News and events

PhD Opportunity – UTAS – IMPACT project

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An exciting PhD opportunity to join the MRFF-funded Implementing clinical Pathways for Acute Care in Tasmania (IMPACT) project team, led by Dr Viet Tran (Royal Hobart Hospital and Statewide Director of Emergency Medicine Research).

The aims of the PhD are to improve care in Tasmanian EDs by embedding implementation science principles in health care systems and developing strategies to increase uptake of acute clinical pathways and reduce variations in care. The target acute care clinical improvement area will be co-developed with the candidate, dependent on clinical research interest.

Further details can be found here: Implementation Science improving ED care | University of Tasmania (utas.edu.au)) or contact Emma Tavender (emma.tavender@mcri.edu.au) if you have any specific questions.

Amit Kochar wins Research Award!

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Congratulations to Dr Amit Kochar who was awarded the Research and Innovation Award at the Women’s and Children’s Health Network Excellence Awards ceremony held on Friday, August 11th, 2023.

Amit has been a strong leader, motivating the team at WCHN to continuously strive for improvement and reach goals. Undoubtedly, achieving success in  research trials within the Paediatric Emergency Department is a collaborative effort involving a vast array of hospital personnel, nursing and medical staff.

Congratulations to Amit and the WCH team from PREDICT! 

 

 

Project Snapshot – PEACHY O & M

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PEAChY – O: Pharmacological Emergency management of Agitation in Children and Young people – A randomised controlled trial of Oral medication

Co-ordinating PI:  Elyssia Bourke

Study Co-ordinator: Kate Klein
Study design:

Randomised, controlled, open-label, multi-centre, phase III superiority effectiveness trial of: ORAL olanzapine vs ORAL diazepam.

For further background information see: https://www.predict.org.au/projects/peachy-o-and-peachy-m-studies/

Current status:

  • Study target sample size of 348 participants currently at 94% (N = 325 recruited). Nearing completion, over 12 months ahead of schedule!
  • PEAChY-O is on track to be complete by mid-September 2023.
  • Data cleaning is set to be finalised at all participating sites by late October, ready for final analysis.
  • An abstract is planned for presentation at the PAS in January 2024.

 

PEAChY- M: Pharmacological Emergency management of Agitation in Children and Young people – A randomised controlled trial of IntraMuscular medication

Study design:

Randomised, controlled, open-label, multi-centre, phase III superiority effectiveness trial of: INTRAMUSCULAR olanzapine vs INTRAMUSCULAR droperidol.

For further background information see: https://www.predict.org.au/projects/peachy-o-and-peachy-m-studies/

Current status:

  • Currently, 36% of the total number of participants required to meet the target sample size of 348 have been recruited.
  • Low recruitment across all sites due to several reasons. For example, management of ASBD events in the ED environment can be challenging and, commonly, many enrolled participants subsequently de-escalate (in behaviour) and no longer require IM medication (i.e. they either accept oral medication or no longer require any medication).
  • Education of clinical staff related to PEAChY-M continues at all sites to improve recruitment rates.

SAVE THE DATE – PREDICT members meeting 15th November 2023

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The PREDICT members meeting has been moved to 15th November 2023.  An amended calendar invite has been forwarded to all members.  Please accept the invite to ensure you have the correct date in your calendar.

The event will be held in Melbourne at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Registrations for the meeting via Try Booking will open in late September – you will be notified of this.

Present your “New Research Idea” at PREDICT Members meeting (15/11/23)

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We have scheduled up to three  “New research idea” presentations at the PREDICT members meeting being held face to face and via ZOOM on Wednesday 15th of November 2023.

Do you have a proposal you would like to develop and present for feedback?

If so, please email the PREDICT research co-ordinator Catherine.wilson@mcri.edu.au, a 1 – 2 page proposal by Friday 15th September 2023.

The 3 researchers selected to present their idea will receive mentoring from one of the PREDICT Executive with relevant expertise.

Presenters will be given 5 minutes to present the idea with an extra 10 minutes for discussion and questions. Presentations will be confirmed by 13th October 2023 and presentation times given later on.

 

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

RA study day in Melbourne – very successful meeting!

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Our presenters did a great job of keeping the crowd entertained!

Interactive and entertaining CHOICE UTI presentation from Laila.

Drinks and dinner at Captain Melville.

Our Perth team enjoy the group dinner.

 

Fifty-three clinical research staff from 23 sites across Australia, attended training for the CHOICE UTI, Mental Health Observational, FEBCON, SPASMS and Asthma prospective studies.  This event was held at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne on 24th and 25th July 2023.

This meeting provided an opportunity to meet fellow colleagues in the research team and learn about how these new studies will run in view of different settings.
There is nothing quite like being able to ask questions and give answers in a face to face context!

Thanks to the organising team including: Marian Chandler, Cate Wilson, Simon Craig, Naomi Loftus and Marietta John-White for ensuring the smooth running of this successful event.

New PREDICT publications

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Congratulations to the following PREDICT authors:

Borland ML, O’Brien S, Tavender E, Haskell L, Babl FE, Schembri R, Smedley B, Mitenko H, Robertson T, Mukherjee A, Dalziel SR. Evaluation of targeted implementation interventions for reducing investigations and therapies in infants with bronchiolitis. Acta Paediatr. 2023 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/apa.16786. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37026175.

O’Brien SL, Haskell L, Tavender EJ, Wilson S, Borland ML, Oakley E, Dalziel SR, Gill FJ. Factors influencing health professionals’ use of high-flow nasal cannula therapy for infants with bronchiolitis – A qualitative study. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2023; 11: 1098577. 

Bourke EM, Douglas N, Wilson CL, Anderson D, Nehme Z, Babl FE; Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT). Acute Severe Behavioral Disturbance Requiring Parenteral Sedation in Pediatric Mental Health Presentations to Emergency Medical Services: A Retrospective Chart Review. Ann Emerg Med. 2023 Jun 30:S0196-0644(23)00355-4. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2023.04.028. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37389492.

Craig S, Delardes B, Nehme Z, Wilson C, Dalziel S, Nixon GM, Powell C, Graudins A, Babl FE; PREDICT Network. Acute paediatric asthma treatment in the prehospital setting: a retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2023 Jun 22;13(6):e073029. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073029. PMID: 37349099; PMCID: PMC10314617.

Getting to know you – meet Rebecca Gridley

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Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Rebecca Gridley from the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

“I am currently an Advanced Trainee in Emergency Medicine and have been working at Queensland Children’s Hospital for the past 12 months. I have been very lucky to be involved in the data collection for some current studies within paediatric care, fostering an interest in research. I will be moving hospitals as part of my training but would like to stay linked in with research projects and remain up to date with evidence to provide the best possible care to all patients that I see. I hope to be able to contribute to research and continue to support advances in health care as my career progresses.”

Welcome to PREDICT Rebecca!

 

 

 

 

 

Project Snapshot – CHOICE UTI

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Clinical efficacy of single dose (daily) IV antibiotics followed by 2 days oral antibiotics compared to 3 doses (daily) IV antibiotics for children with complicated urinary tract infections: a multicentre randomised trial

Co-ordinating PI:

Laila Ibrahim

Study Co-ordinator

Emily McKie

Project aim/s:

The CHOICE UTI study is an international, MRFF-funded RCT across 5 PREDICT sites. The study is asking, for children with complicated UTI presenting to the ED, is a single dose IV plus two days oral as clinically effective as 3 doses IV antibiotics in resolving symptoms at 72 hours?

Definition:

1 dose: one dose of a daily dose IV to cover Gram negative bacteria  +/- one dose IV to cover Enterococcus spp. This will be followed by two days oral antibiotics.
3 doses: three doses of a daily dose IV to cover Gram negative bacteria +/- 3 days IV antibiotics to cover Enterococcus spp.

Recruitment:

The Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in 2022 and has now recruited 20 patients to the study. In May 2023, both the Women and Children’s Hospital (WCH) (Adelaide) and Monash Medical Centre (Melbourne) commenced recruitment. WCH has now recruited their second patient. Perth Children’s Hospital will be commencing in July 2023 and Starship (New Zealand) is to commence recruitment soon.

Study design:

An open label, multi-centre, pragmatic, non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (RCT).  It will incorporate a two-arm, non-inferiority design with parallel groups and 1:1 allocation of children presenting to the ED in whom clinicians deem parenteral antibiotics are required for a febrile complicated UTI.

Current status:
  • Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in 2022 and has now recruited 25 patients to the study.
  • Women and Children’s Hospital (WCH) (Adelaide) commenced recruitment in May 2023 and has recruited 4 patients to the study.
  • Monash Medical Centre (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in May 2023 and is waiting to recruit their first patient.
  • Perth Children’s Hospital will be commencing recruitment shortly, currently finalising governance sign off.
  • Starship (New Zealand) is currently applying for ethics for the study and will commence recruitment soon.

 

SAVE THE DATE – PREDICT members meeting 15th November 2023

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The PREDICT members meeting has been moved to 15th November 2023.  An amended calendar invite has been forwarded to all members.  Please accept the invite to ensure you have the correct date in your calendar.  The event will be held in Melbourne at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.