Research collaboration

The George Institute for Global Health – Post-Sepsis Care: Co-designed models of support (SEPSIS SUPPORT)

​Sepsis Australia and The George Institute for Global Health have launched the SEPSIS SUPPORT project to develop co-designed post-sepsis care models aimed at reducing hospital readmissions and enhancing the quality of life for sepsis survivors and their families.

Shaping Sepsis Care is a new Australian study that brings together patients, carers, and healthcare professionals to identify and rank the most important unanswered research questions about sepsis. 

Led by the National Critical Care Research (NCCR) Collaboration, it is part of a new Priority Setting Partnership in conjunction with the UK’s James Lind Alliance (JLA).

The aim of Shaping Sepsis Care is to highlight research that could significantly improve sepsis treatment and patient outcomes.

The FLUDRO-SHOCK (harmonised FINESSE/CREST program) is an international collaboration led by The George Institute for Global Health, Australia. Corticosteroids, with their immune modulating effects, have been used for over 50 yearsin patients with septic shock; yet uncertainty remains regarding their optimal use. To address the key knowledge gaps about corticosteroids for septic shock, the critical care program of the George Institute for Global Health (TGI) submitted two research grant applications to generate conclusive evidence on 1. the role and optimal dose of Fludrocortisone in the management of septic shock  (MRFF), and 2. the influence of transcriptomic endotype on clinical response to Fludrocortisone (NHMRC). Both grants were awarded. To ensure completion of both grants (and not competition for the same patient population), the study management committees have harmonised the trial protocols into the FLUDRO-SHOCK  Study, a Bayesian adaptive trial.

UQ James Lind PSP Paediatric PICU (Spark Kids and CHIRP)

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) for Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU) in Australia and New Zealand. Sepsis Australia through its Consumer Partner and Advocacy Program (SACPAP) is collaborating with The University of Queensland to identify and prioritise research questions that impact patients, families, and healthcare professionals in the PICU, providing family insights based on theirs and their child’s lived experience of sepsis to determine research priorities. The study is live and progressing towards its second survey phase.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute – PASSPORT Paediatric Adaptive Sepsis adaptive Platform Trial (MRFF ICTC Grant) and PASSPORT Next (MRFF CTA Grant)

PASSPORT compliments and enhances the Sepsis Australia work program by fulfilling the evidence gap for multiple high-impact therapies for sepsis in children in Australia. As a partner organisation, SA is providing a platform for dissemination and translation of the study results into dedicated education and online resources for consumers and professionals focussed on recognition and early treatment of paediatric sepsis.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute – Paediatric ED Sepsis Research Priority Setting – James Lind Alliance

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) is a non-profit making initiative, established in 2004. It brings patients, carers, and clinicians together in Priority Setting Partnership’s (PSPs). These PSPs identify and prioritise evidence uncertainties, or unanswered questions, that patients, carers, and clinicians agree are the most important. Sepsis Australia through its Consumer Partner and Advocacy Program (SACPAP) is collaborating to help ensure that those who fund health research are aware of what really matters to the people who need to use the research in their everyday lives. The specific aim of this PSP exercise is to prioritise the most important questions for children with sepsis to improve their care in future in particular related to emergency care.

University of Melbourne – Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia Network Adaptive Platform Trial – Long Term Follow Up (SNAP-LTF) Extension Study

The SNAP-LTF study is a sub-study of the SNAP study grant extension which evaluates a range of interventions with the aim of improving outcomes for patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, known as blood-stream infections) that can trigger sepsis The SNAP-LTF sub-study is designed to investigate the long-term burden of Post Sepsis Syndrome (PSS) in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, particularly those who were not admitted to intensive care. While most existing research focuses on ICU survivors, this study addresses a critical gap by examining outcomes in patients managed in general wards and primary care settings. This sub-study idea was led by Lyn Whiteway, a sepsis survivor and member of the SNAP global steering committee. Lyn has been a passionate advocate for understanding more about PSS. Consumer involvement is central to the study’s design and as such a consumer steering group composed of individuals with lived experience of sepsis is being convened to co-design the study and ensure it reflects the priorities and needs of patients, families, and carers, particularly in relation to their recovery journey and experiences with primary health care and hospital admission.

The George Institute for Global Health – Prevention with SGLT-2 inhibition of Acute Kidney Injury in intensive care (PREVENTS-AKI)

PREVENTS-AKI aims to determine whether treatment with a SGLT2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, compared to placebo decreases the incidence of a composite end point of severe AKI or death in high-risk patients in intensive care units including those with sepsis. Study design is a prospective, multi-centre, parallel group, double blinded, phase III randomised controlled trial. Sepsis Australia through its Consumer Partner and Advocacy Program (SACPAP) is collaborating on this research program which will have has study sites located Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, and Brazil. A preliminary smaller vanguard phase of the study is underway informing the main study that will eventually a total of 3000 participants, subject to funding.

University of NSW – Determine impacts of long COVID

To investigate the effects of long COVID in Australia, a research collaboration with researchers from NCIRS, UNSW, the University of Sydney, the University of Adelaide, Monash University, the Australian National University, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the George Institute for Global Health/Sepsis Australia is in progress. The collaboration will generate novel population-level data on the impacts of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, commonly known as long COVID, on health service use, health care costs, workforce participation and disability across the country. These data will be used to model the impacts and cost-effectiveness of different COVID-19 vaccination strategies, including vaccination programs, and help to inform the development of future public health policy and program responses in Australia.

Flinders University – Primary Health Care Research – Equitable access to full blood evaluation testing at the point-of-care in remote primary health (SPOCTrial)

The full blood examination (FBE) test is the most requested pathology test in Australia, and yet, our rural and remote communities do not have timely and reliable access to this fundamental test. This impact is even more profound for sepsis patients in the Northern Territory (NT) where there is a higher incidence, mortality and morbidity rate amongst the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders populations. We urgently need a FBE point-of care (POC) testing device with capability similar to the pathology laboratories in the urban settings for this time-critical clinical condition – early detection is critical to reducing sepsis related morbidity and mortality. This project aims to improve patient access to FBE testing in remote primary care facilities through evaluating the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of implementing a novel POC FBE testing device and its delivery model in the NT using a stepped wedge cluster-randomised trial. Our proposed economic evaluation will examine the ability of the POC FBE test to reduce unnecessary medical retrievals, and the associated costs, to demonstrate cost savings to our health system, when compared to the current standard of care. A quantitative approach with process evaluation design will also be used to investigate the impact of the new FBE POC delivery model to the broader range of clinical conditions (e.g. anaemia, chronic kidney disease and respiratory infections) that disproportionately impact the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders populations. Our proposed POC testing is expected to improve POC integration and enhance the service delivery model for all clinical conditions where the FBE is needed with a scalable model.