Fourth Round of Implementation Science Pilot Grants Announced

Sydney Health Partners has awarded $200,000 in pilot grants to support collaborative teams of researchers and clinicians to test the implementation of research innovation in clinical practice.

Ten projects have received funding in the latest round of the pilot grants scheme, which commenced in 2020.

Each of the projects is funded over two years and has two principal investigators - one research -based and the other clinically based.

Co-lead of SHP’s Implementation Science Academy, Associate Professor Heather Shepherd, said the scheme received a record number of applications this year.

“Sydney Health Partners is committed to fostering the next generation of clinical researchers, and the program encouraged applications for projects led by early to mid-career researchers (EMCRs).

“They responded enthusiastically, and our review panel of academic, health service and consumer experts commented on the high quality and clinical setting diversity of the applications.

“We can clearly see growth in the capacity and capability of our health partner organisations to undertake the implementation of evidence-based interventions.”

Sydney Health Partners expects that the outcomes of the pilot projects will help the researchers to seek further funding through larger grant schemes, such as the Medical Research Future Fund and Translational Research Grants Scheme.

“These pilot grants provide an exciting opportunity for EMCRs to collaborate and win grant funding, and by doing so, build further momentum in the development of their research careers.”

Dr Jasmine Yee is the academic lead on a pilot project at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse which will investigate the outcomes of a trial in which cancer patients undertake exercise while being infused with chemotherapy.

“We have some preclinical and epidemiological evidence now that doing exercise when you have cancer is linked with improved overall survival, cancer-free survival and progression-free survival. The pilot grant will allow us to interview patients, as well as their doctors, about their experiences with the intervention.”

Dr Karen Waller is part of a team at Sydney Local Health District which will investigate the integration of treatment for alcohol addiction with the treatment of patients with alcohol-related liver disease.

She says the pilot grant will allow the research team to gather evidence on the benefits or otherwise of co-locating the two services.

“We’re trying to be efficient and cost-effective with the model of care by redeploying existing services and co-locating them but without this funding we can’t track our outcomes. By having this funding to investigate how effective, feasible, acceptable the intervention is, we can hopefully make the case for doing more of it.”

University of Sydney research fellow Dr Verena Wu is co-lead of the team that received a pilot grant to take a clinical pathway for identifying and managing fear of cancer recurrence and adapt it for Chinese-speaking patients.

She describes the grant as “a big first step.”

“It’s really important because it enables us to partner directly with NSW Health and also with CanRevive – Australia’s largest cancer support charity for Chinese-speaking patients and care givers.”

Details of the ten pilot grant projects and lead investigators can be viewed on the Implementation Science Academy website.