Round 40 grant recipients
8 Dec 2023
The Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) is delighted to announce funding outcomes for our 40th grant round in the Queensland Research Program, the Foundation’s flagship grants program. Over $440,000 in funding has been awarded to 10 grant applications, with the research projects and teams representing a broad range of subject areas across emergency and prehospital medicine.
EMF Board Chair Prof Hugh Grantham ASM said the latest round of recipients demonstrated the diversity of emergency medicine research funded by EMF.
“Emergency medicine as a specialty is incredibly broad, as evidenced by the diversity of grant applications receiving EMF funding in the latest grant round. From paediatric sepsis to first aid control of arterial bleeding, from contactless vital sign monitoring to ambulance telehealth for non-english speaking patients, the successful grants cover a wide range of different topics.
“What makes EMF unique is that many funded projects are small innovations and simple interventions that can have a significant impact as they can be carried out and translated into clinical practice in real time. Without EMF, many of these projects might go unnoticed and not attract research funding.
“In particular, with the Emerge grant scheme, EMF is able to support clinicians who otherwise might struggle to make a start in research.” said Prof Grantham.
In the latest grant round, two emergency nurses, a paramedic and an emergency physician were successful in obtaining an Emerge grant. Emerge grants are a dedicated grant scheme aiming at clinicians new to research, with mentorship being a key component.
EMF General Manager, Dr Angie Nguyen Vu highlighted the importance of continuity of EMF support for clinician-researchers in Queensland.
“For Emerge grants, it is exciting to see what project ideas new clinician-researchers come up with and what they are interested in. It is also heartening to see novices seeking out more experienced researchers who can mentor and guide them through the research process,” said Dr Nguyen Vu.
A great example of how EMF funding has fostered the development of the next generation of clinician-researchers is Dr Elizabeth Marsden’s research on the Geriatric Emergency Department Intervention (GEDI) intervention. Supported by an EMF grant in 2018, Dr Marsden evaluated the implementation of the GEDI model of service delivery into two regional emergency departments.
Now a successful model that has been rolled out statewide, GEDI also provided a research platform from which the Residential Aged care District Assessment and Referral Rapid Response (RADAR RR) model has been developed. RADAR RR is a pre-hospital co-responder model providing emergency care for residential aged care residents in their facility for acute illness and injury. Dr Marsden was successful in obtaining an EMF grant in Round 40 to evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of the RADAR RR model.
Another offshoot of the GEDI model is a research project by emergency nurse Kendall Williams who received an Emerge grant in the current grant round. Ms Williams aims to investigate whether GEDI is also effective for older patients with delirium. For her project, she is being mentored by Dr Alison Craswell, project manager of the team that originally developed and evaluated GEDI.
“Success stories like these emphasise the importance of funding continuity for emergency medicine research in Queensland. EMF funding empowers emergency clinicians to ask and answer important questions, to embrace a research culture and find ways to provide better care for patients. We are proud to be part of our amazing emergency clinicians’ research journey,” said Dr Nguyen Vu.
The Queensland Research Program has a broad range of grant schemes targeting researchers and projects at different stages, with all aiming to build and foster cultures of research in Queensland emergency departments, prehospital and retrieval medicine environments.
Round 41 of the Queensland Research Program will open in early 2024, with six grant schemes on offer including a new grant scheme focusing on research translation.
The Queensland Research Program is funded by the Queensland Government through Queensland Health.
Successful grants in EMF Queensland Research Program Round 40
Principal Investigator (PI) |
Project Title |
PI Institution |
Amount Awarded |
| Emerge | |||
| Mr Ricky Lam | Ambulance Telehealth: Comparing Telehealth Outcomes of Non-English Speaking Patients to English Proficient Patients | Queensland Ambulance Service | $9,594 |
| Dr Yit Jian Lee | How are hypertensive urgencies managed in emergency departments in Queensland? | Redland Hospital | $9,766 |
| Ms Samantha Ryan | A retrospective cohort review study of patients with Primary Immune Deficiency (PID) who have presented to the emergency department (ED) with a fever | Queensland Children’s Hospital | $10,000 |
| Ms Kendall Williams | Retrospective analysis of GEDI impact on older adult patients presenting to the emergency department with a positive delirium screen (4AT). | Redland Hospital | $9,896 |
| Jumpstart | |||
| Dr Paul Calner | Application of the HEART score to the “intermediate risk” patient group may help identify those who are at lowest risk of cardiac events, therefore, not benefit from further testing. | Sunshine Coast University Hospital | $36,120
+ $5,000 for health economics |
| Ms Courtney West | Contactless vital sign monitoring to improve Patient Safety in Emergency Department Waiting Rooms: A prospective, single-site, pilot study. | Townsville University Hospital | $31,987 |
| Leading Edge | |||
| Dr Kimberley Bruce | Comparison of pressure points versus tourniquet application for first aid control of arterial bleeding in beachgoers: a randomised controlled cross over trial | Gold Coast University Hospital | $54,305 |
| Dr Jason Chan | The Kids Pain Collaborative: A collaborative implementation study of acute paediatric pain care in an outer metropolitan, mixed emergency department. | Redcliffe Hospital | $90,429 |
| Dr Amanda Harley | Biomarkers for rapid diagnosis of paediatric sepsis | Gold Coast University Hospital | $99,924 |
| Dr Elizabeth Marsden | A structures, process and outcome evaluation of the Residential Aged care District Assessment and Referral Rapid Response (RADAR RR) model. | Metro North HHS – RADAR | $84,949 |
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