About the CCRE for Respiratory and Sleep Medicine
Respiratory and sleep disorders, represent a major health burden in Australia. The CCRE in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine is based at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital and extends as a virtual network consolidating pre-existing links between clinical and multi-disciplinary research teams in respiratory and sleep medicine at RPA, Royal North Shore, John Hunter, Concord and Liverpool Hospitals. The primary goals of the CCRE are:
- To support clinical research with potential to improve the health outcomes for patients with airway diseases by developing, evaluating and promoting effective disease management strategies.
- To foster training of clinical research
- To ensure effective translation of research findings into improved clinical practice.
- To encourage links between hospital based researchers.
The Centre is also involved in a wide range of clinical trials, especially in the areas of airways disease and sleep disorders. Through its association with the Woolcock Institute, the RPA Sleep Disorders Unit, the centre has access to a wide range of facilities including a fully equipped eight bed sleep laboratory and a dedicated and experienced clinical trials team. In addition to being an investigation site for large international, multi-centre clinical trials, the Clinical Trials Unit also conducts large scale, investigator-driven, company-sponsored research and provides consultancy and project management to facilitate multi-centre trial set up and implementation. The Clinical Trials group will be moving to a new purpose-built location shortly.
The Centre’s key goals and capabilities in the areas of research, training and translation are described below:
All the research programs conducted by the CCRE are intended to target important health outcomes:
improved health status, reduced disease exacerbations, improved self-management capacity, reduced adverse effects of treatment, and improved cost-effectiveness.
The overall objective for the Centre is for its research to have a key impact on clinical practice. Its current and future research projects address the following specific diseases:
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease / Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Evidence-Based Medicine Projects
The research program described above is designed to integrate with a strategy for research translation built around the development of improved clinical practice guidelines, the establishment of demonstration assessment clinics, the conduct of clinical practice workshops and the development of web-based training modules across the range of diseases which form the focus of the CCRE.
The CCRE aims to implement the findings of its research into practice and use this as a vehicle to encourage more widespread uptake of evidence-based medicine.
The CCRE investigators comprise a group with a diverse yet strong background in clinical research mentorship and an awareness of the difficulties in promoting career development in clinical research. All training programmes have an evidence-based practice theme providing opportunities for supervised completion of systematic reviews and translation of evidence into practice. The Clinical Research Training Program consists of one-year programmes, PhD scholarships and post-doctoral career development fellowships.
Executive Group
Professor Ronald Grunstein (RPA Hospital)
Professor Grunstein is currently Head of the Sleep and Circadian Research Group at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Chief Investigator, NHMRC Australian Sleep Trials Network and Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Sydney. He is a NH&MRC Practitioner Fellow.
He heads a multi-disciplinary group of physicians, clinical scientists and nurses focused on epidemiology and health effects of sleep disorders and involved in national and international collaborations. He has Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degrees and a MD from the University of Sydney and a PhD from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is the current, President of the World Federation of Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies.
Professor Guy Marks
(Liverpool Hospital)
Professor Marks is an epidemiologist and respiratory physician with interests in respiratory disease epidemiology, prevention and monitoring. He is currently Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Liverpool Hospital and Director of Respiratory Medicine, SSWAHS (Western Zone). He is an NH&MRC Practitioner Fellow and a Chief Investigator for NHMRC Australian Sleep Trials Network with a key role in biostatistical support
His major scientific achievements include pioneering work on measuring quality of life in people with asthma; extensive contributions to understanding the effects and dynamics of house dust mite allergen exposure; descriptive epidemiology of asthma in children including natural history, risk factors, and changes in prevalence and leader of the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study. He has also made a significant contribution to research training. Professor Marks heads the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring (ACAM)
Professor Peter Gibson (John Hunter Hospital)
Professor Gibson is a Senior Staff Specialist at John Hunter Hospital and NH&MRC Practitioner Fellow. He is also Conjoint Professor, Discipline of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the University of Newcastle.
His expertise includes respiratory medicine, asthma in children and adults, allergies, paediatrics and child health. He has long record of achievement in airways disease clinical trials and promoting evidence based medicine in respiratory practice.
Professor Gibson is a Senior Staff Specialist at John Hunter Hospital and NH&MRC Practitioner Fellow. He is also Conjoint Professor, Discipline of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the University of Newcastle.
His expertise includes respiratory medicine, asthma in children and adults, allergies, paediatrics and child health. He has long record of achievement in airways disease clinical trials and promoting evidence based medicine in respiratory practice. Professor Gibson is a Senior Staff Specialist at John Hunter Hospital and NH&MRC Practitioner Fellow. He is also Conjoint Professor, Discipline of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the University of Newcastle. His expertise includes respiratory medicine, asthma in children and adults, allergies, paediatrics and child health. He has long record of achievement in airways disease clinical trials and promoting evidence based medicine in respiratory practice.
Additional Investigators
Chief Investigators
Associate Professor Peter Bye (RPA Hospital)
Dr Sandra Anderson (RPA Hospital)
Associate Professor Greg King (RNS Hospital)
Professor Norbert Berend (Director, Woolcock Institute)
Professor Christine Jenkins
(Concord Hospital)
Professor Michael Hensley (John Hunter Hospital)
Associates
Dr Jodie Simpson
Dr Keith Wong
Vanessa McDonald
Nicole Ryan
Dr Peter Buchanan
Dr Lydia Rofail
Dr Claudia Dobler
Dr Andrew Chan
Anne Vertigan
Dr Amy McLean
Dr Tim Driscoll
Associate Professor Naomi Rogers
Heather Powell
Mark Elkins
Dr Catarina Almqvist
Associate Professor Peter Liu
Dr Amanda Piper
Dr Brendon Yee
© 2007