Dr Michael Barras - Developing a collaborative research culture in Metro South Health
Speaker
Dr Michael Barras, Associate Professor at UQ School of Pharmacy and Acting Director, Princess Alexandra Hospital Pharmacy, Metro South Health
Abstract
Clinical research is becoming a departmental priority at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) Pharmacy. Whilst industry affiliated research has existed for many years (over 200 clinical trials are coordinated by a team of 6 staff), this has not been the case with practice based research. However, in the past 3-years the department has strived to be a leader in this field. There are the usual hurdles for busy clinicians with relentless workloads, however a clinical research culture has started to evolve, and research outputs are growing.
Crucial to clinical research expansion has been the Pharmacy Research in Metro South (PRIMS) collaborative. This was initially designed to build capacity and provide a platform for collaborative research across Metro South Health (MSH) pharmacy departments. It now acts as a research hub and drives current research activities, skills and opportunities. Its key goals are to develop an active network between MSH hospitals, universities & research institutions (e.g. TRI), nurture research, and to support HDRs and potential candidates. The aims of this presentation are to share the PAH/MSH Pharmacy research journey, provide examples of current and future work, and inspire further collaborative projects.
Bio
A/Prof Michael Barras is the Director of Pharmacy at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and a Research conjoint with the UQ School of Pharmacy (hospital 0.8 FTE / university 0.2 FTE). He currently supervises 7 PhD students and 2 MPhil students who are conducting research related to medication safety, health informatics and clinical pharmacy. He has a strong interest in designing, testing and monitoring individualised dosing strategies for high-risk patients in the hospital setting. Michael has many significant research relationships in hospital, university, and industry settings. He is a member of the UQ School of Pharmacy research committee.
About Seminar Series
The School of Pharmacy Seminar Series involves regular formal presentations of high-quality scholarly work with broad appeal.
The wider School community is invited to attend, including academic and professional staff, special guests, visitors, as well as HDR, postgraduate, masters and honours students.