Approach

Our research projects fall under three key pillars:

  1. CLINICAL TRIALS: We develop large clinical trials that are embedded in registries or electronic medical records, allowing us to rapidly harness data on new interventions, driving rapid, low-cost improvements to clinical care. Our studies extend to the quality of survival after intensive care, ensuring the long-term needs of patients are addressed.
  2. COORDINATION OF CARE: Driving coordination of care at a national level across ambulance, emergency, retrievals, intensive care and discharge planning.
  3. LABORATORY RESEARCH: Our laboratory-based research portfolio helps better understanding of the causes of critical illnesses, and facilitates the testing of treatments in our registry-based clinical trials.

Each of these pillars access our team’s expertise via three key platforms:

  1. REGISTRIES, DATA AND LINKAGE: The School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine is Australia’s leader in clinical registry management, and is home to several registries associated with intensive care. Our team is adept at harnessing data from registries and other available datasets and medical records.
  2. KEY POPULATIONS: including patients following cardiac arrest, patients with sepsis and patients with frailty.
  3. HEALTH ECONOMICS: Our health economics researchers contribute to the long-term sustainability of intensive care by providing cost-effectiveness evidence that ensures precious resources are put to best use.

Consumer first research

Our commitment to ensuring our research serves the bests interests of the Australian community has led to extensive engagement with a wide range of consumers and community advocates including the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Heart Foundation, Ambulance Victoria, the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group and Centre for Resource Evaluation Registry, government agencies and key international collaborations across 58 countries.

We further ensure patient-focussed outcomes via our established Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) registry. This links EMRs and registry data with our call-centre, to determine long-term morbidity, including disability, heath related quality of life, physical, cognitive and psychological function and return to work.

Our Steering Committee contains consumer representatives, and many of our projects include ICU survivors on their management committees.

CONNECT

The CRE-ICU is proud to support the ANZIC-RC Consumer and Community Connection Committee (CONNECT). CONNECT is a member registry of keen, interested patients, family members or care givers with lived experience of intensive care who wish to contribute to any aspects of our research activities.