Ubuntu Reflections Ep 1: Research partnerships — gatekeepers, champions, and the allure of going rogue
Podcast
Professor Anthony Rodgers
Profile
Professor Rodgers has a track record in cardiovascular disease prevention, innovation and public-private partnerships, with an interest in scale-able interventions to address major risks to health. He is currently Acting Director of the Cardiovascular Division at The George Institute, Australia and Chair of Clinical Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of London.
After graduating in medicine in the United Kingdom he trained in epidemiology and public health in New Zealand. He was the Principal Author of the 2002 World Health Report, the main annual publication for WHO. Professor Rodgers has led developments of an affordable four-in-one cardiovascular combination pill ('polypill'). He led a clinical trial program in economically developed and developing countries, funded by the Wellcome Trust, European Union and others.
Professor Rodgers also developed a world first cell phone based smoking cessation programme for youth, which disseminated proven health support messages in an age-appropriate, affordable medium. Over 6,000 patients were involved in clinical trials that demonstrated a 50% increase in quit rates. The service has been rolled out by Departments of Health in NZ, UK and India, with over 2 million users to date. A follow-on program delivering cognitive behavioural therapy for depression prevention was successfully trialled among 1,200 at-risk teenagers.
Radiation oncologists from APAC meet to improve cancer outcomes in region
News
COVID-19 Preparedness Checklist For Rural Primary Health Care & Community Settings
Policy & Practice Report
EnSWIn: Environmental Support for Walking In India (pilot)
This study includes primary and secondary data collection, and uses surveys, photographs, and in-depth exploration of the perspectives of a subset of selected respondents. The findings will shed light on the association between built environment and physical activity in a wide range of adults living in different zones of the 2 study sites.
Perspectives, practices, and environmental footprints related to menstrual hygiene among girls and women in India – a pilot study [PEnMen-pilot]
Background:
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a generally under-researched area in India, although vital to the promotion of women’s health. Although there has been, particularly in recent years, some attention given to the provision of affordable menstrual absorbents, practices of treatment and disposal of the used absorbents have not received adequate attention from policymakers, and implementers, and pose ever-growing challenges to environmental sustainability and the personal health, well-being, and functioning of girls and women, with implications for the accomplishment of several SDGs.
Aim:
(i) to understand community perspectives, preferences and behavioural control related to treatment and disposal of menstrual absorbents, and the associations that women and girls make between menstrual hygiene practices and personal and environmental health; and
(ii) to estimate the environmental footprints of the menstrual hygiene management practices that come up in the data-collection
Research M
COVID-19 Preparedness Checklists for Urban Primary Health Care & Community settings
Policy & Practice Report
Self-management and action plans for preventing acute exacerbations due to COPD: evidence summary
Policy & Practice Report
Beta-lactam antibiotics infusion group study - BLING III
Background:
Beta-lactam antibiotics are commonly used to treat life-threatening infections in critically ill patients. As a class of antibiotics, beta-lactams are known as time-dependent antibiotics because they have their greatest effect when the antibiotic concentration in the blood remains above a critical level (dependent on the organism) for the duration of the course.
Continuous infusion of beta-lactams has been shown to more consistently achieve these time-dependent pharmacodynamic endpoints than the standard practice of bolus dosing. However, the relatively small randomised controlled trials to date have not reported improved clinical outcomes, such as resolution of infection or lower mortality, with the use of continuous infusion
A prospective, multicentre, double-blind, double-dummy, phase II RCT (BLING II) was conducted in 25 ICUs in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. While there was no significant difference in the primary endpoint, it found an absolute difference in hospital mortality
Sweet Transition: Priorities for collaborating to transform the food system in Australia
Policy & Practice Report
Primary prevention of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the primary healthcare level: rapid policy brief
Policy & Practice Report
The Potential Impact of Salt Reduction in Australia
Policy & Practice Report