We are proud to announce the successful recipients of Round 43 of the Queensland Research Program, one of our most wide-reaching and diverse rounds to date.
With a record number of grant applications received, Round 43 reflects the growing strength of clinician-led emergency care research in Queensland. EMF has awarded $1.29 million to 18 projects across six grant schemes, supporting innovative research that will shape the future of emergency and prehospital care.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls extended his congratulations to the grant recipients:
“These grants will ensure both established and up-and-coming researchers get the backing they need to advance clinical improvements and drive efficiencies here in Queensland, and potentially, nationally or even internationally.”
This round marks several exciting firsts for EMF:
EMF Board Chair, Professor Hugh Grantham ASM said:
“These milestones reflect the true spirit of collaboration in emergency medicine. Emergency care is multidisciplinary by nature, and we’re proud to support research that draws on diverse expertise to solve real-world problems and improve patient outcomes.”
Alongside these trailblazing firsts, this round also saw record demand for Emerge grants, which are small-scale grants designed to help novice researchers take their first steps into emergency care research with mentor support.
Round 43 also saw significant investment in Research Capacity Building grants, supporting four services across urban, outer-metropolitan, statewide and retrieval settings: Logan Hospital, Queensland Children’s Hospital, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) (Queensland Section), and LifeFlight.
These grants are designed to build sustainable research cultures in emergency departments and retrieval services, bringing clinicians together, strengthening teams, and embedding research into everyday practice. For organisations like RFDS, this kind of investment supports long-term change.
Dr Jacob O’Gorman, Clinical Director Research & Evaluation at RFDS (Queensland Section), said:
“Our goal is to build a strong, connected research culture across the entire RFDS (Queensland Section). This EMF grant will help us strengthen systems, build skills, and foster collaboration to support research that reflects the unique challenges of rural, remote and aeromedical care- and honours the trust our communities place in us.”
From metro hospitals to statewide retrieval services, this round reflects EMF’s commitment to empowering clinicians across Queensland to innovate and improve emergency care.
We’re proud to support meaningful, real-world research that addresses both local needs and system-wide challenges. Projects funded in this round focus on areas such as digital tools for child safety screening, ED care for older people with frailty, trauma in pre-hospital settings, antibiotic decision-making, and the impact of emergency telehealth in regional Queensland.
Each of these projects started with a single question, often drawn from clinicians’ everyday work, and has the potential to create lasting change across the system.
EMF’s Queensland Research Program is supported by the Queensland Government through Queensland Health, and we thank them for their ongoing support. The program offers funding twice a year to all emergency clinicians working in Queensland public EDs, the Queensland Ambulance Service (including Retrieval Services Queensland), LifeFlight, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section).
Round 44 is now open for applications across four grant schemes. The closing date is 18 August for all schemes except Emerge, which closes 15 September.
Find out more about the Queensland Research Program here.
Principal Investigator (PI) |
Project Title |
PI Institution |
Amount Awarded |
| EMERGE | |||
| Dr Peter Miller | Clinician perceptions of the impact of Emergency Telehealth services on patient care in Queensland | Retrieval Services Queensland | $10,000 |
| Dr Jordan Doi | TEMPO “Trans-Oesophageal Echocardiography to guide Management of cardiac arrest: a Preliminary Outcomes study” | Logan Hospital | $9,712 |
| Mr Avon Dalitz | Trends in the burden of foot disease-related emergency department presentations in Queensland | The Prince Charles Hospital | $10,000 |
| Dr Scott Farenden | Traumatic Brain Injury – The haemodynamic impact of induction agent during prehospital emergency anaesthesia for isolated traumatic brain injury | LifeFlight | $10,000 |
| Ms Katrielle Litster | Retrospective evaluation of ED management for patients with suicidality and homelessness. A single site mixed methods study. | Metro South Health | $9,307 |
| JUMPSTART | |||
| Ms Amy Sweeny | Harnessing consumer input into emergency care systems: a survey and focus group project to understand what matters to Australian older people living with frailty | Gold Coast University Hospital | $39,199 |
| Ms Angela Hills | Evaluating the Role of Prior Microbiological Results in Guiding Empirical Antimicrobial Therapy for Acute Infections | Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital | $39,419 |
| Dr Scott Schofield | ChildSAFE – Understanding clinician and consumer priorities for implementing a co-designed, evidence-based digital child safety screening tool | Sunshine Coast University Hospital | $38,971 |
| Dr Jaydie Cottle | Prehospital Capacity Decision Making and Consultation – Assessment and Debrief of Paramedic Thought Processes | Queensland Ambulance Service | $20,150 |
| LEADING EDGE | |||
| Dr Akmez Latona | Single vs. Dual Platelet-Inhibited FIBTEM Assays in Rotational Thromboelastometry: Is a New Threshold required for Queensland Hospitals | Ipswich Hospital | $63,640 |
| Mr Samuel Ford | Insulin-dextrose therapy vs glucose-only therapy for the treatment of hyperkalaemia | Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital | $89,428 |
| Dr Grace Xu | Can a dynamic machine learning clinical decision tool accurately predict the need for peripheral intravenous catheters in emergency department patients? Dynamic emergency catheter insertion decision engine (DECIDE) | QEII Hospital | $125,000 |
| PROJECT | |||
| Dr Julian Williams | Intervention with concentrated albumin for resuscitation of undifferentiated sepsis – Multi-facility (ICARUS-MF): A multi-centre randomised controlled trial | Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital | $315,347 |
| TRANSLATED RESEARCH | |||
| Ms Brooke Charters | Keeping Invasive Devices Secure (KIDS) – A translational study protecting cannulas | Gold Coast University Hospital | $107,455 |
| RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING | |||
| Dr Natalie Phillips | Streamlining systems and breaking down silos: Creating capacity and clarifying the pathway for multidisciplinary novice researchers at QCH ED | Queensland Children’s Hospital | $99,855 |
| Dr Philip Jones | ASPIRE-Advancing Sustainable Practices in Research for Emergency Medicine | Logan Hospital | $98,244 |
| Dr Jacob O’Gorman | Building Research Capacity and Capability in the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) to Support Improved Patient Outcomes, Services and Community Impact | Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) | $100,000 |
| Dr Ben Aston | Strengthening LifeFlight’s research capacity through collaboration and data infrastructure development | LifeFlight | $99,973 |
