Health Services > Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital

Centre for the Advancement of Clinical Research

Services
QIMR/RBWH Statistics Unit
Policies and Guidelines
Useful Links

The purpose of the Centre is to promote innovative clinical research within the District, to assist current and future researchers in participating in research programs and to provide links between researchers and funding opportunities, including the RBWH Foundation. The Centre is complementary to, and liaises closely with, the RBWH Foundation whose key role is to raise funds for research and manage any grants placed through the Foundation.

Queensland Health policy is to promote quality research which develops “excellence in clinical practice and health service management and leads to improved health outcomes in the community”. In accordance with this policy, the Centre assists researchers in the preparation of applications for funding and ethical approval of research. Applications for research funding are facilitated by administrative staff familiar with the relevant legal, ethical, regulatory, scientific and financial requirements for research activity within the complex.

Ethical, regulatory and legal requirements for the conduct of research have recently become more complex. The Centre aims to provide relevant information to staff about research and to facilitate applications for research grants, fellowships and scholarships.

Our mission is to improve the health of Queenslanders through the support and encouragement of clinical researchers.

Our aims are:

To become the leading academic clinical research unit in the country
To provide the necessary infrastructure to support current and prospective researchers to develop innovative solutions to existing health problems
To increase clinical research activities at RBWH
To increase the amount of external funding provided to RBWH researchers
To assist in the management RBWH research projects in accordance with State, national and international legislation and guidelines.

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Services

The Centre for the Advancement of Clinical Research provides a variety of services to aid in the development of research within the RBWH and Health Service District:

Maintenance of a register of State based, national and international funding opportunities, including closing dates, eligibility criteria and application process
Assistance with grant applications
Assistance with Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) applications
Interpretation of policies, guidelines and legislation relating to the conduct of research at RBWH
Production of the Annual Research Report (in conjunction with the Public Affairs Department)
Liaison with research students and their academic supervisors
Provision of educational programs designed to enhance the quality and competitiveness of research protocols within the District
Financial management of research grants from receipt until project completion
Promotion of the District’s capabilities to potential funders, both commercial and non-for-profit
Assistance in matching ideas with funding sources
Assistance in issues of study design
Pre-award site visits by potential sponsors
Management of regulatory document submission
Site monitoring
Quality control and audit
Assistance in the development of data management strategies
Assistance in the development of a statistical analysis plan
Statistical analysis and presentation
General planning and long term goals of the centre
Marketing of services to the clinical research community.

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QIMR/RBWH Statistics Unit

The QIMR/RBWH Statistics Unit provides statistical advice to Queensland Institute of Medical Research and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital affiliated scientists, clinicians and investigators on aspects of problem formulation, study design, sample size, statistical analysis and interpretation of data arising from clinical research projects and clinical trials.

The QIMR/RBWH Statistics Unit assists QIMR and RBWH researchers, clinicians and postgraduate students at different stages of the research process; from planning (such as sample size calculations and study design), data collection, use of statistical software (such as SAS and SPSS), statistical analysis, and interpretation of results.

The Statistics Unit also aims to improve the collective statistical and software knowledge of the organisations, through advice, tutoring, and training. For this reason, the statisticians may prefer to run through at least part of the analysis with you or encourage you to do the preliminary analyses.

The resources of the Statistics Unit are available to QIMR and RBWH scientists, clinicians, investigators, post-graduate research students, and those with a formal affiliation with either QIMR or RBWH.

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