Research and scholarship opportunities

Cardiovascular outcomes in regional and remote Australia

Investigator: A/Prof Isuru Ranasinghe

Ensuring equitable outcomes of cardiovascular care for Australians living in regional and remote Australia is a recognised national health priority. About 30% the population live in regional and remote Australia who have high rates of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, obesity, and hypertension which has been attributed to many compounding issues such as lower-levels of incomes, education and employment and suboptimal access to primary care and other preventative services.  Moreover, they have higher rates of hospitalisations for conditions such as ischemic heart disease (IHD) and heart failure (HF)3 suggesting that both primary and secondary prevention measures in regional and remote areas are likely worse than major cities. However, we know remarkably little about the outcomes of hospital-based cardiovascular care in regional remote Australia.

This research will utilise epidemiological methods and spatial mapping techniques to undertake a national study to assess the outcomes of common cardiovascular conditions in regional and remote Australia to generate actionable data to reduce inequality. It will compare short and long-term outcomes of hospitalised care for common conditions with major cities, compare utilisation and outcomes of specialised interventions and treatments and determine geographical variation in within regional and remote areas for more targeted intervention.

Validation of a novel tool to identify people with deteriorating health due to advanced heart failure for future care planning

Investigator: A/Prof Isuru Ranasinghe

Heart failure (HF) is a common cause of hospitalisation and death in older people. With an average age of 79y, these patients often have multiple comorbidities and > 70% have a degree of frailty. These patients are at high risk of death with 1 in 10 dying within 30-days and <50% surviving beyond 5 years. While active treatment to prolong life is warranted in most patients, some have advanced (end-stage) HF characterised by intractable symptoms, poor quality of life, and frequent hospitalisations that ultimately lead to death. Aggressive treatments provide little benefit in this latter stage. Rather, patients benefit most from end-of-life care planning to manage terminal HF symptoms which are recommended as best practice.

Nevertheless, prospectively recognising those reaching the end of life is often performed poorly in clinical practice.  Consequently, end-stage HF patients are often identified and palliated very late (typically in the last 24-48 hrs of life) despite multiple hospitalisations with a clear declining trajectory preceding their demise. With the input of patients, palliative specialists, and other stakeholders, we developed an advanced care planning (ACP) ‘trigger’ tool to prospectively identify and initiate discussion in patients with potential end-stage HF to facilitate early end-of-life care planning.  This research seeks to test the accuracy of this trigger tool in identifying patients with end-stage HF in a prospective clinical trial.

MPhil/PhD Top up Scholarships

Top-up Scholarships of up to $10,000 per annum are offered for periods of up to 2 years (MPhil) or 3 years (PhD) to support outstanding PhD or MPhil candidates undertaking full-time study in the department who are successful in gaining a UQ Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship or equivalent scholarship.

Joint Clinical Fellowship & HDR Training Program

The Joint Training Programs is a funded 2-year program to enable Cardiology Advanced Trainees to undertake clinical fellowship training in a chosen cardiology subspeciality while concurrently undertaking research training requirements to complete a MPhil via the University of Queensland.

For general enquiries about research and scholarship opportunities please contact: 

 Associate Professor Isuru Ranasinghe 

 Conjoint A/Professor in Cardiology

 Email: i.ranasinghe@uq.edu.au 

For questions about specific projects, please contact the lead investigator listed for the project. Alternatively, please contact Ms Sunnya Khawaja