Health Research and Data Analytics Hub

The hub complements established research areas in health systems and health services, population health and data linkage research, clinical trials and the NHMRC Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Cardiovascular Outcomes Improvements.

Our groups

Find out more about the groups comprising our hub:

• Centre of Clinical Research and Education (CCRE)
• Health Systems and Health Economics (HSHE)
• Centre for Data Linkage (CDL)

The hub also works closely with the Curtin Institute for Computation and the WAHTN Clinical Trials & Data Centre.

The following trends in healthcare and research demand innovation in the collection, storage, integration and analysis of “big data”:

• An increasing ability to collect large volumes of data within IT systems is driving a rapid increase in the provision of health-related data.
• Greater requirements to provide evidence of the effectiveness and long-term safety of medical and surgical interventions.
• A growing emphasis on financial incentives to hospitals, primary care and general practice, with funding focused on the prevention of illness.
• Evidence of the effectiveness of preventive interventions is dependent on the data from large-scale trials.
• An increased emphasis on measuring and benchmarking the quality of healthcare through data from disease and procedure registries.
• Increased concern about the long-term hazards of medical and surgical interventions, as evidenced by the rise of long-term surveillance programs (pharmacovigilance).

Vision

Our vision is to improve health outcomes and health service delivery in Western Australia through the effective application and integration of our skills in clinical trials conduct, data capture and management, data linkage and analytics, digital health, and health systems and health economics research.

Mission

Drawing on current and future infrastructure, analytical capabilities, domain expertise and strategic relationships with the Western Australian Health Translation Network, primary care, the health industry and government, we aim to:

• lead clinical trials and outcomes research capabilities for Western Australia
• better understand patient pathways and care practices associated with positive health outcomes
• improve research translation and solutions development through access to and use of large data sets
• develop capabilities in health (“big”) data analytics, including training of future workforce in data analytics)
• promote translation and commercialisation opportunities for Curtin University.

• 2019
• 2018
• 2017

Early achievements in 2019

Funding

Hub research staff have had early funding success for 2019.

NHMRC Project Grant – Associate Professor Rachael Moorin from the HSHE group was part of a successful NHMRC Project Grant:

Toye, Hill, Moyle, Moorin, Hill, Slatyer, Bryant, Waldron, Aoun, Parsons.

Multicentre randomised controlled trial: caregiver, patient, and system outcomes from a program supporting informal caregivers of older people discharged home from hospital: 2019-2023. $1,500,380

This project is a follow-up to a 2015-16 SHRAC grant on the same topic. A/Prof Moorin is CID in the study; her role is as the health economist for the trial and lead in the use of linked data for follow up of health service use for patients and carers.

AHURI (Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute) – nationally competitive Cat 1 grant

Associate Professor Anna Ferrante and Dr Sean Randall from the Centre for Data Linkage were part of another successful category 1 funding bid to examine and improve the coordination of housing support for people leaving institutional care.

A/Professor Ferrante and Dr. Randall will focus on data linkage across a range of institutions including out-of-home care, mental health and youth detention. Colleagues from the Curtin School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work are also part of the research team. Other partners include RMIT, Monash University, UNSW and University of Tasmania.

Staff achievement

We congratulate Associate Professor Rachael Moorin who was recently elected as a new member of the International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) Executive Committee for 2019 and 2020.

Achievements in 2018

Funding

Collaborative Research Centre in Digital Health

Curtin is a key university partner in the CRC Digital Health (CRCDH) which focuses on enhancing the deployment and use of technologies that capture and analyse all forms of health data. The CRCDH will leverage new technologies across a range of health areas including safe and high value care, preventative health, ageing and chronic disease management. The CRCDH will invest over $200 million to develop and test digital health solutions that work for real patients in real hospitals and health services, while equipping Australians to better manage their own health and wellness. It will help provide the stimulus to bring together excellence in research and innovation in digital health across Australia and link this with innovation internationally.

Academics involved are Associate Professor James Boyd (lead), Professor Suzanne Robinson, Professor Chris Reid and Associate Professor Anna Ferrante.

Local industry partners include the Western Australia Department of Health, Western Australian Country Health Service, Western Australia Primary Health Alliance and St John of God.

Other competitive grants

Hub researchers were awarded in excess of $4.7million in research funding in 2018 and were CIs on 5 new NHMRC and ARC grants.

Publications

• 64 peer reviewed articles have been published by Hub researchers to date.

Awards and prizes

Staff Recognition

One of our staff, Dr. Judith Daire, recently graduated from the Australian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) fellowship program. This is a great achievement and acknowledges Dr. Daire’s expertise and commitment to Health Systems policy and leadership. She was presented with her award by Professor Neale Fong, President of ACHSM.

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Achievements in 2017

Funding

• Hub researchers were actively engaged in 18 peer reviewed research grants (NHMRC and ARC) during 2017, which have attracted in excess of AUD$21 million of competitive research funding.
• Research funded through other avenues totalled more than AUD$2.8 million in 2017.

Publications

• 89 published articles were published by our researcher staff.

Awards and prizes

Higher degree students

• Our research and teaching staff supervised over 30 PhD and masters candidates in 2017. Three students completed their studies in 2017 and were awarded doctorates.

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