Monthly Archive: March 2018 

The latest article in The Advertiser's "Wild Science" series once again features BHI based researchers. Professor PJ Wormald and Associate Professor Sarah Vreugde explain how outcomes of research from their ENT Surgery group could soon benefit patients undergoing back surgery. A development grant from The Hospital Research Foundation will fund a clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of the chitosan gel in improving wound healing and preventing the formation of adhesions after back surgery..

On Saturday 24 March, The Advertiser's Wild Science series featured data scientist Dennis Horton from the Data to Decisions CRC. Dennis is working with Dr Isuru Ranasinghe and his Health Performance and Policy Research Unit at the BHI..

The second story in the "Wild Science" series in The Advertiser, published on Friday 23 March, featured research being undertaken by PhD student Sven Surikow under the supervision of TQEH cardiologist Professor John Horowitz and Dr Ha Nguyen at the BHI. (The online article is only available to subscribers via The Advertiser website). Photos taken by Naomi Jellicoe, The Advertiser..

The Advertiser has a two-page article about Australia's first public stool bank, BiomeBank, established by gastroenterologists Drs Sam Costello and Rob Bryant and located at the Basil Hetzel Institute. Initially the stool is being used in Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT) to treat patients with Clostridium difficile infection or Ulcerative Colitis.
Stephanee Hermsen was one of Dr Sam Costello's first patients to undergo this novel therapy, and says that "The next day I was better". Despite cure rates of 80-90% in patients with recurrent C.diff. infections who undergo FMT, the reasons it works are not fully understood. Research is underway at the BHI, TQEH, and with collaborators at other SA hospitals, SAHMRI and Flinders University to "...discover links between the gut microbiome and disease and also to determine whether we can improve disease by modifying the gut microbial environment," Dr Costello says.

A story about the "Superbug Solution" was aired on Channel 9 news on Tuesday 6 March. Following successful results in laboratory and pre-clinical research at the Basil Hetzel Institute, a new clinical trial is underway at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital targeting patients undergoing major sinus surgery who are more susceptible to antibiotic resistant infections.
Sweet like chocolate: ABC News, The World Today, Tuesday 6 March 2018

Congratulations to Dr Katharina Richter (Postdoctoral Researcher in ENT Surgery, BHI) as the South Australian winner of Fresh Science. This national competition helps early-career researchers find, and then share, their stories of discovery. Articles/media stories about Kati's research can be found via the following links:
Starving superbugs, then poisoning them: Fresh Science
Sweet like chocolate: ABC News, The World Today, Tuesday 6 March 2018
Superbug solution: Channel 9 news, Tuesday 6 March 2018
Human trials target superbugs: The Lead, Tuesday 6 March 2018
Kati was also a recent winner of the Delegates' Choice Award in the Pitch it Clever competition held at the 2018 Universities Australia Higher Education conference.

TQEH Rehabilitation Consultant Dr Anupam Datta Gupta was interviewed for Ten Eyewitness News Adelaide on Thursday 1 March about the Australian-first clinical trial investigating the benefits of botox injections for stroke patients. Dr Gupta is also undertaking a PhD at the Basil Hetzel Institute, through The University of Adelaide.
Dr Gupta's research is being supported by The Hospital Research Foundation.