New research fellows to focus on diabetes care and children’s broken arms

Care for patients with diabetes and treatment of forearm fractures in children will be the focus of two new Gold Coast Heath Clinician Researcher Fellowships.

The Fellowships allow clinician researchers from Gold Coast Health to dedicate two days per week for three years to work on their research projects.

Senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine Dr Peter Snelling and Pharmacist Advanced Dr Matthew Percival were named as the 2024 Fellows at the Gold Coast Health Research, Innovation and Transformation Showcase on 20 March.

Dr Snelling said the Fellowship would help take him on the next step of his research career.

“It is difficult for clinician researchers to find the time to dedicate to high-quality research, and fellowships such as this give us time that is so important to achieving our research goals,” he said.

“It’s absolutely wonderful that Gold Coast Health has bought in to this initiative which boosts research and embeds it within the culture of the institution.”

Dr Snelling will pursue his project focused on improving the delivery of treatment for children and adolescents with distal forearm fractures (those near the wrist) by providing evidence that minimalist interventions for mild fractures benefit the patient and the healthcare system.

Dr Percival will use his time to investigate a new patient-centred model-of-care for treating diabetes out of Robina Hospital. It aims to improve access to evidence-based medicines and reduce wait times for the diabetes management services.

This is the second round of Clinician Researcher Fellowships awarded by Gold Coast Health. In 2023, Paediatric respiratory and sleep medicine specialist Dr Vikas Goyal and Adjunct Associate Professor Thuy Frakking, a speech pathologist, were the inaugural Fellowship recipients. Dr Goyal and A/Prof Frakking provided an update on their work at the recent Showcase.

The Fellowships ensure working clinicians can continue to be at the forefront of medical research while continuing to apply their clinical skills to patients and mentor other up-and-coming clinician researchers, something that Dr Snelling said was vital.

“Research underpins everything we do, so it is important that as clinicians we have the time to generate new evidence through high-quality research in collaboration with external institutions and academia, including universities,” he said.

“Having clinicians involved in research is highly desirable, as our work with patients makes us acutely aware of the issues at hand. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and to the mentors that I have had along the way, and I’m hopeful that I can mentor other clinician researchers so that we can continue the process of growing and developing research at Gold Coast Health.”