In this section:
Epworth Research Month features informative and inspiring presentations from our research teams who are working to identify new and better ways to treat our patients and improve their health and wellbeing.
Epworth Research Month 2021 will run as a program of online presentations throughout the month of October. By joining our online webinars, you will gain an insight into the research being conducted at Epworth. This year our program consists of 29 webinars from over 50 Epworth researchers across a diverse range of disciplines including cancer, mental health, health informatics, nursing, musculoskeletal surgery, rehabilitation medicine, traumatic brain injury and paediatric allergy.
Check out the program below for the presentations you would like to attend, then copy the Teams link details into your Outlook calendar.
Program of Events | Research Month October 2021
Title and Webinar link | Details | Presenters | Date | Time |
Creative writing as reflective practice |
"In-verse reflection: structured creative writing exercises to promote reflective learning in medical students" |
A/Prof Martin Richardson and David McLean |
Monday 4 October 2021 | 2.00pm–2.30pm |
Medical Student Research Highlights (Part 1.) |
Chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis in adolescents: a review of evidence on the role of early surgery in diagnoses and treatment (Amy Shao). The CSI study: a review of efficacy and availability of targeted treatments for central sensitisation in women with endometriosis (Grace Simpson) Strength & limitations of various culture/sequencing methodology for microbiome study in endometriosis (Jaehee Kim) Retrospective review of all patients undergoing procedural sedation at Epworth Hospital (Jeremy Katanas) |
Amy Shao Grace Simpson Jaehee Kim Jeremy Katanas |
Monday 4 October 2021 | 3.00pm–4.30pm |
EJ Whitten Prostate Series |
EJ Whitten Foundation Prostate Cancer Research Centre |
Dr Nathan Lawrentschuk Dr Sean Ong Dr Dominic Bagguley |
Tuesday 5 October | 7.30am–9.00am |
Epworth Rehabilitation Clinic |
Epworth Rehabilitation Concussion Clinic – The First 500+ Patients (John Olver and Rose Acher); Is anxiety the key when it comes to chronic concussion? (Harvey Jones and Lucy Ymer); Stopping the Concussion Spin (Megan Hamilton) |
John Olver Rose Acher Megan Hamilton Harvey Jones Lucy Ymer Stephanie Jones |
Tuesday 5 October 2021 | 1.00pm–2.00pm |
Epworth Nursing Research Series (Part 1.) |
Showcasing nursing research in acute care contexts |
Kate Gillan – Vision for Nursing & Midwifery Epworth 2025 Owen Tebbs – Surge planning for the COVID-19 response in 2020 Diana Lee – Rapid development of a Respiratory Protection Program for staff at Epworth HealthCare Dr Stephane Bouchoucha - Personal Protective Equipment use and associated adverse-effects during the COVID-19 pandemic the Singapore experience A/Prof Melissa Bloomer – Barriers and supportive measures to address family needs during infectious disease outbreaks: What does the evidence say? |
Wednesday 6 October 2021 | 12.30pm–2.00pm |
Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health Student Showcase |
Improving Electroencephalographic methods to assess brain connectivity: Predicting response and relapse after repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for depression. (Aleksandra Miljevic) Transforming treatments for schizophrenia: Virtual reality, brain stimulation and social cognition (Kirsten Gainsford) Therapeutic use of transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Dr Magelage Perera) Accelerated Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Depression: results from a multi-site randomised controlled trial (Dr Leo Chen). Mindfulness and pain: The brain-heart connection (Michael Wang) Transdiagnostic EEG correlates of Attentional Control in Anxiety: A systematic review and implications for treatment development (Jessica Michael) Transcranial alternating current stimulation for apathy in Huntington’s disease (Marie-Claire Davis) |
Dr Leo Chen Aleksandra Miljevic Kirsten Gainsford Dr Magelage Perera Michael Wang Jessica Michael Marie-Claire Davis |
Thursday 7 October 2021 | 10:00am–12:00pm |
Circulating Tumour DNA – biomarker for malignancy |
“Circulating Tumour DNA- the agnostic, prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for malignancy” |
Dr Costas Yannakou Caitlyn Ngo-Nguyen Dr Rachel Delahuntly Nicole Brooks |
Thursday 7 October 2021 | 12:30pm–1:30pm |
Total knee and ACL reconstruction |
Intraoperative pressures sensors to measure the soft tissue envelope of a total knee replacement "When the wrapping paper is as important as the present!" (Cam Fary) 4DCT Analysis of Cadaveric Knees To Determine Graft Isometry in ACL Reconstruction – A Novel Technique (Justin Wong) |
Dr Cam Fary Dr Justin Wong |
Friday 8 October 2021 | 12.30pm–1.30pm |
Multidisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation |
Physical Therapy During Post Traumatic Amnesia, Comparison of Memory Rehabilitation Approaches in Acquired Brain Injury (ABI); Longitudinal prospective study of outcomes following traumatic amputation: Exploring pain, psychological function, quality of life and mobility up to 5 years following. |
Michelle Kahn Felicity Lorains Jemma Keeves Liam Johnson |
Monday 11 October 2021 | 12.00pm–1.00pm |
Medical Student Research Highlights (Part 2.) |
A systematic review of instability patterns, diagnostic workup and management strategies with Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement Arthroplasty including a review of the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry published data (Ruochen Mao). Contrast reaction management in a Radiology Department (Ruochun Zhang) Reasons for overnight/multi day stay in plastic surgery (Samuel Morris) |
Ruochen Mao Ruochun Zhang JSamuel Morris |
Monday 11 October 2021 | 3.00pm–4.30pm |
Pancreatic and upper gastrointestinal cancer |
Treatment and outcomes of unresectable and metastatic pancreatic cancer treated in public and private Australian hospitals (Yat Hang To); PROpatient study protocol - A multicentre, registry-based randomised controlled trial of symptom monitoring and centralised care coordination to improve health-related quality of life for patients with pancreatic and oesophagogastric cancer (Tennille Lewin) |
Yat Hang To Tennille Lewin |
Tuesday 12 October | 10.00am–11.00am |
Health Informatics |
Digital Health the enabling role of analytics and AI |
Prof. Nilmini Wickramasinghe Dr Stephen Vaughan Dr Oren Tirosh Dr Chinedu Ossai Dr Nalika Ulapane Dr John Zelcer |
Tuesday 12 October 2021 | 2.00pm–3.00pm |
Epworth Nursing Research Series (Part 2.) Centre for Paediatric Allergies at Epworth |
Mental Health and Rehabilitation Research |
Julia Segal - Consultant Liaison Stream Leader - An evaluation of the nurse consultant-led liaison in-patient psychiatry service Amy Kaplan - Senior Dietitian, Mental Health - Improving the management of eating disorders at Epworth Clinic Kim Miles - Education Manager - Engaging consumers to prevent harm from falls Jo Kevill -Chronic Disease Program Coordinator - Adaptation and delivery of Chronic Heart Failure rehabilitation program during the COVID-19 pandemic |
Wednesday 13 October 2021 | 12.30pm–2.00pm |
Rehabilitation Research – Session 1
Current PhD and Masters projects within EMReM and PRoSpER |
Assessing Sleepless Nights during Early Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery (Bianca Fedele) Agreement Comparison in Rehabilitation Research (Dean McKenzie) The safe return to exercise after traumatic brain injury (Sara Aldous) Ankle power generation has a greater influence on walking speed reserve than static balance following traumatic brain injury (Renee Gill) |
Bianca Fedele A/Prof. Dean McKenzie Sara Aldous Renee Gill |
Thursday 14 October 2021 | 12.30pm– 1.30pm |
Monash Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre |
Key findings from a controlled trial of positive behaviour support for challenging behaviours after brain injury. |
Prof Jennie Ponsford Dr Kate Gould Ms Amelia Hicks |
Thursday 14 October 2021 | 3.00pm– 4.30pm |
Gynaecological research update |
Progress towards a National Gynaecological Oncology Registry. Module 2. Endometrial Cancer (A/Prof Robert Rome); Female Genital Mutilation with a Case presentation of a Rare Clitoral Inclusion Cyst (Tanaka Dune, Ruchi Singh, Kazila Ghatia, Ruth-Cameron Jeffs, Marie Jones, Nigisti Mulholland) |
Tanaka Dune Ruchi Singh Kazila Ghatia Ruth-Cameron Jeffs Marie Jones Nigisti Mulholland |
Friday 15 October 2021 |
12.30pm–1.30pm |
Biostatistics masterclass: Clean Data and Unicorns |
'Clean Data and Unicorns' (Dean McKenzie and Dr Laven Padayachee) 'Preparing for Power Analysis' (Dean McKenzie) |
Dr Laven Padayachee Dean McKenzie |
Monday 18 October 2021 |
12.30pm–1.30pm |
Prone & Supine 12 lead Electrocardiography Comparisons |
Prone & Supine 12 lead Electrocardiography Comparisons: Utility of the Prone ECG for the Detection of Cardiac Conditions in Patients Requiring Prone Ventilation with COVID-19 (David Chieng) |
Dr David Chieng |
Monday 18 October 2021 |
3.00pm–4.00pm |
General Surgery and Gastroenterology Clinical Institute update |
Efficacy of Pregabalin for peri-operative pain relief in arthroscopic shoulder surgery: Results from ESSPrS (Epworth Shoulder Pregab Study) RCT. Minoo Patel Collaborative HPB Research — Strength in Numbers. Luke Bradshaw Comparison of Survival of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Surgery vs. Upfront Surgery for Resectable Colorectal Liver Metastases – A Retrospective Cohort Study. Sowmya Prabhakaran Development of an App for Multidisciplinary Meetings. Mark Cullinan Crohn's disease strictures are responsive to drug treatment. A randomised controlled trial (STRIDENT) comparing standard anti-TNF with intense combination therapy. Julien Schulberg |
A/Prof. Gary Crosthwaite |
Tuesday 19 October 2021 | 3.00pm-4:30pm |
Epworth Nursing Research Series (Part 3.) |
Nurses’ and Midwives’ role as leaders in Patient Safety |
Chairs Shane Combs Jane Lynch |
Wednesday 20 October | 12.30pm–2.00pm |
Virtual Poster Presentation Event |
Epworth research highlights 2021 |
Elliott Anderson |
Thursday 21 October 2021 | 12.30pm–1.30pm |
Genomics research plus Bringing hospitals together for research collaboration |
Genomics-translating research into better clinical practice (Prof Ingrid Winship AO); Bringing hospitals together for research collaboration: the story of the ACE Database (Shane Nanayakkara and Olivia Leary) |
Shane Nanayakkara Olivia Leary |
Friday 22 October 2021 | 12.30pm–1.30pm |
AFLW injury comparisons |
Gender differences in Australian Football injuries |
Dr Matt Ryan Dr Stephen Gill Dr Julian Stella Dr Nicole Lowry |
Monday 25 October 2021 | 12.30pm–1.30pm |
Intensive Care Unit: current research and developments |
Identifying efficient, scalable methods of delivering cardiac ultrasound education; The safety and feasibility of just-in-time fit testing during a COVID-19 pandemic; High stakes decision making in ICU; Siri, Is my patient going to have another MET call? Have I got NEWS for you! |
Gabrielle Hanlon Kyle Brooks Helen Cass Diane Kelly Laven Padayachee Jill Yang |
Tuesday 26 October 2021 | 2.00pm–3.30pm |
Epworth Nursing Research Series (Part 4.) |
Emerging Themes in Maternity Care Research |
Chairs Ana Hutchinson Shane Combs |
Wednesday 27 October 2021 | 12.30pm–2.00pm |
From Pandemic to Epidemic: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in the Young Epidemiology of ACL injury in Australia |
From Pandemic to Epidemic: Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in the Young Epidemiology of ACL injury in Australia, Return to Sport and Reinjury rates in young patients following ACL reconstruction, Risk Factors for reinjury rates following ACL reconstruction, The role of lateral extra-articular tenodesis in reducing reinjury rates following primary ACL reconstruction, Young patients, Old knees: the implication of ACL reconstruction and the risk of osteoarthritis |
Brian M Devitt Julian A Feller Kate E Webster Timothy Whitehead Lachlan Batty |
Wednesday 27 October 2021 | 3.00pm–4.30pm |
Centre for Paediatric Allergies at Epworth |
Is gummy shark (flake) safe in children with bony fish allergy; a prospective study? |
Dr Joanne Smart Paulina Alhucema |
Thursday 28 October 2021 | 10.00am–11.00am |
Rehabilitation Research – Session 2
Current PhD and Masters projects within EMReM and PRoSpER |
Epworth's Role in the Global Use of the Post Stroke Checklist (John Olver) Do Randomised Controlled Trials Evaluating Functional Outcomes Following Botulinum Neurotoxin-A Align with Focal Spasticity Guidelines? A Systematic Review (Edwina Sutherland) What are the elements of upper limb motor therapy the drive neural and clinical change – A systematic review (Matt Wingfield) Could graded motor imagery therapy reduce pain and improve function after total knee replacement? (Nathan Johns) |
John Olver Edwina Sutherland Matt Wingfield Nathan Johns Gavin Williams |
Thursday 28 October 2021 | 12.30pm–1.30pm |
COVID-19 research: latest developments |
Responding to healthcare-associated outbreaks of COVID-19 and airborne infections at Epworth HealthCare |
Dr Bettina Clark Dr Emily Chapple Dr Catherine Robertson Dr Brad Gardiner Dr Mike Richards Dr Nenad Macesic Dr Suman Majumdar |
Friday 29 October 2021 | 2.00pm–3.00pm |















