Research on show at RBWH Healthcare Symposium awards

After three jam-packed days of research, innovation and partnership, the 26th annual RBWH Healthcare Symposium concluded with its awards ceremony on 14 September.

The awards highlighted some of the best and brightest minds at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH).

Symposium Chair Dr Merrilyn Banks said the research coming out of RBWH was so good that one winner per category just wasn’t possible, with two of the categories awarding joint winners.

‘The calibre of research we were judging this year was phenomenal. From bench discoveries to evaluating clinical services delivered by telehealth, it was amazing to see how much is going on across RBWH,’ Dr Banks said.

‘The judging panel had a tough decision in front of them,’ she said.

‘It was wonderful to see the winners’ reactions on the night. There were a few surprised faces as all of the nominees knew they had some stiff competition.’

Congratulations to the 2017 award winners:

Angela Byrnes (The Professor Lawrie Powell AC Early Career Research Award): exploring practice gaps to improve perioperative nutrition care of the elderly (experience study): baseline clinical audit.
Dr Elise Coghill (The Professor William Egerton Award for Medical Research): severe inflammation, adhesion formation and pain in response to the use of Flowseal for haemostasis during laparoscopic surgery
Associate Professor Victoria Eley (The Professor William Egerton Award for Medical Research): epidural extension failure in women with class III obesity is comparable to that of non-obese women—a prospective two-centre cohort study
Elise Button (The Cecilia Brazil Nursing Research Award): clinical indicators identifying the risk of deteriorating and dying in people with haematological malignancy
Tracey Hawkins (The Cecilia Brazil Nursing Research Award): the Cannulation Rates in the Emergency Department Intervention Trial (CREDIT)
Annette Collins (Health Practitioners Research Award): home-based telehealth service for swallowing and nutritional management following head and neck cancer treatment
Anna Weis (Discovery and Innovation Research Award): serum microRNA as a biomarker for Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis C—preliminary results and future potential
Emily Larsen (Clinical Research Award): intravenous administration set (infusion tubing) replacement after four or seven days is equally effective to prevent bloodstream infections (RSVP trial)
Professor Louise Cullen (Complex Health Challenges Research Award): improved assessment of chest pain trial (IMPACT): assessing patients with possible acute coronary syndromes
David Hughes (Health Services Implementation Research Award): ED Medicine Wise—fostering a medicine-wise culture in the emergency department
Professor Louise Cullen (Best Overall Presentation)