November 2021
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A/Prof Natalie Hannan wins National Health Medical Research Council Ideas Grant
A/Prof Natalie Hannan was awarded a National Health Medical Research Council Ideas Grant for the 2021 round (2022 funding) as Chief Investigator A. This proposal was supported by Associate Investigator A/Prof Lisa Hui. Lisa and Natalie lead the NCHER Biobank at Northern Hospital Epping, where part of this work will be carried out. Natalie has been funded for her project, ‘Improving the pipeline for translation of therapies for serious complications of pregnancy’. Says Natalie, “Preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction are deadly complications of pregnancy, without current therapies for either. Development of treatments is seriously limited and pregnant women are excluded…
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Northern Health Foundation: Shout a Coffee to Healthcare Workers
‘Shout A Coffee to Healthcare Workers’ is an initiative by Northern Health Foundation for the community to show their gratitude for staff who are working tirelessly to keep our community safe. This initiative complements Northern Health focus on wellbeing by encouraging a little time out. The campaign which runs till the end of the month, got an extra boost when Northern Health Foundation, Board member Tricia Lee, paid a special visit to Northern Hospital Epping to shout 1,000 coffees for frontline medical staff. The Riverlee Foundation has a longstanding relationship with Northern Health Foundation. Over the years, Riverlee have funded…
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The library comes to you
A new online library service for all Northern Health staff and students has been launched, bringing the library to staff regardless of where they are located. The service provides access to a range of evidence-based resources such as medical literature, databases, education tools, eJournals, access to books and eBooks and point of care decision support tools such as UpToDate. The eLibrary can be used to submit requests for article sourcing by library staff or access expert search capabilities by requesting a literature search. “Both of these valued services help Northern Health staff and students stay up to date with the…
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Bicultural workers in the Community Monitoring Program
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, we have seen very high rates of COVID-19 amongst first-generation migrants in Melbourne’s north, with over 10 per cent of the 15,000 COVID-19 positive people registered in Northern Health’s support programs identifying as speaking Arabic, Assyrian or Chaldean as their primary language. In response, Northern Health’s COVID Positive Pathway program recently recruited a team of bicultural workers to help us better engage with Arabic, Assyrian and Chaldean speakers isolating at home. Flona Yousif and Hala Mehdi were seconded from the Research office at the start of September to work in the service, and Lena…
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Q&A with Dr Faye Zaibak, Director, Research Operations
In this week’s ‘Q & A’, we chat with Dr Faye Zaibak, Director, Research Operations, who has been in this post for just over two months. What’s your coffee order? Tea, no milk or sugar. I am really loving my ginger tea at the moment. Tell us about your time so far at Northern Health? I am blessed to have such a hardworking and dedicated team. I have not met most of the team or researchers in person, as they are seconded to COVID-19 response, which presents a challenge to the continuation of our essential service. Everyone is willing to…
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Pharmacy wins ‘Best Abstract’ and ‘Best Poster’ Awards at UK Conference
Heather Mackenzie, Antimicrobial Stewardship Lead Pharmacist, won the ‘Best Abstract’ and ‘Best Poster Presentation’ Award at the United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) Virtual Conference last week. UKCPA is the UK’s largest clinical pharmacy community, bringing together pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from all sectors. It currently has over 2,600 members, 14 educational groups and 26 forums. “Each year, members are invited to submit abstracts for the annual conference. In 2021, approximately 70 abstracts were submitted, with six selected for presentation. Our pharmacy submission was awarded both ‘Best Abstract’ and ‘Best Poster Presentation,” Heather explained. The poster titled, ‘Experience of a…
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Remembrance Day: Lest we forget
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – Winston Churchill Tomorrow marks Remembrance Day. On this day, we remember the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who lost their lives serving our nation and its allies in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. On the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month, a minutes’ silence is observed and dedicated to the lives of people who died fighting to protect our nation. To commemorate this important date, Hospital Reception Manager, Nick Caruana and HIS Operations Manager, David Mangano, are ensuring a coordinated…
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Feel Good Fridays are here
Feel good Fridays are coming to Northern Health, starting from Friday, 12 November, and will last until the end of the year. “The Wellbeing Team are introducing virtual ‘Feel Good Fridays’- an opportunity to gather as a collective and share stories, join in with games and fun activities, and shake off the stress. Each week will be a different theme, and we encourage all staff across Northern Health, both clinical and non-clinical, to head to IdeaScale, where they will find information on how to participate,” explained Stephen Whittaker, Wellbeing Team Lead, People and Culture. “The science behind a smile, the…