Key points
- AI-driven research is improving vaccine effectiveness by identifying the best targets in pathogen genomes.
- Wastewater analysis detects emerging viruses early, enabling faster public health responses.
- Disease treatment and prevention, care for older Australians and providing equitable healthcare to regional and remote Australia were hot topics at the Colloquium.
This week our Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) held its 21st Annual Research Colloquium, revealing the latest trends in digital health. Over 300 people attended the event in person or online. Don’t worry if you missed out – we’ve got a roundup of highlights here for you.
From AI-driven vaccine research to wastewater pathogen detection, their work is revolutionising public health. Here’s how science is helping us stay ahead of the next outbreak.
1. Innovative technologies for preventing the next pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic proved, detecting, monitoring and preventing the spread of pathogens is essential for protecting people’s health. At this year’s AEHRC Colloquium our researchers revealed digital solutions for every stage of pathogen control.
There’s a saying in healthcare that prevention is better than a cure. That’s why our scientists are investigating how to protect people at both individual and societal levels.
Aminath Shausan is a member of the team who developed the HOTspots antimicrobial resistant pathogen surveillance and response platform. Her latest research focusses on forecasting and mapping antimicrobial resistant infections in remote and regional areas of Australia.
Director of Health and Biosecurity, Brett Sutton, presents a perspective on the role of digital technology in population health.
Laurence Wilson’s team is using artificial intelligence (AI) to investigate why some people’s immune systems respond better to COVID-19 and flu vaccinations than others by using data to reveal what pathways are triggered by vaccines, and which pathways are required for the success of a vaccine. But viruses and other pathogens like bacteria are cunning – they are good at finding their way around preventative measures. Laurence’s work helps to identify where in the pathogen genome the vaccine should target, providing vaccines that better target the pathogen.
As part of AEHRC’s work with the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute, we featured a showcase of six projects. In one of them, Jatinder Sidhu, Senior Research Scientist with our Environment Research Unit, discussed his team’s work on detecting viral pathogens in wastewater. By analysing viral DNA in wastewater, the researchers can identify emerging viruses early and monitor their spread. Researchers from AEHRC are also working on an infection control platform that analyses data in real time and simulates outcomes, enabling earlier and more effective public health responses.
2. Artificial intelligence and machine learning
Research Scientist Maria Antico presents her work on wearable ultrasound.
AI technology is everywhere now – in our phones, banking and increasing in our healthcare. AEHRC scientists are using innovative AI and machine learning (ML) technologies to revolutionise health care, with a focus on developing tools that are safe, ethical and trusted by users.
Pierrick Bourgeat wowed the Colloquium audience with his team’s use of AI to improve the analysis of positron emission tomography (PET) images. These will help in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease earlier, which will be crucial for early treatment to slow the progression of the disease.
Maria Antico presented her work, conducted in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), to develop wearable ultrasound technology. The researchers are creating an ultrasound device that can be used remotely and with no specialised training.
The platform uses AI to interpret the images and provide results. This sounds cool and futuristic, but it gets better – last year Maria travelled to Germany to the European Astronaut Centre to discuss how the technology could be used by astronauts during space travel.
3. Improving interoperability to enhance patient care
Liesel Higgins presents work on the Aged Care Data Landscape Report
Healthcare relies on good data for optimised decision making. But data is only useful if it is effectively collected, stored and shared, that is, if data and systems are interoperable.
At the Colloquium AEHRC’s Liesel Higgins presented findings from our recent report Australia’s aged care data landscape: Gaps, opportunities and challenges. The report identified several gaps in interoperability in the aged care sector and made recommendations for addressing the gaps.
Research scientist John Grimes discussed his team’s work to integrate software that calculates a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease into GP systems, making prevention of one of the biggest killers of Australians easier.
4. Effective care for all Australians
Australia is a diverse country, with different regions and groups of people who have different needs. Everyone deserves to have access to effective healthcare.
Researchers from AEHRC’s Indigenous Health Team collaborated with researchers from the Child and Adolescent Health Service in Western Australia to create Kara-Care, a digital yarning tool to enhance Aboriginal health service delivery in the Pilbara region. When implemented and used, the tool can help decrease patient burden and optimise the availability of health data for clinicians at the point of care.
5. Implementing solutions and creating impact
The future of digital health is bright with researchers across Australia, including at AEHRC, coming up with new technology to help us live our healthiest and happiest lives.
But how can we make sure that the technology works as it is designed to and has an impact in the real world?
AEHRC’s implementation scientists focus on translating innovation research into reality. They demonstrated this at the AEHRC Colloquium.
Yan Chia and Jason Dowling also discussed linking innovation and impact, by offering their expertise software as a medical device and AEHRC’s certification in ISO 13485 on the importance ensuring all tools and software meet strict quality requirements and are market ready.
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