Making an impact – Hudson research recognised in public healthcare awards

Hudson Institute research has been recognised for its impact on Victoria’s healthcare, with two projects named as finalists in the 2022 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards.

Both finalists have produced life-saving research that has changed clinical practice and made a real difference to the detection and prevention of serious health conditions.

In the Excellence in culturally diverse health category, Dr Miranda Davies-Tuck was nominated for her project titled Reducing Stillbirth at term in South Asian born mothers.

Her research showed that women of South Asian origin (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) had higher risk of stillbirth in late pregnancy and recommended earlier fetal monitoring for this group of women.

She identified that the rate of stillbirth at 39 weeks among these women was equivalent to what it is for the rest of the population at 41 weeks.

Changed stillbirth clinical practice

Thanks to her findings hospitals have changed their clinical practice, leading to stillbirths among this group of women falling by two-thirds.

Dr Jun Yang is a finalist in the Improving healthcare through clinical research category for her project Precision medicine for hypertension: screening for primary aldosteronism.

She studies a hormonal condition called primary aldosteronism, or PA, which affects one in 10 patients with high blood pressure, but less than one in 100 patients know they have it, as it is often misdiagnosed as conventional hypertension.

Patients can have PA for decades without knowing the cause, missing the right therapy and suffering preventable heart disease or stroke.

Increased primary aldosteronism screening

Dr Yang’s team found that a simple blood test for PA could save up to 600,000 Australians from unnecessary illness, and her work with general practitioners has led to a significant increase in doctors screening patients for this condition.

With 196 entries the awards are hotly contested – only one in five made it through to be finalists.

The 2022 Victorian Public Healthcare Award winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on Thursday, 13 October at Marvel Stadium, Docklands.