Research Interests and Strengths
The major area of research strength - where the GGT UDRH is highly competitive and recognised internationally - is in diabetes prevention. In 2003 the GGT UDRH established a national demonstrator Diabetes Prevention Project in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the National Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland, leaders in diabetes prevention research. This work lead to diabetes prevention being placed on Council of Australian Government's (COAG) national agenda, and subsequently lead to a number of other research programs, which built on the work of this national demonstrator.
The most recent of these projects is the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)-funded Mothers After Gestational Diabetes in Australia (MAGDA) study: Preventing Diabetes in Pregnancy from Progressing to Type 2 Diabetes, which is focussing on developing and implementing a system of care to reduce the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes in women who have had gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
The Department holds a second NHMRC grant, the Melbourne Diabetes Prevention Study (MDPS). This project brings together a clinical mass of national and international researchers, clinicians and educators with immense experience in diabetes research. The collaborators include Deakin University, Diabetes Australia - Victoria (DAV), Monash University, the University of Melbourne, Western Health and the National Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland.
The GGT UDRH has also developed and implemented a range of research projects examining the clinical pathways for the co-morbidities of depression, diabetes and coronary heart disease, which have helped establish best practice for more efficient use of health service resources and improvements in quality of patient care.
The GGT UDRH's research strength is also in the areas of workforce and primary health care. Workforce research focuses on the recruitment and retention of allied health professionals in rural and regional areas, with new and emerging areas of interest including workload capacity measures and the translation of retention strategies to policy.
For more information about the GGT UDRH's research programs contact Professor James Dunbar