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Quality use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre
 

QUMPRCThe Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of national medicines policies and programs through research, consultancy and training in community, hospital, institutional, professional, public and private settings.  

Members of the Centre are highly regarded for their successful work in:

 

 

People

UniSA researchers

Professor Andrew Gilbert - research sector leader
Dr Manya Angley - senior research fellow
John Barratt  - senior systems analyst and security manager
Dr Gillian Caughey - senior research fellow (Ageing Well Ageing Productively project)
Tammy Le Blanc - module development (Veterans' MATES project)
Dr Agnes Vitry - senior research fellow (Ageing Well Ageing Productively project)
Dr Susan Semple - research fellow
Associate Professor Libby Roughead – co-director (Veterans’ MATES), chief investigator (Ageing Well Ageing Productively), chief investigator (WA co-payments project)

Under arrangement with the University of Adelaide

Hao (Andrew) Ly – statistician (Veterans’ MATES project)
Emmae Ramsay – statistician (Veterans’ MATES project)
Dr Ying Zhang - research associate (Ageing Well Ageing Productively project)

Administration team

Colleen Cryans - administration officer (Veterans’ MATES project)
Teresa Duncan - receptionist/administration officer
Kathy Mott - senior project manager and development officer
Annette Paschke - project coordinator
Bill Tyrie - project administration coordinator (Veterans’ MATES project)

School-based (teaching) members

Dr Elizabeth Elliot
Dr Geoff March
Adam Phillips
Dr Deepa Rao
Dr Michael Sorich
Chris Thompson

Associate and external members

Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom
Associate Professor Kingsley Coulthard (Women’s & Children’s Hospital)
Associate Professor Chris Doecke (Royal Adelaide Hospital)

PhD candidates

Chris Alderman
Bill Dollman
David Edwards
Catherine Haddy
Lisa Kalisch
Chi Pius Ndi
Noordin Othman
Nicole Pratt
Natalie Soulsby

 

Collaborators, partners and clients

The QUMRC has numerous cooperative relationships with other universities, government bodies, industry organisations and hospitals both in Australia and around the world. Whether we are collaborating on major research projects, sharing data and expertise, or providing consultancy and training services, our aim is the same: to optimise human health through better medicines and medicines policy.  

Our collaborators include:

South Australia

Adelaide North Eastern Division of General Practice
Cancer Council of South Australia
Department of Health (South Australian Government)
Drug and Therapeutic Information Service (DATIS)
Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders University
Pharmacy Board of South Australia
Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park SA
Royal Adelaide Hospital
Royal District Nursing Service of SA (RDNS)
South Australian Divisions of General Practice Inc (SADI)
University of Adelaide
Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide

National

Australian Medicines Handbook
Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Australian Government)
National Prescribing Service
Pharmaceutical Defence Limited
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
Pharmacy Guild of Australia
University of Queensland
University of Sydney
University of Western Australia 

International

Action on Antibiotic Resistance (ReAct)
Consumer Medicines and Health Institute (KILEN), Sweden
Commonwealth Fund, New York
Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Sweden
Harrison Health Research
Harvard University, USA
JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore, India
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society
Malaysian Pharmacy Board
University of British Columbia, Canada
University of Minnesota, USA
York University, Canada

Our valued clients include:

Department of Health and Ageing (Australian Government)
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Australian Government)
Pharmacy Guild of Australia

 

Projects

Our current key projects include:

Veterans’ MATES project
Project leaders: Andrew Gilbert, Libby Roughead
Client: Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Australian Government)

The multimillion dollar Veterans’ MATES (Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services) project aims to improve veterans’ medication usage and health outcomes by using patient specific feedback to inform GPs about medication issues. The feedback is supplemented by education materials aimed at veterans and health professionals. As part of the project the QUMPRC has established a state-of-the-art data management centre linking DVA, veteran and doctor-specific information. 

Optimal ageing for people with multiple chronic conditions
Chief investigators: Andrew Gilbert, Libby Roughead, Robyn McDermott, Adrian Esterman, Philip Ryan (University of Adelaide), Simon Stewart (Baker Heart Research Institute), Mary Luszcz (Flinders University)
Funding: NHMRC/ARC Ageing Well Ageing Productively grant
This study aims to establish a methodology for developing guidelines to achieve the best possible outcomes for older Australians with common combinations of chronic conditions. Looking at selected commonly-occurring combinations of chronic conditions, the research will provide a better understanding of the consequences of current patterns of care. More realistic guidelines generated by this analysis will help reduce the extent to which the elderly are placed at risk of adverse drug reactions.

Consumer co-payments for prescription medicines: impact on access and health outcomes
Chief Investigators: Libby Roughead, James Semmens (Curtin University of Technology), David Preen (University of Western Australia), John Glover (University of Adelaide)
Funding: NHMRC project grant
Expenditure under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) was over $6.5 billion in 2003-04 and rising at a rate of 11% per annum. To ensure medicine costs remain affordable, the Australian government has instituted a number of measures including cost-effectiveness assessments, brand premium policies, generic substitution and consumer co-payments. This study focuses on the impact of consumer co-payments, as international research suggests co-payments may affect vulnerable populations and impact adversely on medicine use and health outcomes. The project aims to determine if consumer co-payments for subsidised medicines impact on medication and health service utilization of selected population groups. The research will include a series of retrospective, observational studies of linked health and pharmacy data using time series analysis.

Pharmacological investigations of medicinal plant products from Kaanju Homelands, Wenlock and Pascoe Rivers, Cape York Peninsula
Chief investigators: Susan Semple, Jiping Wang, Ross McKinnon, David Claudie (Chuulungun Aboriginal Corporation)
Funding: ARC Linkage Grant
This project has dual aims of investigating the novel pharmacological actions and chemical components of plant species used as traditional medicines from an area of high biodiversity, the Kaanju homelands, and facilitating the preservation and intergenerational transfer of cultural knowledge about these plants among the Kaanju people. The first in-depth Western scientific evaluation of the pharmacology of plant medicines from the region, the project will provide information to help sustainable development of products based on Kaanju medicinal plants, and will serve as a model for equitable partnerships between Indigenous and western scientific researchers in the investigation of traditional medicinal plant knowledge.

Enhancing the safety of people living in the community with dementia and other chronic conditions
Chief investigators: Andrew Gilbert, Debbie Kralik (RDNS Research Unit)
Funding: Department of Health and Ageing - Dementia Service Development Grants program
In 2002, a South Australian study reported on significant issues around the care of people living in their own homes and who required assistance with medication management due to memory loss or early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.

UniSA joined with the Royal District Nursing Services Research Unit and the Adelaide Western General Practice Network to construct a project that would address these issues and enable people with memory loss, confusion or diagnosed dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease to live safely at home for as long as possible.

Quality Use of Medicines in Arthritis and Osteoporosis
Project team: Manya Angley, Susan Semple, Gillian Caughey, Saravana Kumar, Derek Weir (Australia’s Health Pty Ltd), Tony Wade (Australia’s Health Pty Ltd)
Expert advisory panel: Lloyd Sansom, Karen Grimmer-Somers, Les Cleland, Vidya Lanye, Simone Rossi
Funding: Department of Health and Ageing
This project aims to produce a report on the quality use of medicines (QUM) in arthritis and osteoporosis. Based on literature reviews and workshop reports, the project will address the adoption of a consistent approach to the QUM for people with arthritis and osteoporosis, and will provide the foundation for the development of QUM professional education modules.

The impact of chronic NSAID use on the health of veterans
Project leaders: Andrew Gilbert, Kathie Knights (Flinders University)
Funding: Department of Veterans’ Affairs
This study aims to evaluate an association between chronic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use (including dose and chemical class) in the veteran population and: (1) all cause death, (2) cardiovascular mortality, (3) rates of hospitalization for heart failure and (4) rates of hospitalization for acute renal failure.

 

Contact

Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre
phone: +61 8 8302 1233
fax: +61 8 8302 1087
email: teresa.duncan@unisa.edu.au

 

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