School Update December 2020

HaBS Research Showcase

In order to grow our shared knowledge of the research interests, capacity and collaborative opportunities across HaBS, the faculty introduced a series of research showcase webinars, which were held throughout the year. The recordings of the sessions can be accessed here.

SHRS Research Seminar Series

This year, the Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee introduced an ongoing series of presentations to contribute to the reinforcement of the research culture in the school. These sessions are held fortnightly at varying times to increase scope for attendance. The topics cycle between profile of an SHRS staff member group’s research, research issues, and external guests. All session recordings are available via the SHRS Research Community Blackboard page here. The sessions held in 2020 include:

Rebalancing teaching and research in a COVID-19/post-COVID-19 era – presented by Prof Sandy Brauer, Prof Jenny Fleming, Dr Roma Forbes, Dr Anne Hill and Prof Paul Hodges.

The first session of seminar series was kicked off to re-invigorate the School’s research culture/activity following an amazing effort of staff to reconfigures their teaching during COVID.

Translating Knowledge Translation series’ titled ‘Consumer and Community Involvement in Research - presented by Professor Jenny Ziviani and panel members Dr Jenny Setchell and Dr Sarah Wallace

While we intuitively appreciate that research will be more meaningful and translatable if we involve consumers in the research journey, just who are consumers, how do we engage with them and what does authentic partnership look like. This presentation aimed to address these issues with reference to experiences of working with families of children with developmental disabilities.

Making sense of the complexity in complex problems: An introduction to Collaborative modelling - presented by Professor Paul Hodges

This session covered a novel method that can be applied to solving complex problems.

Early Career Researcher in the RETs - presented by Ms Adriana Penman, Dr Freyr Patterson, Dr Rebecca Armstrong and Muath Shraim

The session featured talks from ECRs in the Research and Engagement Themes to showcase research outcomes.

SHRS/ITEE Research Showcase - Presented by Dr Antonia Padilha Lanari Bo, Dr Alejandro Melendez-Calderon, Professor Juha Töyräs (ITEE) and Dr Ryan Stafford, Alana Dinsdale, Marguerite Houston and Prof Paul Hodges (SHRS)

The School invited researchers from the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering to showcase their research, which was followed by a reciprocal session showcasing SHRS research.  The purpose of the sessions were to explore opportunities for collaboration with ITEE.

MyResearch and Ethics – presented by Jaya Ganasan and Gavin Lung

The MyResearch project offers the opportunity to provide an integrated, streamlined method of initiating, tracking progress and monitoring the research endeavour/project used for research ethics, grants, contract research and consultancy management for the University of Queensland. The session introduced the School to the Ethics component of the MyResearch system, as well as other functions of MyResearch and how it can help researchers.

Knowledge translation (KT) and impact planning: launch of the SHRS KT and Impact Planning resource: choose your own adventure – presented by A/Prof Sally Bennett, Dr Megan Auld and Dr Emmah Doig

The session showcased a new resources that has been developed to assist staff and students to develop knowledge translation and impact plans.

How to create great videos – presented by Matthew Peterson and panel members Dr Hannah Gulo and Emma Schimke

The session provided a range of tips and tricks on how to create and edit videos, which was particularly useful in the lead up to the virtual 2020 SHRS Postgraduate Conference.

Media, Social Media and Altmetrics – presented by Kirsten O’Leary and Jill McTaggart

The session covered tips on how to promote research via media and social media, as well as how to utilise Altmetrics for engagement and impact evidence.

Engaging and developing research partnerships with the health workforce – presented by Prof Liz Ward and panel members A/Prof Shaun O’Leary, Dr Emma Finch, Dr Elise Gane and Dr Tammy Aplin

This session presented by the School’s conjoint researchers looked at exchange in knowledge translation and the development of partnerships and engagement with end users beyond research participation, as partners in the research process.

Promotions for 2021

New Professor in 2021

Sally Bennett

New Associate Professors in 2021

Anne Hill (Teaching Focussed, Speech Pathology)

Shaun O’Leary (Clinical Academic, Physiotherapy)

Martin Sale (Teaching & Research, Physiotherapy)

New Senior Lecturers in 2021

Roma Forbes (Teaching Focussed, Physiotherapy)

Annie Hill (Research Focussed, Speech Pathology)

Lucy Thomas (Teaching & Research, Physiotherapy)

Sarah Wallace (Research Focussed, Speech Pathology)

Katrina Williams (Clinical Academic, Physiotherapy)
 

Student engagement

SHRS HDR drop-in sessions

Students are invited to an online Drop-In Session every Friday 10-11am https://uqz.zoom.us/j/8082561661.

Students are still able to book one-on-one bookings with their HLO through Student Hub.

Staff development

COVID HDR FAQ page

We are continuing to update the HDR COVID-19 advice page. We invite you to take a look and continue to check back for the latest advice. 

You can also refer to Students and parents – COVID-19 advice for information for all students and parents across the University.

Graduate School scholarships

RQ 3 or RQ 4 start for Domestic scholarship Round

• Application Open: 1 March 2021
• Application Close: 28 March 2021

Please visit Scholarships and scholarship rounds page for more information. 

Earmarked Scholarships to Support Category 1 Project Grants

 UQ offers international or domestic PhD scholarships for projects aligned with successful UQ Competitive Grants (Cat 1).

To view detailed eligibility information, advertising a project, selecting and nominating an applicant please go to Earmarked Scholarship to support Category 1 Project grants.

To view the upcoming dates for the Responsive Mode Scholarship Selection Committee please click here: Responsive Mode Committee meeting dates.

Scholarships for current students  

Even if you are a current HDR candidate, it is not too late to get some funding, be it for your research, travel or even for living expense. There are several scholarship opportunities available for current HDR candidates. View all current HDE candidate scholarships.

Babies

• Baby Druker - Kerianne gave birth to a little girl Alexa Jordi Druker on Saturday 3 October.
• Baby Collins - Nat and Matt welcomed baby Sylvie on 30 July.

3MT

Exciting news – our own Emma Schimke won the UQ 3MT final.
As winner, Emma won the $5,000 prize, sponsored by UniBank, and went on torepresent UQ in the Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition on 1 October.

Read more about Emma's win here.

Grants/Other

1. 21/05/2020: The NHMRC Investigator (salary support) grants were released from embargo. Prof Paul Hodges received another 5 years of funding at the highest level of seniority from the NHMRC. With this fellowship, Paul will have received 30 years of continuous funding from the NHMRC – an absolutely outstanding achievement from anyone across any form of science!
    
2. A massive congratulations to the Aphasia team - Prof David Copland, Dr Sarah Wallace, Dr Annie Hill, Dr Jade Dignam, Dr Brooke Ryan and colleagues who have been successful in obtaining an NHMRC Partnership Project Grant of $1.65M to explore the Implementation of Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT)! Dave was the CIA, and this was one of two Partnership Project grants awarded to UQ.
    
3. David Klyne (PI), Mary Barbe (Temple Uni.), Laura Stone (Uni. Minnesota), Paul Hodges, Huaqing Zhao (Temple Uni.), Robert Cutlip (Defence Intelligence Agency), were awarded ~$1.4M! “Understanding Acute to Chronic Back Pain Pathways and Testing New Solutions”, $US1,010,639 (~$AUS 1.4 million). 2021-2023. Chronic Pain Management Research Program (CPMRP) Investigator-Initiated Research Award, Department of Defense, office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
    
4. Dr Anne Hill and A/Prof Tony Angwin won the tender to develop the new university accreditation guidelines to enable universities to implement the new Speech Pathology Australia standards. This demonstrates the high regard in which Anne and Tony are held and the strong leadership they bring to Speech Pathology academia.
    
5. Congratulations to Emma Finch, Lisa Anemaat and Lori Forner who have been successful in receiving funding from National Speech Pathology Board and Physiotherapy Research Foundation! These are very highly contested and prestigious awards that help promising researchers and ideas grow – very proud and well done! 
    
   1. Emma Finch has been awarded a Speech Pathology Australia, Queensland Legacy Board Grant. Project title: Exploring communication needs following minor stroke: $9,993
       
   2. Lisa Anemaat (HDR student) has been awarded and Speech Pathology Australian New Researcher Grant. Project title: Co-design of the Queensland Aphasia Rehabilitation Centre: $15,000
       
   3. Lori Forner (HDR student) has been awarded a Physiotherapy Research Foundation Seeding Grant Application. Understanding the effects of heavy weightlifting on pelvic organ support in vaginally parous women: a cross-sectional study: $9,867
       
6. Another grant success with Universitas 21 Health Sciences Group Research Development Fund!
   Congratulations to a SHRS interprofessional team of Roma Forbes, Allison Mandrusiak, Adriana Penman, Anne Hill, Melanie Hoyle, Freyr Patterson and Romany Martin with international partners from University of Johannesburg and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. An international, interprofessional evaluation of the experiences and needs of health professional students and educators in the online teaching and learning of clinical skills. $12,750. 
    
7. The Longevity CRC for which A/Prof Sally Bennett is the Health Stream Leader is one of 5 applications that have been shortlisted for round 2 of the bid process! This is huge. The Longevity CRC is an Australia-wide, collaborative that brings together industry, government and researchers to deliver insights that drive innovation in new services, products and policies for older Australians.

2021 Metro South Research Support Scheme grants

This year was a highly competitive year (more so than normal!) so it was fantastic to see many of our projects be supported. Our staff were successful in attaining $575,000 in grant funds across 10 projects.

Recipients include: Dr Emma Finch (Speech Conjoint), Prof Liz Ward (MSH Conjoint), Dr Elise Gane (Physio Conjoint), Dr Laurelie Wishart (Lecturer – Clinical Affiliate), Dr Bena Brown (Snr Lecturer – Clinical Affiliate) and Prof Paul Hodges.

Successful projects were as follows:

• Dr Elise Gane, Elizabeth Pinkham, Prof Liz Ward, Prof Raymond Chan, A/Prof Mark Pinkham, Jocelyn Foo, Dr Nicolas Hart. Delivering supervised group exercise to patients with cancer via telehealth: an implementation study. PA Research Foundation Research Award. $100 000.
• Prof Liz Ward, Prof Liam Caffery, Dr Emma Thomas, Dr Maria Schwarz, Julie-Anne Ross, Claire Webb, & Michael Harris. Embedding high quality, sustainable, patient-centric telehealth services within Allied Health: A guide for optimised practice beyond COVID-19. Project Grant. $99,976
• Dr Laurelie Wishart, Prof Liz Ward, Prof Grahame Galloway, A/Prof Sandro Porceddu, Rachel Pitt, Prof Jim Elliot, and Danielle Stone. Exploring radiation-induced fibrosis following health and neck cancer using novel MRI imaging. Project Grant. $99,752
• Dr Tanja Miokovic, Prof Paul Hodges, Michael Harris, Diane Lee. A feasibility randomised controlled trial of three contrasting interventions for recovery of post-natal diastasis rectus abdominis. Project Grant. $100 000.
• Dr Laurelie Wishart, A/Prof Joshua Byrne, Prof Liz Ward, Dr Maria Schwarz, Anne Coccetti, Masnoon Saiyed, & Rachel Phillips. Developing a robust evaluation for the clinical and economic evaluation of allied health primary contact clinics.  Cofunded Collaboration Grant with Griffith University and MSH SERTA. $49,916
• Dr Emma Finch, Erin Kelly, A/Prof Sarah Olson. Developing an innovative, co-designed, goal-based, telehealth communication intervention for people with brain tumours and their families. Innovation Grant. $25 000.
• Isabella Lane, Alicia Bowen, Dr Elise Gane, Brooke Wadsworth, Samuel Pobar, Dr Peter Kruger. Evaluation of a clinical decision support tool for airway management in people with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury. Trauma and Disaster Management (TRADIM) grant. $25 000.
• Erin Kelly, Maeve O’Neill, & Dr Emma Finch. Improving services for patients with Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) in a Neurosciences Unit: Implementation & evaluation of a family and staff DoC education package as standard care. Novice Researcher Grant. $25 000.
• Minna Grahvendy, Dr Bena Brown, Dr Laurelie Wishart, Adirenne See, Prof Sandro Porceddu, Prof Raymond Chan. An electronic, Patient-Reported platform for capturing Adverse Event data in the Cancer Trials Unit (ePRAE-CTU). Novice Researcher Grant. $24,220
• Sarah Day, Dr Bena Brown, Jocelyn Foo, Dr Jodie Nixon, Kate Davis, Mair Emlyn-Jones, Mary Whitehead. What are the functional outcomes and service experiences of patients with hed and neck cancer treated during the COVID-19 pandemic? Novice Researcher Grant. $25 000.

SHRS HaBS Awards winners:

• Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Awards - Dr Sjaan Gomersall (Early Career Citation)
• Commendations for Substantive Contributions to Student Learning Awards - A/Prof Wayne Wilson and A/Prof Joseph Kei
• Early Career Research Excellence Award - Dr Sarah Wallace
• Research Mentorship Award - Dr Sjaan Gomersall
• 2020 HaBS Higher Degree Research - Excellence in Graduate Research Leadership – Prof Paul Hodges and Team
• 2020 HaBS Excellence in Promoting Industry Engagement Award – Prof Bill Vicenzino
• Customer Service Award – Tracey Castle
• Innovation Award – Auriel Sher
• Above and Beyond Award – Dion Scott

SHRS T&L and Research Awards

Congratulations – SHRS staff awards

Congratulations to all our deserving winners of SHRS staff awards. There have been so many extra-ordinatory efforts, and these stand out in their specific categories. Well done!

Teaching Awards

Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

Award Winner – Dr Freya Patterson

Commendation – Dr Jenny Setchell, Dr Lucy Thomas and Mrs Melanie Hoyle

Award for Excellence in Clinical and Professional Skills Education (ECliPSE)

Award Winner – PIVOT Team – Jodie Booth, Melanie Hoyle, Teresa Quinlan

Award Winner – MSSI clinical educators – Karen Groves, Chari Stewart, Stephen West-Newman

Commendation – Ellen Hockings

Research Awards

Early Career Research Excellence – Dr David Klyne

Research Translation – Dr Emmah Doig and Dr Megan Auld

HDR Research supervision – Dr Jenny Setchell

Research Mentorship – Dr Anne Hill

COVID-19 has made it an exceptionally complex year for student placements due to cancellations and modifications to student placements and timelines. 

During this year, we have worked with organisations and clinical educators to modify the student placement experience as changes to service delivery models were required. Our team has developed a range of quality supplementary learning activities that organisations can use to meet the required standards for the clinical placements. For those services that were unable to take students during this time, we will be re-connecting with them to source 2021 placements and to continue our partnerships in clinical education.

Restrictions in student movement overseas and interstate has meant that we have established a number of new contacts and set up clinical placement agreements so that students can continue their clinical learning. This has generated opportunities for students to engage with different health service systems and models of service delivery including telehealth which has been seen positive outcomes.

As we look ahead to 2021 we are embracing our ‘new normal’ and the flexibility that comes with this. We have face-to-face workshops planned for February including interprofessional introduction to Clinical Education workshop, followed by profession-specific workshops to cover assessment tool training for new clinical educators.

Launch of the Student Practice Evaluation Form (Second Edition) Package - the ‘SPEF-R2’

The SPEF-R2 project team from occupational therapy will be launching of the Student Practice Evaluation Form (Second Edition) Package - the ‘SPEF-R2’ on November 25 and 26 to university staff and more than 800 practice educators across Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This is the culmination of an 18-month review and update process by the team in consultation with occupational therapy practice educators, clinicians, students and university staff across all Australian states.

The Student Practice Evaluation Form (SPEF) was originally launched in 1998 at The University of Queensland and then utilised across the state of Queensland in 2000, before gradually being adopted by OT programs throughout Australia. The SPEF is a competency-based evaluation tool that has been used to assess the capability and performance of occupational therapy students on block practice placements. In 2005, the SPEF development team was acknowledged with an Australian Award for University Teaching in the category Excellence in Improving/Enhancing Assessment.

In order to meet the changes in professional practice settings, service delivery models and diverse occupational therapy education programs, the tool was revised between 2005 and 2008, resulting in the Student Practice Evaluation Form – Revised Edition (SPEF-R) and the introduction of an online training tool. The utility and practicality of this tool has been further enhanced through the development of an online platform (SPEF-R Online), and SPEF-R Training website in 2013.

The release the Australian Occupational Therapy Competency Standards (AOTCS) in February 2018 and the need to incorporate the diversity of roles and contexts that now exist in occupational therapy practice served as the impetus for the current SPEF-R Review Project, and the development of an updated tool, the SPEF-R2. The new SPEF-R2 ensures alignment with the new Australian Occupational Therapy Competency Standards. It also includes many varied contemporary additions and amendments in order to meet the needs of the current occupational therapy landscape, and to make the tool more relevant and easier to use.

The launch will provide detailed information on the updated SPEF-R2 tool that will be used by universities for the assessment of students on practice placements in 2021.

SPEF-R2 Project Team:

• Anne-Maree Caine
• Professor Jenny Fleming
• Associate Professor Jodie Copley
• Dr Merrill Turpin
• Teresa Quinlan
• Wendy Hood
• Chris Herd

Watch this space

SHRS CE training project

We are currently developing the suite of education and training offered through SHRS to include some contemporary modes of learning, such as bite sized and short grabs of information, practical tips and lived experiences to compliment content designed to prepare and support CEs for professional practice placements. We hope to have this available in the first half of 2021.

UQ ClinEd2U@UQ program

A new Faculty collaborative clinical educator training program is being trialled in  Semester 1, 2021. The UQ ClinEd2U@UQ program comprises a set of online learning modules. taking takes the participants on a journey of orientation to the CE role, preparing and sustaining a supportive clinical learning environment, facilitating learning in the clinical environment, with a particular focus on clinical reasoning and clinical skill, and on monitoring, feedback and assessment. Upon completion of the project it is envisaged that SHRS CEs will have free access to this training-stay tuned!

The Wellness and Culture Group is currently without a Chair, and we will discuss early in the new year how we can best support Wellness and Culture moving forward. It has been heartening to see the increased emphasis on wellbeing in the media given the extraordinary circumstances we have lived through, and we look forward to seeing how we can link in with UQ’s 2021 Wellness Program.

It was our intention to organise a school-based end of year giving / donation activity, but with the additional restrictions in place and the constraints on time we were unable to identify something that could be managed through the school in November (such as collection of foods or gifts).

There are many ways to give. During lockdown we saw people shopping for those neighbours, friends and family who had to stay in their homes. There has been a surge in pet fostering and adoptions. There is a greater awareness of the value of face to face interactions and the positivity of a simple kindness expressed in words. Charities are more than ever welcoming money donations so they can support those in need flexibly.

However you choose to contribute, please also make time to give to yourself by taking a break and immersing yourself in the activities that replenish and recharge you.

Clinics news

To state the obvious, 2020 has been quite the year for everyone, including the UQ Health & Rehabilitation Clinics team. We are proud of our feats - continuing with student placements and serving our clients, with over 14,000 services provided.

Our Clinics Administration Team will be on leave from 21 December and will return on 4 January.  Many of our usual clinics will continue to operate over December/January, with a closure period between 25 December – 1 January.  If you need to make an appointment, please do us using our online enquiry form https://health-clinics.uq.edu.au/

The UQHRC team would like to wish everyone a very safe and Happy Holiday Season!  We’re looking forward to seeing you all in 2021.

Visit a range of articles from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences here.

Master of Sports Physiotherapy Conference 2020

Hosted by SHRS's own Professor Bill Vicenzino, the annual Master of Sports Physiotherapy Conference is a great opportunity for current Master of Physiotherapy (Sports Physiotherapy) students to present their learnings and research to an audience of physiotherapy alumni and future peers in the industry.

This year, the conference was proud to include Dr Mervyn Travers as the keynote speaker, presenting on his latest research in the field of strength and conditioning for physiotherapists, and its clinical application.

The conference was in high demand this year, with 500 registrations and 254 attendees, making it another huge success for the event!

SHRS Postgraduate Research Conference

The yearly conference organised by SHRS HDR students took place on Friday 4 December 2020, and was held online and in-person for the first time ever.

The program focused on the adaptations seen in research and practice to sustain and grow allied health, with the theme ‘Sustainability for the future’. 

With UQ being a research-intensive university, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences took this opportunity to showcase the world-class research delivered by the various research groups over the year across our six main research themes:

• Movement in Health (Musculoskeletal)
• Neurorehabilitation and Ageing
• Communication
• Healthy start to life (Paediatrics)
• Telerehabilitation
• Professional Education

This years conference featured:

• Over 68 presentations in total (pre-recorded, live in person, and live-streamed)
• Online infographic displays and 30s Thesis Viewing/Voting
• A ‘live’ keynote-speaker and expert-panel session online
• 50 in-person attendees and 50 online attendees

Winners on the day included:

• The Prize for Best Musculoskeletal presentation - Manuela Besomi (Physiotherapy)
• The Phonak Prize for the Best Rehabilitation and Communication Presentation - Lisa Anemaat (Speech Pathology)
• The Phonak Prize for the Best Paediatrics Presentation - Lachlan Kerley (Occupational Therapy)
• The Phonak Prize for the Best Professional Education and Telehealth Presentation - Felipe Retamal-Walter (Speech Pathology)
• The Phonak Prize for the Best Culture and Society Presentation - Jacinta Quartermaine (Speech Pathology)
• The People's Choice Award for Best Presentation - Mehwish Nisar (Medicine)
• The Award for Best 30 Second Thesis - Bethany Best (Speech Pathology)
• The Award for Best Poster - Romany Martin (Physiotherapy)
• The Award for Best Honours Presentation - Sandeep Weerackody (Physiotherapy)

Congratulations to the students who organised such a successul event, and all the winners!

ATAR Advice Event

Like most events in 2020, the ATAR Advice Event (previously OP Advice Night) will be held online this year, on Sunday 20 December following the release of the the 2020 school leaver ATAR scores, with School staff on-hand to answer questions of potential students and parents.