“If you look at some of the best medical research centres in the world – places like Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic – they have strong relationships between a university and a well-respected teaching hospital,” says Professor Peter Eastwood, Matthew Flinders Fellow, Dean (Research) and Director of the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute.
Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre have traditionally had a strong relationship, which Prof Eastwood is working to extend.
“There’s no reason a Flinders Health Precinct could not replicate the activities of the big international medical research centres, whereby collaborative research between scientists and clinicians results in improved patient care,” he says.
Central to that ambition is the $255 million new research building, just over 50 metres away from the Flinders Medical Centre, which Prof Eastwood sees as an enormous opportunity to ramp up the collaborative clinical base.
The building is due to be completed in mid-2024 and as it is built over the next three years, Prof Eastwood will work to develop the existing relationships and capabilities between the clinicians of the hospital and the researchers in areas of research strength.
These areas include public health, vision science, neuroscience, sleep science, mental health, ageing, Indigenous health, primary care, gastroenterology, social determinants of health, pain, cancer, and infection and immunity.
He is also cementing relationships with South Australia’s health authorities including the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN).
SALHN’s Office for Research is a key partner and is located at Flinders Medical Centre.
“SALHN is providing vital support to develop this kind of research presence within a clinically orientated environment,” says Prof Eastwood.
“I believe that we have enormous opportunities to foster more engagement between University scientists, who are well trained in research design, methodology and analytics, and clinicians, who are best placed to understand the clinical issues facing their patients.
