Join us for the Blood Synergy Open Meeting 2024. We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for the hybrid meeting, which will be held on Monday 26th February 2024. The open meeting features research updates, and discussion of transfusion evidence gaps and research priorities, plus more. All are welcome to attend. Register here for in-person attendance, or here if you wish to join us online only.

Wonderful news to end the year, with the announcement of Prof Zoe McQuilten as the new Tony Charlton Chair of Oncology. This is a key leadership position across both the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Alfred Health that will see Zoe lead clinical and health services oncology research across Monash University and the Alfred precinct. Congratulations Zoe!

Congratulations to the OPTIMAL team, led by Prof Erica Wood and Prof Zoe McQuilten, with recent news of funding from the NHMRC to establish a new Centre of Research Excellence (CRE). The OPTIMAL CRE brings together patients, leading researchers, health professionals and health economists to improve how we manage immunoglobulin therapies in Australia. Read more about the NHMRC CRE scheme.

The Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision National Symposium on Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes was held in October. The MRV generously funds our Aplastic Anaemia and Other Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes Registry (AAR), and Australian Bone Marrow Failure Biobank (AMFB). Prof Erica Wood and Prof Melissa Southey provided an update on AAR and AMFB, and it was great to see many of the investigators and coordinators from the registry attend.

TRU warmly welcomes Dr Catriona Parker to the team! Cat has joined TRU as a Research Fellow, providing expertise in qualitative research across our program. She will initially be working on the MY-PROMPT-2 study looking into patient-reported outcome measures.

The TRU team were out in full force at this year’s Blood Conference in Melbourne. Congratulations to Dr Allison Mo, Dr Briony Shaw, and Ms Sara Carrillo for delivering wonderful presentations. Our MRDR, LaRDR, REDDS-2 and Blood Synergy teams were also well represented in the poster session.

The annual Lymphoma Breakfast Meeting was hosted by the Lymphoma and Related Diseases Registry (LaRDR), Lymphoma Australia (LA) and the Australasian Lymphoma Alliance (ALA) on 7th November. The theme for the meeting was “Working Together to Improve Lymphoma Patient Outcomes”, and updates were given on the work on the ALA, LaRDR and LA on improving patient outcomes.

On 6th November the Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry (MRDR) held their annual Interest Group Breakfast Meeting. Presentations were given on the Australian and New Zealand MRDR, MY-PROMPT-2 trial, EpiMap Myeloma: Epidemiological Modelling, and the Asia-Pacific MRDR.

Congratulations to Prof Erica Wood who was inducted as one of 27 new Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS). AAHMS Fellows are elected in recognition of their outstanding achievements and contributions to the sector. You can see Erica’s AAHMS video here.

The Blood Synergy is conducting an online survey to help identify future research priorities. How can we improve how blood products are used in Australia? What would improve patient outcomes? Patients, carers, blood donors and professionals with an interest in blood products are all invited to participate. Take the survey here.

This year’s APAC MRDR Investigators’ Meeting will be held online on Tuesday October 17th. At this meeting we will present an overview of the study, our progress and current research, and will provide a forum for discussion of research ideas, collaboration and future analysis. This is an open meeting and all are welcome to attend. Further details including full program and event registration can be found here.

Prof Erica Wood and Tina van Tonder recently presented an update on the National Transfusion Dataset (NTD) at the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) staff meeting held in Melbourne in September.

We warmly welcome Dr Eise to TRU as a Clinical Research Associate, working with the RATIONALISE trial and upcoming RATIONAL Platform Trial. Nicole has a background in pharmacy, a PhD in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, and most recently worked as a trial coordinator on haematological clinical trials.

Welcoming Karthik Mandapaka to TRU, who has recently joined the National Transfusion Dataset (NTD) team as a Data Analyst. Karthik joined our team on a casual basis and we are now pleased to announce he will be working with us on full-time basis.

We are pleased to welcome Shiyang to the TRU team. Dr Jia has a PhD in drug delivery science and experience in clinical research and trials in oncology, cardiology and haematology. She joins our team to work on the REDDS2 study and TMA registry as a Clinical Research Associate.

TRU congratulates haematologist and PhD student Dr Allison Mo for her two recent publications, along with co-authors Prof Erica Wood and Prof Zoe McQuilten.

“Platelet transfusions and predictors of bleeding in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes” was published in the July edition of the European Journal of Haematology. It was also featured in The Limbic as a Top Story.

“Do anemia treatments improve quality of life and physical function in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)? A systematic review” was published in Blood Reviews in July 2023.

The National Transfusion Dataset (NTD) was featured in the Partnering for Success impact booklet published by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC). Read more here.

Haematologist and TRU PhD student Dr Briony Shaw recently published a paper in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Care Network (JNCCN) on the need to improve timely referral to palliative care for patients with blood cancers. Read the publication here.

Wonderful news for Prof Zoe McQuilten and team who have been awarded a $2.1M NHMRC Clinical Trial and Cohort Study grant. The funding will expand the ASPREE sub-study, CHIP, (clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential) which explores novel risk factor for blood cancers and cardiovascular disease in older patients. Congratulations Zoe! Read more in Monash News.

Congratulations to APAC MRDR and all participating sites for recruiting their 1,500th patient to the registry! Four countries are now contributing to the registry.

A study led by Prof Zoe McQuilten and Prof Erica Wood published in Annals of Internal Medicine using data from the ASPREE study has shown a 20% increase in the risk of developing anaemia among healthy older adults on prolonged daily aspirin. Read more.

Dr Victor Lin shared the results of a recent scoping review on definitions of massive transfusion in an oral presentation at the European Hematology Association 2023 Congress in Frankfurt. Professor Laura Green presented a companion oral abstract at the ISBT Congress in Gothenburg. This collaboration with the UK Systematic Reviews Initiative identified 15 different definitions used in a range of clinical trials. This work will help inform efforts to develop an international consensus definition of massive transfusion. Read the systematic review.

At the recent ISBT Congress in Gothenburg, TRU was represented by Mrs Helen Haysom, Dr Allison Mo, Dr Briony Shaw, Prof Zoe McQuilten and Prof Erica Wood. Helen presented data on urgent transfusion support from the Australian and New Zealand Massive Transfusion Registry (ANZ-MTR). Allison shared a progress report from the REDDS-2 trial and the results from a systematic review on the effects of treatment of anaemia on quality of life for patients with myelodysplasia. Erica provided an update on the National Transfusion Dataset in a session on big data and transfusion medicine.

In an oral session at the HTAi Annual Meeting in Adelaide, Sara Carrillo de Albornoz presented "A Systematic Review of the Cost and Cost-effectiveness of Immunoglobulin Treatment in Patients with Haematological Malignancies", which identified the current economic evidence and research gaps of immunoglobulin replacement therapy in patients with blood cancers.

Research Fellow / Project Manager Dr Elizabeth Moore attended the CNSA Annual Congress in Adelaide in June. Elizabeth was chair for one of the sessions, and led a grant-writing workshop for Early Career Researchers.

Congratulations to Professor Erica Wood AO! We’re thrilled that Erica was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List for her distinguished service to transfusion medicine, haemovigilance, haematology, and national and international organisations.

Our warmest congratulations to Professor Zoe McQuilten on her well-deserved academic promotion! Professor McQuilten is an integral member of TRU, working tirelessly as our Deputy Head (Research), and leading a number of studies and clinical trials including the RATIONAL platform trial, and FEISTY II trial.

The National Transfusion Dataset team is working with Alfred Health Data and Analytical Services Division as part of an MRFF Research Data Infrastructure grant. The project is creating AI algorithms to analyse unstructured data (e.g. free-text clinical notes) found in electronic medical records to test its potential to identify transfusion reactions.

Prof Zoe McQuilten provided an introduction to the RATIONAL platform trial and RATIONALISE trial at the recent May Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Leukaemia & Lymphoma Group (ALLG) in Melbourne.

Thank you to all participants in the Blood Synergy Open Meeting 2023 on May 2nd. We were joined in person and online by guests from across Australia and the world to hear about the latest research addressing evidence gaps in transfusion medicine.

Susi Rosin is the latest addition to the TRU team, joining us in April 2023. Susi is the Senior Administrative Officer for the unit, providing invaluable support to the TRU team.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Ashrafi to TRU, as a Senior Research Officer with the Blood Synergy. Elham holds a PhD in epidemiology and brings to the team a wealth of experience in clinical epidemiology, clinical trial coordination, and research analytics.

Dr Aleece MacPhail and Dr Briony Shaw recently joined the Transfusion Research Unit to undertake their PhD studies at Monash. Aleece is an infectious diseases physician undertaking her PhD investigating sepsis in haematology patients, while Briony, a haematologist, will be examining transfusion support in patients with blood cancers. Congratulations to each of them on being awarded an NHMRC PhD scholarship.

Congratulations to the Australia and New Zealand Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry who in April recruited their 6,000th patient!

Congratulations to all participating sites in the Lymphoma and Related Diseases Registry for enrolling their 6,000th patient in February!

William joined TRU as part of the RMIT Pharmaceutical Sciences program. He’ll spend his professional placement with the team for 2023, working alongside the clinical trials and registry teams. TRU has participated in this valuable industry placement scheme since 2017, preparing students for careers in research.

The TRU team is excited to welcome Ms Prislene Singh to our team as a Research Officer with the Myeloma and Related Diseases registry (MRDR). Prislene has a Master of Science (Epidemiology) and experience working as an Epidemiologist with Victoria’s Department of Health.

We warmly welcome Ms Kirsten Caithness to TRU. Kirsten has a Master of Public Health, and will be working as a Research Officer with the Blood Synergy and National Transfusion Dataset teams.

The TRU team was well represented by Ms Jessica Guglielmino and Dr Allison Mo at the recent ISBT hosted Transfusion Evidence Round-Up event held to mark World Haemophilia Day.

The Blood Synergy is delighted to announce that registration is now open for the Blood Synergy Open Meeting 2023. The hybrid meeting will include research updates, and discussion of transfusion evidence gaps and research priorities. All are welcome to attend. More details and registration here

The 28th of February marks Rare Disease Day – a day to reflect on the many people affected by rare diseases, including an estimated 2 million Australians. The Transfusion Research Unit manages several clinical registries and research projects that focus on rare blood disorders. People living with these blood disorders often require major support with blood transfusion.

TRU’s research on critical bleeding from the Australian and New Zealand Massive Transfusion Registry was selected for inclusion in the 13th edition of the NHMRC’s "10 of the Best" publication. The research was funded by an NHMRC partnership project grant (#1074654) in collaboration with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, New Zealand Blood Service, the National Blood Authority, Victorian Department of Health, CSL Behring and St John of God Pathology.

The Blood Synergy is delighted to welcome Professor Mike Murphy as chair of the Advisory Committee. Mike is Professor of Transfusion Medicine at the University of Oxford, and internationally recognised for his leadership in transfusion clinical practice and research. More information about the Blood Synergy: bloodsynergy.org