Category: <span>Education and Resources</span>

CALL FOR PAPERS AND WEBSITE LAUNCH!

It is a pleasure to invite you to join us at the 2016 AEN Conference to be held in Adelaide’s rapidly growing research hub. The conference is brought to you as a result of the collaboration of Bellberry, PRAXIS Australia and the Australian Research Management Society (ARMS), in conjunction with our sponsor, the University of South Australia.

We encourage you to visit the conference website to find out how to submit your abstract and to learn more about the various conference themes.

http://themeetingpeople.com.au/aen2016/

The AEN 2016 Conference will seek to explore in detail how the research and research ethics communities in Australia can prepare for innovation by better understanding what kinds of challenges this era of innovation brings our way, how we can utilise innovation to improve processes, and importantly to identify and address the ethical implications of those innovations.

Registration and session information coming soon, including an announcement of exciting key note speakers.

conference team contact
Ms Lesley Woods
AEN 2016 Conference Secretariat
PO Box 764
MITCHAM SA 5062, Australia
Telephone: +61 (02) 8177 2215
Email: reg@themeetingpeople.com.au

Thurs 7 April – The Science Exchange, Adelaide

Around 61 people including several members from interstate attended this interesting and informative event. The two presentations generated discussion on first in human studies utilizing the incident in the BIAL/Biotrial Phase 1 trial in France early in January as a case study. The event was very well received and a range of interesting questions were raised. Our Education evenings are part of our ongoing commitment to the continuing professional development of our HREC members. We believe that on-going education is a fundamental requirement in the delivery of a high quality ethics review service to the human research community. Bellberry wishes to thank our excellent speakers and everyone else who attended for their input and discussion. We look forward to the next event.

7-10 October 2015, Sydney

The theme of this year’s meeting is Better Evidence, Better Health and it aims to bring together a broad range of local and international experts in the design and conduct of clinical trials, clinical data and registry custodianship, healthcare funding, policy and regulation, healthcare service delivery, health information technology and patient advocacy to:

Bellberry will again be attending this event and hosting a stand so please come along and find out who we are and what we do or just to say hello!

Clinical Trends and New Approaches

Wed 6 May, The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne

Simon Windsor and Trina O’Donnell attended this event held at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in May. Simon presented a session to over 200 people at this popular workshop which is organised by Victoria Health.

The workshop addressed current issues and use of electronic approaches. There were sessions on participant consent including e-consent, personalised medicine and developments in investigator initiated projects, industry related topics including online monitoring and social media surveillance

Simon presented a session on the National PICF Project, A Participant-focused Approach. The session was very well received and many thought provoking questions were raised.

All presentations from this workshop will be available to view on the Victoria Health website.

Thurs 30 April – The Science Exchange, Adelaide

Around 45 people with several members from interstate attended this interesting and informative event. The two topics presented were ‘Ethical and regulatory challenges generated by surgical innovation’ and ‘Procedures and Devices.’

The event was very well received and a range of interesting questions were raised. Our Education evenings are part of our ongoing commitment to the continuing professional development of our HREC members. We believe that on-going education is a fundamental requirement in the delivery of a high quality ethics review service to the human research community.

Bellberry wishes to thank our excellent speakers and everyone else who attended for their input and discussion. We look forward to the next event.

ARCS Scientific Congress, Sydney

5-7 May 2015

This year ARCS are running a combined congress for those working in the development of medicines and medical technologies including clinical research, regulatory affairs, quality/GMP, medical devices, reimbursement, pharmacovigilance, medical information, medical affairs, and workplace management.

This year Bellberry are delighted to be presenting at two sessions. Our Project Officer Simon Windsor will be speaking on Tues May 5 at the Improving Investigational Site Operations session. Simon will be presenting information about the National PICF Project and providing pilot data from the project.

On Wed May 6 Melanie Gentgall will be talking at the Trends in Clinical Research Governance session which will be chaired by Bellberry CEO Kylie Sproston.

We will also have our usual booth at the conference so please feel free to come along for further information on Bellberry and our ethics Committee’s or just to say hello! We look forward to meeting new friends and catching up with old acquaintances.

Our Education Manager, Melanie Gentgall recently spent some time in Queensland networking and attending the ARMs and VELG conferences. Please find below Mel’s feedback from these events:

Education Initiative – National Networking Meetings, September 2014

Recently I had an opportunity to meet with HRECs and researchers in some of Queensland’s premier research institutes including QIMR and QBI as well as public and private health care settings. Queensland’s dedication and commitment in funding and infrastructure for research, along with their success in commercialisation ventures demonstrates their skill and advantage in areas of significant importance to the national strategic aims of improved competitiveness in R&D on the international stage. Bellberry look forward to collaborating with new and existing partners in Queensland as we embark on our education initiatives, which aims to promote a skilled and competent research workforce nationally.

VELG Conference – Brisbane, September 2014

Bellberry’s Research Education Initiative will deliver accredited training through our partnership with the dual sector International University, RMIT. The national VET conference, the largest gathering of VET practitioners and policy leaders, was held recently in Brisbane and was an opportunity to get a firsthand understanding of current issues and debate that will inform our project. There have been recent significant changes to the national VET framework, as released by the federal government. The conference key note address was delivered by the Minister for Industry, the Hon Ian McFarlane along with presentations from all the key Industry sector representatives who discussed how legislative changes will impact on industry more broadly. There was a very clear message supporting the need for Industry and the education sector to work together in areas of our national competitive advantage, to create economic opportunities locally and importantly, internationally. The conference also offered a large variety of practical workshops that aim to hone the skills of educators and training providers, with a very strong emphasis on the requirement of high quality standards from all providers across the VET sector.

ARMS

The annual Australian Research Management Society national conference was held in Canberra this year with the theme of Think, Impact and Influence. One of the opening plenaries, delivered by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb AC, provided further evidence on how Australia must address change and focus on our true areas of competitive edge and critical need. The recently released STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) – Agenda for Change paper is compulsory reading for Australia’s research sector – or perhaps for Australian’s more generally. Research Impact is a powerful concept demanding attention across research internationally. Research Impact is defined in brief as the outcomes or benefits of research to the economy, society, the environment, health and quality of life broadly. The role of research management in facilitating an environment of collaboration is essential to promoting research that achieves impact and brings the differences that high quality meaningful and measurable research can achieve, in a timely and supportive manner. Bellberry’s “best practice “ model of research administration (as a HREC service provider) is well established and they are acknowledged as an important collaborator, promoting research impact. We will continue to review and improve our systems and promote research and researchers through our core HREC services and our non-core services such as education, donation funding and national collaborations across health care sectors and with academic researchers and institutions. Melanie Gentgall – Bellberry Education Manager

With just two weeks to go until we host the International Scientific Congress into the Challenges of Early Crossover in Clinical Trial Design for Oncology, time is running out to book your place!

Confirmed speakers include:

E/Prof Lloyd Sansom AO
Prof Davina Ghersi (NHMRC)
Prof Francesco Pignatti (EMA)
A/Prof Michael Coory (TGA)
Prof Andrew Mitchell (NHMRC)
Dr Kathy Soltys (Health Canada)
Rebecca Trowman (NICE)
Dr Anthony Fields (CADTH)
Dr Beate Wieseler (IQWiG)
Dr Sean Tunis (CMTP (USA)
Dr Dane Dickson (MoIDX, Palmett GBA )

The panels will cover the range of perspectives around this issue: from the needs of clinical trial participants; to practical considerations of treating oncologists. From the analytical considerations of the regulatory agencies; to the data set conundrums facing the Health Technology Assessment agencies. Supported by leading academics in biostatistics and health economics. Sessions will be fully interactive, offering the audience the opportunity to give feedback direct to the agencies on proposed guidelines around how to handle these growing challenges.

Further Conference Information and Agenda

Challenges of Early Crossover in Clinical Trial Design for Oncology

On Wednesday 22 October 2014, Bellberry will host a conference in Adelaide on the Challenges of Early Crossover in Clinical Trial Design for Oncology. At this important event, we will launch guidelines in this area which have been consolidated by an international panel of experts at a workshop overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee, chaired by Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom AO.

The workshop will result in the development of an agreed statement of good practice, guidelines on approaches and clear agreement on any required next steps, all of which will be presented and debated at the conference.

As we have mentioned in previous updates, Bellberry Ltd is committed to contributing to the current national aim of streamlining of current ethics review processes. This is in conjunction with our core aims of promoting and improving the welfare of research participants and promoting quality, efficiency and effectiveness of research across Australia.

The need for increased education services to the broader research sector has been identified by many key stakeholders as an important element of the streamlining objective, with an end goal of promoting and retaining a skilled and informed workforce. We are excited to announce our plans to deliver VET accredited education to the Human Research Ethics sector, with a planned implementation internally later this year and then nationally in early 2015. This will be closely followed by accredited education to the broader research sector , focusing on education and support for researchers and research site support staff.

Importantly, we recognise that affordability, accessibility and quality are inherent design elements. All education services will be conducted in partnership with an academic tertiary institution /professional body, with support and guidance on design, content and delivery from key experts around the nation, including industry, regulators and representatives of all of the target audience groups. One important goal of this project is to ensure that the services can be readily accessed by all, with an aim to ensuring portability of acquired skills and recognition amongst the sector of accredited training as an accepted standard. This would ultimately reduce the current burden of repetition of training that impacts time and costs related to research.

If you would like to know more about this project or would like to know how you can be involved, please contact Melanie Gentgall, Bellberry Education Project Manager at melaniegentgall@bellberry.com.au

Bellberry HREC will once again be attending the ARCS Scientific Congress in Sydney on the 3rd-4th June 2014. The ARCS congress brings together the Australian therapeutics community for education and networking. We look forward to this event as an opportunity to meet with Investigators, Institutions, research organisations, and HREC members. Bellberry will also be presenting on innovations in the Ethics arena.