The emergency department (ED) at Logan Hospital has reached an exciting milestone in embedding research into everyday clinical practice, supported by a newly awarded Research Capacity Building (RCB) grant from EMF.
Awarded through EMF’s Queensland Research Program, the ASPIRE grant (Advancing Sustainable Practices in Research for Emergency Medicine) aims to nurture a sustainable, clinician-led research culture. The initiative is led by emergency physician and research champion at Logan ED Dr Philip Jones, building on the significant contributions of Dr Julian Wong, who played a key role in conceptualising and preparing the ASPIRE application, as well as developing the department’s research program overall.
“This funding is a huge opportunity for our team. It means we can support more clinicians to take their research ideas forward and create projects that genuinely improve care for our community,” said Dr Jones
The RCB grant will fund a dedicated Clinical Research Coordinator position to support clinicians, manage research administration, and foster collaboration across the department. It will also establish a structured mentoring program to build research skills and strengthen systems for grant applications, ethics submissions, and data collection.
Logan ED has a history of EMF-supported studies on topics ranging from mindfulness-based stress reduction and severe childhood asthma to data-driven chest pain care. Like many departments, Logan’s research momentum slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant staffing and clinical pressures impacting capacity. Since then, the team has worked steadily to rebuild, with renewed investment in systems and support to foster research.
Recently, Logan ED clinician Dr Jordan Doi was awarded an EMF Emerge grant for the TEMPO study, which explores a novel ultrasound technique to improve cardiac arrest care.
Logan’s growing research pipeline also includes other locally driven projects, such as Dr Jones’ Patient Flow study, which is evaluating the implementation of a Surgical Rapid Assessment Unit (SRAU) to improve ED efficiency and outcomes. Dr Jones also contributes to multiple EMF-funded projects across sites as a co-investigator, highlighting his commitment to fostering innovative, clinician-led research.
Serving a diverse and growing population, Logan plays a key role in collaborative research projects. This new RCB grant marks an important step towards building a dedicated, home-grown research program.
“Our team has many great ideas, but without dedicated time and experience to navigate research pathways, these ideas often remain unrealised,” Dr Jones added. “This grant changes that. It enables us to move from supporting others’ research to leading our own.”
Through this EMF grant, Logan ED aims to mentor multiple early-career researchers within the first year and lay the groundwork for locally driven projects that directly address community needs. Dr Jones shared,
Photo Featuring: Dr Julian Wong, Dr Yolande Weiner, Dr Philip Jones, Dr Grace Xu, Dr Larry McGuire“This is about building a foundation that lasts. We’re creating a research culture that’s accessible, inclusive, and impactful, one that will benefit our whole ED team and the patients we serve for years to come.”
