Australia is globally recognised for its effective healthcare system. Yet, when it comes to dental care, the story isn’t quite as positive – especially for adults in regional and low-income communities. This imbalance raises a critical question that drives my research: How can we improve access to adult public dental services in regional Queensland by better supporting the people who provide these services?

AusHSI PhD student Nirmali Sivapragasam is interested in research exploring preventive healthcare services as a way of improving population health and reducing healthcare costs. By studying how lifestyle factors affect both health and costs over time, her research helps ensure that health interventions are evaluated fairly and accurately.

Recently joining AusHSI, Research Fellows Dr Angela Melder, Dr Kate Young and Dr Angela Byrnes recently sat down for a chat about health services innovation and what inspires them in their work.

Working in the health system and as a PhD candidate at AusHSI, Ashleigh Earnshaw is at the intersection of two worlds: both the practical and the rigorous, theory-driven worlds of implementation science. Her PhD research is focused on evaluating a groundbreaking new service that provides rapid-access, intensive outpatient care for people with chronic conditions.

Having experienced different trauma systems from the health care provider perspective, Beth has learned to appreciate that every system is unique. This has led to the research idea of comparing the different trauma systems we have across our nation.

Fraud happens in every area of life where there is money and prestige, including scientific research. There are sadly many people who are willing to fake research that fools peer reviewers, but eventually smells fishy when held up to post-publication scrutiny. Research fraud will never be eradicated, but we can reduce its influence with some relatively simple steps.

Binuri Perera's research focuses on the burden of bloodstream infections among injured patients. Bloodstream infections can increase patients’ risk of death and are costly to treat, but we know little about their impact on patients and health systems. Binuri is addressing this gap by analysing population-level linked data for all of Queensland over a 20-year period.

Rangi Weerasuriya's PhD project focuses on identifying the key risk factors for people hospitalised with foot disease in order to improve prevention and early detection, identifying the at-risk population in the community and adapting the targeted preventive strategies and close monitoring.

Hear about AusHSI PhD candidate Jack Roberts's running journey with the AusHSI running group, what inspired him to complete the QUT Classic, and his PhD research in a recent interview with QUT Graduate Research Education + Development (GRE+D).