Examples of innovative research being driven by Flinders experts are both perceptive and diverse, from examining the impact of COVID-19 on people’s sleep health, to understanding reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

Professor Peter Eastwood, Director of the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute at Flinders University notes the wide-ranging, impactful research being undertaken including Associate Professor Cedric Bardy’s team creating artificial brain cells to unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases, to teams led by Professor Nick Spencer and Dr Alyce Martin doing extensive work in gut health research, to Associate Professor Erin Symonds’ team developing non-invasive diagnostic techniques for detecting colorectal cancer.

“At Flinders, our professors have extensive healthcare experience. They bring strong industry credibility and relevance to our teaching and research programs,” says Professor Raymond Chan, Director of the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University.

Focusing heavily on the nexus between research, teaching and practice, Flinders’ world-renowned researchers and clinicians ensure students embrace new knowledge that is changing modern health outcomes. By providing hands-on clinical roles with leading health and care providers, along with research experience, Flinders is equipping its students with job-ready skills and nurturing future clinicians ready to tackle diverse health challenges.

Success in these areas has never been more crucial. Almost three years into the pandemic, big questions remain unanswered: What impacts have lockdowns had on Australians? Where should governments invest in health to address long COVID? What’s the best way to fight future viruses? Such fundamental issues are at the forefront of Flinders University’s concerns.

In 2021, The federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) provided more than $12 million for Flinders research projects on liver and bowel cancer, with special COVID-19 grants awarded to explore antibiotics and ventilation, preventing the spread of COVID-19 in aged care, and producing eco-friendly face masks from 3D-printers.

“We work to generate new knowledge, and we translate the new knowledge into clinical practice and policy more widely,” says Professor Chan. “It’s why we’re deeply committed to advance care, health and healthcare research that will transform the way we practice health care and the way we teach health care to our students.”

Professor Chan says Flinders’ health and medical footprint stretches from Adelaide to rural and remote areas in South Australia and the Northern Territory, enabling students and practitioners from many cultures and contexts to provide healthcare to diverse communities.

With more than 400 leading health practitioner partnerships in place, Flinders provides students of medicine and health with the opportunity to treat patients in community clinics, ensuring preventative self-care for vulnerable Indigenous communities, influencing government policy with evidence-based practices and undertaking life-changing medical research.

“We enjoy very strong partnerships with healthcare providers, Local Health Networks and community care providers,” says Professor Chan. “These partnerships help us ensure the relevance of our teaching materials, methods and approach.”

Provisional Psychologist Joey Ciappina, a former Flinders Honours student, says Flinders students develop the vital skills of applying research outcomes that address new health challenges and translating them into clinical practice.

“I was really drawn towards Flinders University because the staff are extremely well-known for their ability to incorporate research and evidence-based treatment into their curriculum,” says Ciappina.

Midwifery students are learning from such important researchers as Dr Susan Smith, who is providing an authoritative voice to dispel misinformation about children’s vaccinations on social media. Her research ensures that health care professionals are trained to address parents’ concerns about adverse reactions and the long-term side effects of vaccinations.

Professor Rebecca Golley, Deputy Director of Flinders University’s Caring Futures Institute, is combatting surging childhood obesity rates by devising improved children’s diet and school lunch initiatives to help reverse this trend.

Resources are being bolstered to help this work flourish. Construction has commenced at Flinders University’s Bedford Park campus on a new $255 million Health and Medical Research Building to support learning and research opportunities. This state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, scheduled to open in 2024, will enable collaboration between researchers, healthcare and industry partners, to translate world-class research into improved community healthcare outcomes.

 “The new research facility will allow internationally significant discovery science and preclinical and clinical implementation science to take place”, says Professor Peter Eastwood. Its broad, multidisciplinary disease-based approach will allow its researchers to take new findings from the laboratory to the clinic and to community at speed.

This is in addition to the opening of Flinders new CBD campus at Festival Plaza opening in 2024 giving students access to learning facilities in the heart of Adelaide on North Terrace, metres away from the central Adelaide Railway Station, making study at Flinders accessible to all.

These significant investments support Flinders’ ambitious research growth agenda. Respected as leaders in medicine, health and care for nearly 50 years, Flinders is positioning itself as a leader in a new age of medicine and health care driven by technology and innovation, cementing its reputation as one of Australia’s premier health and medical research universities.

Flinders University offers a huge range of future-focused health degrees that allow students to follow their interests across areas as diverse as medicine, nursing, health sciences, audiology, social work and more. For more information on all of our health degrees visit  www.flinders.edu.au/health.