e-Health Research on Track

3 May 2005
Brisbane, Australia

After only 12 months of operation, Queensland's joint venture with CSIRO—the e-Health Research Centre—is delivering success on multiple fronts.

When Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie and Australian Science Minister at the time, Peter McGauran, launched the Centre in May 2004, it had six staff and big plans, under its inaugural CEO, Gary Morgan.

Now a year later those plans are well on the way to being realised.

"The e-Health centre is a brain magnet for the Smart State," said Mr Beattie—whose government met half the cost of the $15 million project.

"Dr David Hansen is a Queenslander who was lured back from a senior position in the UK to work at the e-Health Research Centre, and next week Dr Iain McCowan from Switzerland will join the Centre's imaging team. Others have come from around the world and interstate to work in this excellent facility.

"The Centre uses new technologies to improve people's health and lifestyle, and is particularly good for regional Queenslanders who may not be able to meet a health care worker in person.

"The Centre has already steered two major projects through to the stage of trials in the Queensland health system," Mr Beattie said.

The Centre's Health Data Integration (HDI) project is one major success. HDI provides clinicians and researchers with the ability to access, analyse and link health data without compromising confidentiality or the integrity of the original data.

"With HDI, researchers are able to identify issues that block adequate and timely treatment," says Gary Morgan.

Already in use to link and analyse data related to lung cancer, HDI, in conjunction with the CSIRO Preventative Health Flagship, is soon to be adopted for use by the national bowel cancer screening program, with a memorandum of understanding about to be signed.

The other research success for the Centre is trials currently underway at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane of personal monitoring technology to detect falls in patients recovering from a variety of conditions.

"This has potential to improve safety and quality inside hospitals and, with the growing acceptance of the benefits of home-based health care to eventually improve safety and quality of life for patients recovering outside hospitals by using similar technologies," says Gary Morgan.

As the CSIRO Board meets in Brisbane this week, and takes the opportunity to check on the Centre's progress, there are further positive signs for the future success.

Research Director, Dr Anthony Maeder has announced the awarding of two PhDs to Centre staff, Dr Justin Boyle and Dr Birgit Planitz, in areas of e-health research.

At the same time the Centre has established a PhD scholarship program in partnership with Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University to ensure a stream of innovative young scientists through the Centre.

One of these new students will investigate how to manage the scheduling of cancer treatment using specialised cancer treatment facilities across Queensland and northern NSW.

"This is a crucial issue for ensuring patients get access to vital treatment when and where they need it," said Gary Morgan.

"The second project is related to HDI and aims to investigate data mining techniques to extract more useful information from complex linked data sets for cancer patients—in order to improve our understanding of treatment and progression of this disease."

Background on the e-Health Research Centre

The e-Health Research Centre, a $15 million joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland Government, is at the forefront of e-health innovation in Australia and globally, and will revolutionise the way Queensland's health sector delivers services in the future.

Its world-class researchers conduct trials on e-health solutions in Queensland and undertake R&D into critical health conditions such as cancer and stroke, with the aim of building knowledge on how the next generation of information and communication technologies can improve the delivery of patient-centred health care.