ANZCA Foundation update - November 2023
10 November 2023
In this update: Our inspiring donors, 163 ANZCA and FPM researchers supported, Foundation grants help ANZCA CTN leverage over $68 million, record number of health equity grant applications, face-to-face events return, Foundation represented at ASMR
2025 subscriptions, optional donations, and inspiring donors
Many of our supporters donate to the foundation each year with their subscription payments. Donor contributions, although completely optional, are inspiring in their generosity and vision, as they help us continue to support our fellows’ and trainees’ work to further improve the quality and accessibility of our specialist healthcare, beyond ANZCA’s annual core programs.
Our donors support long term advancement. They enhance the science and evidence clinicians need on a daily basis, along with their extensive training and experience, to further reduce adverse perioperative events and improve outcomes and life for patients.
Through our global development and Indigenous health programs, donors also support dedicated volunteer fellows as they reach out to less-resourced places and countries in our region and beyond, providing training, education, and helping more people access acutely-needed, high-quality, anaesthesia, pain medicine, and perioperative medicine.
Supporting 94 research teams since 2022
In the last three years, the ANZCA Foundation has granted $5.25 million through the ANZCA Research Committee for 94 research projects led by ANZCA and FPM fellows, trainees, and research teams in anaesthesia, pain medicine and perioperative medicine.
These involved 163 ANZCA and FPM fellow and trainee chief investigators, and many more chief and associate investigators from disciplines within and related to perioperative medicine.
The work of these dedicated teams is significant for advancing knowledge and supporting clinical practice for all fellows. Their Australia and New Zealand-based research not only adds new insights globally through international peer-reviewed journals, but provides new knowledge that is contextually-validated to support practice in our countries.
Foundation-supported ANZCA CTN surpasses $68 million
Many of these smaller ANZCA Foundation-funded studies are also on track to lead to large multicentre studies with potential to improve clinical practice and patient outcomes, or have already done so.
At its August 2023 strategic workshop, the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network announced that it has now surpassed $68 million in peer-reviewed funding for endorsed multicentre randomized clinical trials in the specialties and across perioperative medicine.
Foundation donors have made a large part of this outstanding growth possible. By supporting the ANZCA research grants program, donors have facilitated a stream of discovery, pilot, and feasibility studies without which many ANZCA CTN-endorsed and supported clinical trials would never have been developed.
These have led to continuing growth in the contributions from ANZCA and FPM academic anaesthetists and pain medicine physicians to the international peer-reviewed medical literature, resulting in global recognition of the contribution and impact made by our fellows.
Donor-funded health equity grants for 2024
Nine exciting grant funding applications have been received through the ANZCA Policy Unit for health equity projects to start in 2024, the highest number to date and a healthy increase on the three received when the Health Equity Project Fund (HEPF) grants were first introduced in 2019 to support outreach in global and Indigenous health. If these are approved, a total of 31 HEPF grants will have been provided to date for projects in these important areas.
Six of the applications are for global development projects, two are for Indigenous health, and one is for gender equity. Further project details will be released after final approval.
Foundation events in 2023
The foundation has had a welcome return to providing face to face events for its highly-valued supporters and stakeholders in 2023.
In May, over 120 guests attended the ANZCA Foundation Reception at the ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting. The evening featuring the annual ANZCA Foundation Named Research Awards, chaired by Research Committee Deputy Chair Dr Matt Doane, and a keynote address from Australian Society for Medical Research Chair and University of Sydney Kolling Institute of Medical Research cancer researcher, Dr Emily Colvin.
A successful foundation professional practice research webinar was held in September with Victoria Brazil, Professor of Emergency Medicine Simulation at Gold Coast Health Service and head of the Bond University Translational Simulation Collaborative. The event helped build the emerging Professional Practice Research Network, and highlighted that including virtual events still improves the accessibility of foundation programs for busy people.
The foundation was also delighted to host a function at ANZCA House on the evening of 20 October, a wonderful evening of social networking. The function also included ‘up close and personal’ presentations from Associate Professor Jai Darvall and Dr Katrina Pirie, who shared updates on their exciting research, and the important role foundation donors’ support has played in the rapid advancement their research careers.
The excellent response to these events encourages us to continue to deliver and further expand our events program during 2024.
ASMR Board and Affiliates Meeting
On 1 November the Foundation represented the college, an Australian Society of Medical Research (ASMR) affiliate, at the ASMR Board and affiliates meeting in Melbourne. ASMR President Dr Emily Colvin flagged that inflation, increased costs, and static investment has halved of the number of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded grants over the last decade. ASMR is advocating a doubling of the NHMRC budget to respond to growing health challenges and support a more innovative, efficient, and cost-effective healthcare system. The society has a strong track record and was instrumental in the federal government’s commitment to doubling the NHMRC budget from 1999 to 2005, following the Health and Medical Research Strategic Review (the ‘Wills Review’).
Contact & Support
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For general queries, please contact:
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For the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network, please contact: