Research

Clinical research and trials in Australia and New Zealand

Clinical research and trials in the Australia and New Zealand region offer foreign companies an opportunity to collaborate with local institutions, tap into diverse patient populations, access high-quality healthcare infrastructure, and gain regulatory approvals, enabling them to expand their market reach and accelerate the development of innovative medical interventions.

Clinical trials continued in Australia and New Zealand during lockdown, thanks to collaboration between industry and government, allowing the region to attract trials from other countries.

Lifelong research into Cannabis

Mechoulam was possibly the most significant academic to shed light on the active principles of the cannabis plant back in the 1960s, when his work at the Weizmann Institute led to the discovery of the human endo-cannabinoid system, giving him the title the “Godfather of cannabis research”. In a recent Global Health Talk with Michael Lesner, Professor Mechoulam reflects on his lifelong work in cannabis research.

Preventing surgery related infections

Surgical site infections (SSI) is infection that occurs after surgery in a part of the body where the surgery took place. Surgical site infections are seen as the most common healthcare-associated infection, significantly impacting healthcare resources in the UK and across the World.

Professor Leaper speaks on needing ongoing good antibiotic stewardship to reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant and emergent organisms. The pressures on administering antibiotics have led to tighter management and stewardship of antibiotics.

Global effort to reduce postoperative infection risk

Infection rates following surgical procedure vary across countries, however the causes and the ranges of variation are not well understood.

The causes of the infections are not as high as would be assumed on the surgical procedure, but co-morbidity and lifestyle choices including alcohol consumption may exacerbate risk. As Dr Edmiston states, there are a myriad of causes, and funding is limited in many countries. However there are some solutions, where goals, performance tracking against the goals and better communication is needed.

New global network into Pulmonary Research

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred. The debilitating and fatal disease ended the life of an Australian man 8 years ago.

His son led philanthropic efforts to establish the connection between 2 Australian organisations; Lung Foundation Australia and Centre for Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis and the US based, Three Lakes Foundation. The three organisations recently announced a collaboration to create a global network for PF research.

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