Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Sydney

Dr Reeve’s research focuses on deprescribing (withdrawing) medications that are high risk or unnecessary, where the risks of taking the medicine(s) outweight the benefits. Deprescribing is a neglected and under-researched area, despite its impact in improving health outcomes and reducing financial costs from low-value health care. Dr Reeve’s current project will develop and implement deprescribing guidelines for people with dementia, which is important for our ageing population. She is already an emerging leader in this area, having developed the world’s first questionnaire to understand patients’ attitudes to deprescribing and developed this further to understand attitudes of carers of older people. It has been adopted across Australia, in Europe and in North America.

Dr Joseph Doyle, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred - finalist

Area of research: Improving Hepatitis C treatment in highly vulnerable patients to ultimately eradicate the disease from society Nominator: Professor Anton Peleg, Director, Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Health and Monash University

Dr Doyle’s research aims to improve hepatitis C treatment for vulnerable populations and ultimately eliminate it as a public health problem in Australia. His projects focus on delivering hepatitis C treatment to vulnerable people, with nearly 800 people so far receiving treatment. He has achieved this through innovative models of care, with a focus on greater support services in community settings. Dr Doyle shares his expertise as an advisor to the World Health Organisation and plays a significant role in the Elimination of Hepatitis C Partnership, which is among the first programs set up to eliminate viral hepatitis globally. Improved health of people with hepatitis C – and reduced transmission rates – using new oral combination treatments, indicate that it may be possible to eliminate hepatitis C.

Due to the high calibre of this year’s nominees, an additional ‘Commendation Award’ category has been included this year. Five nominees who were shortlisted but not selected as finalists will receive $1000 to use towards their research career:

• Dr Quan Huynh, Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute for Prediction and prevention of heart failure readmission
• Dr Ruth Webster, The George Institute for Global Health – Reducing Heart Attacks and Stroke by innovative use of Cardiovascular Preventive Medications
• Dr Andrew Gardner, Hunter New England Local Health District - Sports Concussion and Neurotrauma
• Dr Jocelyn Bowden, University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School, Northern Clinical School – Optimising primary care management of knee osteoarthritis: the PARTNER project
• Dr Katy Bell, University of Sydney/ Sydney School of Public Health - How are tests driving over diagnosis, overtreatment and over servicing of patients with chronic disease and what can be done about it?

$5000 will be awarded to each of the five finalists as part of the Bupa Health Foundation’s annual Emerging Health Researcher Awards, with the winner to be announced on 16 November and awarded a further $20,000 towards their research career.

The Foundation’s purpose is to support the role that research plays in improving the delivery and efficiency of our health system, as well as improving sustainable quality of life.

On the eve of the Awards’ fifth anniversary, the 2016 finalists have been recognised for the following projects:

• Closing the gap through improvements in cancer treatment for Indigenous Australians;
• Innovating more accurate ways to identify acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in Indigenous children to reduce the incidence, and devastating consequences, of rheumatic heart disease;
• Preparing for a large-scale trial that aims to repair spinal cord injury following recent successful restoration of partial function in a human;
• Developing guidelines to withdraw low-value medication for people with dementia; and
• Improving hepatitis C treatment in vulnerable patients to ultimately eradicate the disease.

Bupa Health Foundation Executive Leader Annette Schmiede said the Awards support the bright future of Australia’s health researchers to become global leaders.

“Australia has a proud history of pioneering and life-changing health science and research,” Ms Schmiede said.

“Supporting and funding emerging researchers is vital to our country remaining a leader in the field of health research. If we want to protect and enhance that reputation it’s critical that we nurture these skills and expertise.

“We want to keep encouraging our Australian researchers to think big and make discoveries that can change the health landscape.

“Young researchers in particular need a stable working environment to reach their potential, and the Bupa Health Foundation’s funding helps to deliver this support.

“Our 2016 Emerging Researcher Awards finalists have already made significant contributions that have been recognised at home and globally.

“I congratulate them on their achievements and work so far, and look forward to watching their potential progress our society’s health and future,” Ms Schmiede said.

The winner will be awarded $25,000 towards furthering their research career, while the other four finalists will each receive $5,000.

The Bupa Health Foundation 2016 Emerging Health Researcher Award winner will be announced at an event on 16 November 2016 in Sydney.

The Bupa Health Foundation has invested more than $29 million to support over 100 projects to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians since its establishment in 2005.

More information about the Bupa Health Foundation 2016 Emerging Health Researcher Awards can be found at www.bupa.com.au/foundation.

Bupa Health Foundation 2016 Emerging Health Researcher Award finalists

Associate Prof. Gail Garvey, Menzies School of Health Research

Area of research: Improving cancer treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Nominator: Professor Joan Cunningham, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Menzies School of Health Research

Associate Prof. Gail Garvey is an Aboriginal research leader based in Brisbane whose research is committed to closing the gap through improvements in cancer treatment for Indigenous Australians. Her project aims to reduce deaths from cancer through earlier detection and appropriate treatment, as well as improving overall quality of life for Indigenous people with cancer by reducing their unmet needs. An emerging leader in this field, Associate Professor Garvey’s early achievements include pioneering a tool to assist with measuring the supportive care needs of Indigenous cancer patients which is now being used across Australia.

Dr Laura Dagley, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Area of research: Innovating more accurate ways to identify acute rheumatic fever in Aboriginal children

Nominator: Dr. Andrew Webb, Laboratory Head, Proteomics, Systems Biology and Personalised Medicine Division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

When acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is left untreated, it can lead to rheumatic heart disease (RHD), with disease-affected children often requiring multiple open-heart surgeries over their lifetime. ARF and RHD remains disproportionally high in Indigenous communities where Aboriginal people are nearly 20 times more likely to die from RHD than other Australians. This project aims to combat a clear need, with diagnosis of ARF changing little over the last 50 years. Dr Dagley has helped to innovate more accurate ways to identify ARF in Indigenous children. This new test identifies certain diagnostic markers circulating within the blood and will be available to clinics, therefore having the potential to reduce instances of RHD and its burden on Indigenous communities and our health system.

Dr Johana Paola Tello Velasquez, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University

Area of research: Preparation for a large-scale trial that aims to repair spinal cord injury following recent successful restoration of partial function in a human

Nominator: Dr James St John, Head of the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, Griffith University

Dr Johana Paola Tello Velasquez is an emerging innovator in neuroscience who is preparing for an upcoming trial that aims to repair spinal cord injuries; a devastating condition that currently has no effective treatment. With over 12,000 Australians currently living with spinal cord injury, the total economic cost in Australia is $2 billion annually. The upcoming trial follows recent exciting results – including successful restoration of partial function in a human – that indicate we are on the verge of a life-changing discovery. The trial will involve transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells taken from a patient’s nose into their injured spinal cord, to promote repair and regeneration. Dr Velasquez will provide intellectual input in preparation for the clinical trial as part of a large team of experts.

Dr Emily Reeve, Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital

Area of research: Guidelines to withdraw low-value medication for people with dementia

Nominator: Professor Sarah Hilmer, Head of Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Sydney

Dr Reeve’s research focuses on deprescribing (withdrawing) medications that are high risk or unnecessary, where the risks of taking the medicine(s) outweight the benefits. Deprescribing is a neglected and under-researched area, despite its impact in improving health outcomes and reducing financial costs from low-value health care. Dr Reeve’s current project will develop and implement deprescribing guidelines for people with dementia, which is important for our ageing population. She is already an emerging leader in this area, having developed the world’s first questionnaire to understand patients’ attitudes to deprescribing and developed this further to understand attitudes of carers of older people. It has been adopted across Australia, in Europe and in North America.

Dr Joseph Doyle, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred

Area of research: Improving Hepatitis C treatment in highly vulnerable patients to ultimately eradicate the disease from society

Nominator: Professor Anton Peleg, Director, Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Health and Monash University

Dr Doyle’s research aims to improve hepatitis C treatment for vulnerable populations and ultimately eliminate it as a public health problem in Australia. His projects focus on delivering hepatitis C treatment to vulnerable people, with nearly 800 people so far receiving treatment. He has achieved this through innovative models of care, with a focus on greater support services in community settings. Dr Doyle shares his expertise as an advisor to the World Health Organisation and plays a significant role in the Elimination of Hepatitis C Partnership, which is among the first programs set up to eliminate viral hepatitis globally. Improved health of people with hepatitis C – and reduced transmission rates – using new oral combination treatments, indicate that it may be possible to eliminate hepatitis C.

Due to the high calibre of this year’s nominees, an additional ‘Commendation Award’ category has been included this year. Five nominees who were shortlisted but not selected as finalists will receive $1000 to use towards their research career:

• Dr Quan Huynh, Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute for Prediction and prevention of heart failure readmission
• Dr Ruth Webster, The George Institute for Global Health – Reducing Heart Attacks and Stroke by innovative use of Cardiovascular Preventive Medications
• Dr Andrew Gardner, Hunter New England Local Health District - Sports Concussion and Neurotrauma
• Dr Jocelyn Bowden, University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School, Northern Clinical School – Optimising primary care management of knee osteoarthritis: the PARTNER project
• Dr Katy Bell, University of Sydney/ Sydney School of Public Health - How are tests driving over diagnosis, overtreatment and over servicing of patients with chronic disease and what can be done about it?