Nearly $3 million in NHMRC grants for Griffith research

Griffith University has been awarded nearly $3 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2023 Partnership Projects PRC2 round.

Congratulations to Professor Lara Farrell from the School of Applied Psychology and Professor Fabricio Da Silva Costa from the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Professor Farrell will receive $1.475 million to bridge the science-service gap for children and young people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

“Cognitive-behavioural therapy with exposure and response-prevention is a well-established, curative treatment for young people with OCD,” she said.

“Sadly however, it is largely inaccessible to young people due to delayed diagnosis and a lack of clinicians with the requisite knowledge and skills to deliver it, resulting in OCD often going undetected.

“This partnership will transform mental health service delivery and policy via the implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of an evidence-based model of care (MoC) for young people with OCD.

“This project will equip clinicians with the knowledge and skills to improve detection and treatment of OCD, likely resulting in reduced hospital admissions, improved patient outcomes and more cost-effective health service delivery.”

Professor Da Silva Costa will receive $1.475 million to develop Tommy’s Tool Project to optimise maternal and perinatal outcomes through digital clinician decision tool in maternity care.

“Currently, there is no universally applied intervention to help pregnant women experiencing serious adverse pregnancy outcomes including pre-eclampsia, small for gestational age, preterm birth, stillbirth and neonatal death,” he said.

“Current practice guidelines use an inefficient checklist-based screening that both misses high-risk women and incorrectly identifies women whose pregnancies progress without high-risk complications.

“Tommy’s Tool is a digital solution that summarises patient data and provides details bases on externally validated algorithms and national clinical guidelines to assist with decisions around care pathways.

“Tommy’s Tool empowers all women in their right to optimal pregnancy healthcare and makes the best information accessible to any and all healthcare providers.

“We expect Tommy’s Tool will effectively predict risk of pregnancy complications and optimally direct women into personalised care pathways resulting in reduced incident of pre-eclampsia, small for gestational age, preterm birth and stillbirth.”

UN Sustainable Development Goals 3: Good Health and Well-being