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Filed Under: BUSINESS, HEALTH Tagged With: innovation summit

GCHKP experts speak at 2023 National Health and Innovation Precincts Summit

By Precinct Director Craig Rowsell

I had the pleasure of attending the 2023 National Health & Innovation Precincts Summit held in Sydney last week, alongside fellow GCHKP colleagues. This conference, in its second year, brings together key precinct stakeholders from across Australia and overseas including hospitals, universities, government, industry, start-ups and developers to discuss what makes innovation precincts effective in driving impact and investment to their regions. Personally, it was a great opportunity to meet many people that do the same job as me nationally and internationally.

In its simplest form, to improve health outcomes for our community, research and innovation needs to operate hand-in-hand with our health system. The co-location model delivered by innovation precincts is a key enabler of health translation, which also brings opportunity for greater community impact if done correctly, including job creation and economic diversification.

The conference discussed the growth in the number of innovation precincts being established across Australia noting to truly identify as a precinct, the manner in which the different stakeholders interact and work towards a shared vision is the critical element.

Dr Iris Depaz (left) from Sanofi with Griffith University Vice Chancellor Carolyn Evans and Acting Deputy Director General Mark Tierney, Queensland Government

During the summit, Dr Iris Depaz from the Sanofi Translational Science Hub gave insights into the global pharmaceutical company’s deliberate decision to open a new office within the GCHKP, at Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics.

Dr Depaz described how a casual interaction with a researcher from Griffith University, led to discussion around aligned areas of research, resulting in new research partnerships. Dr Depaz also spoke about the co-location of startups within a precinct, and how they can filter new ideas, making it easier for large companies to innovate.

Gold Coast Health’s Dr Salim Memon spoke about how digital transformation crosses the borders of innovation precincts. He talked to the paradigm shift we are currently experiencing in how health care is being delivered, evident through artificial intelligence and medical imaging advancements. Technology is reducing errors whilst simultaneously improving staff satisfaction.

The more innovation precincts are embraced and supported by health services, the greater the opportunity for integration of new technologies, leading to improved outcomes in health service delivery.

Steve Woodyatt, CEO at precinct company Datarwe, spoke about the significant health and financial outcomes that can be achieved by sharing data. Risks vs rewards need to be weighed up – what benefits do we miss out on if we don’t share data?

Australian health services have significant data outputs and data centers are critical in storing this data locally in Australia as a means to maintain sovereign security. Centralised data platforms enable innovations in health by providing a secure space for clinicians, researchers and industry to access de-identified data to validate technologies, saving money and time.

Executive Director of Urban Planning for Economic Development Queensland Leisl Harris, spoke to the need for a unified precinct vision and the importance in investing considerable effort in shaping this vision and determining the value proposition of a precinct. Although this can be challenging, partnership and collaboration in the early stages is critical and will set up a precinct for long-term success. Holding true to an agreed vision is equally important in achieving growth and preserving the value for partners, investors and industry.

Steve Dolores, Senior Development Manager for Economic Development Queensland discussed the influence of responsible placemaking and planning that underpins the physical design of common spaces, and with transport and connectivity is imperative to foster organic connections and ultimately spark innovation.

Co-location with great amenities, backed by good placemaking decisions, attracts talent. Good placemaking is one thing, but the physical space is only as good as the environment it provides for the precinct eco-system to meet and collaborate.

Steve highlighted an important consideration in the overarching governance strategy is to identify how physical spaces will be maintained, managed and curated post-construction. An innovative means is to set up a Precinct Management entity owned by all building owners who share the costs of maintaining public spaces, not unlike a body corporate where a constitution is in place that includes a requirement for activation.

Finally, I led a roundtable discussion with Mark Aimes from Macquarie Park Innovation District and Matthew Proft from Tech Central on “How Precincts Collaborate”. This topic has been a common thread throughout the conference to better share information and best practices, to raise the bar nationally and internationally.

Craig Rowsell, Matthew Proft and Mark Aimes

A new group was established off the back of this discussion in the Australian Innovation District Professionals Network, to begin information sharing to build an ecosystem of trust amongst innovation precincts.

The conference concluded with the announcement that the 2024 National Health and Innovation Precinct Summit will be held on the Gold Coast 3-4 December 2024, showcasing the GCHKP.

I hope to see all interested stakeholders attend and continue to raise the profile and build the capacity of innovation precincts in Australia moving forward.

Filed Under: BUSINESS, HEALTH

GCHKP clinical trials capability drives biomedical sector growth

The Gold Coast is surging as a destination for clinical trials and the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct is central to the action, boasting the city’s strongest concentration of clinical trials capabilities across three institutions: Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast Private Hospital and Griffith University’s Clinical Trial Unit (pictured right).

Professor Evelin Tiralongo, Director of Griffith University’s Clinical Trial Unit, is excited about the future of GCHKP clinical trials after a doubling of her unit’s capacity in the past 18 months.

“Over the past 18 months our unit has doubled its business turnover and staffing, significantly increasing our capacity and capabilities,” says Professor Tiralongo. “We achieved the top recruiting site in Australia for a cardiology trial and were the first site globally to recruit for a rheumatology trial, highlighting our expertise on both the national and international scene.”

GCHKP’s trials surge proves correct the optimistic predictions from a 2019 study of the Gold Coast’s clinical trials sector, which found that the city was the largest regional centre in Australia for clinical trials and was experiencing 32% growth, and which forecast that the rate of growth would far exceed the national average over the following five years.

The study indicated that by 2029, employment in clinical trials was expected to generate $33.1m per year for the city’s economy.

“With the three GCHKP institutions involved in trials, and the Precinct’s growing medtech and startup offerings, GCHKP is emerging as an important translational and biomedical research and industry hub,” says Professor Tiralongo.

A TRACK RECORD OF COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Griffith’s Clinical Trial Unit comprises state-of-the-art facilities for Phases 1b to IV trials across various disease states and runs pharmacokinetic and medical device studies, as well as healthy volunteer trials.

With a track record of >50 successfully conducted clinical trials for mostly global pharma, the Unit is known as a major player in clinical research far beyond the precinct and the Gold Coast.

“Providing high-quality trial site services to national and global companies is core business for us. I’m so proud that we have established ourselves on the national and international stage as a sought-after location for clinical research and business,” says Professor Tiralongo.

As a Core Research Facility to the university, the unit has provided a platform for staff successes in clinical research and has fostered academic-clinician collaboration and academic-industry partnerships.

“It is great to see that the unit will be advancing on this path as a vital partner for the newly established $280 million Translational Science Hub, a research initiative between Sanofi, the Queensland Government, Griffith University and the University of Queensland,” says Professor Tiralongo.

The Unit’s success, she says, is ultimately due to hard work, a vision and collaborating with others. Having the clinical support from a wide network of clinicians, including General Practitioners (GPs) and specialists from the private and public sector is essential to the Unit’s activities.

“My staff and I are passionate about advancing healthcare choices and patient care.”

“The more we work together with others, especially within the Precinct, the more capacity we will ultimately have in bringing further clinical trials as treatment options to the Gold Coast and global community.”

CLINICAL TRIALS, CLINICAL CARE

The neighbouring Gold Coast Private Hospital conducts Phase 1b to IV trials and currently has 11 trials underway in oncology, neurology, orthopedic surgery, nephrology and endocrinology.

Gold Coast Health also runs clinical trials within GCHKP at Gold Coast University Hospital, integrating trial supervision into routine hospital care for better patient outcomes, an aim of the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework.

GCUH is currently managing 47 trials, involving 562 patients across 24 clinical departments, and has recently recruited the first patient in Australia to participate in a multinational Phase III trial of a new treatment for myasthenia gravis.

Gold Coast Health Neurology Staff Specialist Dr Arman Sabet (pictured left) says the trial is evaluating the efficacy of the nipocalimab antibody compared to a placebo.

“This is a multinational clinical trial, and I am proud to say that we have been successful in screening and recruiting the first patient in Australia,” says Dr Sabet.

All three GCHKP trials providers will conduct site visits alongside the upcoming AusBiotech conference in Brisbane in November. Check with each unit for details.

Filed Under: BUSINESS, HEALTH

Pilot clinician entrepreneurship program set for succcess

The first cohort of 12 clinicians has taken the leap into the world of entrepreneurship, as GCHKP pilots a training program developed to build in clinicians an innovation mindset and the steps needed to take their healthtech concepts to market.

Delivered by Griffith Business School, in partnership with Gold Coast Health and supported by Advance Queensland, the Clinician Entrepreneurship Change Agents Program (CECAP) has got off to a successful start, with a second cohort set to start in October.

Clinicians are great at identifying problems – and there are plenty in the healthcare system! They’re also good at coming up with solutions. But what they really need is a shift to an entrepreneurial mindset and that’s where CECAP comes in.

“I came into CECAP with a problem emanating from my work as a nurse in communicating with people from non-English speaking backgrounds,” says Doreen Muzhingi, from Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

It was also personal, as Doreen told the audience in her ‘pitch practice’ presentation at the end of the workshop and personalised mentoring program. Her non-English-speaking mother was left confused and fearful after being hospitalised while visiting Doreen from overseas. Such personal motivation is often the bright spark behind an idea that then needs opportunity evaluation, market sounding, business planning and technical advice to be developed into a marketable product or innovation. Or to be shelved, in favour of a new idea – a common start-up pivot.

“We do have interpreters, but they are not accessible, and people can miss out on treatment, stay longer or discharge against medical guidance because they don’t understand,” Doreen says. “My solution is a multi-lingual interactive app to bridge communication between nurses and other clinicians and their patients.”

“I can’t pinpoint one thing with CECAP, everything was valuable, but I did like that they told us on the first day to expect failures, and to get back up and take on all the feedback.”

For Gold Coast University Hospital Emergency Department nurse Kelsey Hicton, CECAP honed her idea, while making her look closely at what was already available in the market.

“My CECAP project is based around wireless ECG and Cardiac monitoring in the emergency department,” says Kelsey.

“There are some products available for at-home use and I want to bring a version into the hospital environment to improve ergonomics and patient comfort and to reduce person hours.”

“I think my most valuable takeaways from CECAP are about how clinicians are stuck in a certain way of thinking, and how we need to take on different perspectives and change our delivery style to reframe how we present to investors. The mentoring sessions as well have been amazing, everyone has been so supportive.”

CECAP delivered 7 workshop modules, a combined 60 hours of mentoring, 6 guest speakers and networking opportunities

The program concluded with a ‘Pitch Perfect Panel’ featuring Medtech CEO Richard Nash, Healtech founder and LuminaX graduate Yupin Robson, Young gun VC Tristan Latcham and Lori Phegan from Inappropriate Gifts, who successfully pitched to Shark Tank.

Program Lead, Professor Naomi Birdthistle, says it was great to see the evolution of the first cohort, with ideas including an app-based communication tool to streamline communications between doctors, an AI-enabled predictive tool to plan patient discharge pathways from as early as their admission, and development of physical products.

“Some in our group were in the early exploratory stage, while others had a more fixed idea and everyone was able to refine and sometimes change their thinking,” says Professor Birdthistle.

“We even had two physical prototypes produced, in partnership with Griffith’s Advanced Design and Prototyping Insititute (ADaPT) – a specialised eco-friendly tray design to streamline intubation of patients and reduce medical waste, which was produced by Anaesthesist Assistant Alex Savin, and a small thumb-sleeve device to help frail elderly and arthritic patients open packaged hospital foods, designed by Allied Health Nutritionist Julian Ryan.”

Podiatrist and biomechanical researcher Dr Jahishni Maharaj also honed her business skills alongside her designs for orthoses to help prevent diabetic foot ulcers.

CECAP has received more than 200 expressions of interest in total, including those who are undertaking an online Business Literacy Program. A second workshop cohort is set to start next month and the program is wait-listing for 2024.