Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Primary Health Care Research Grant: Equitable access to full blood evaluation testing at the point-of-care in remote primary health

We are seeking an outstanding candidate for a PhD scholarship within the MRFF Primary Health Care Research Project: Equitable access to full blood evaluation testing at the point-of-care in remote primary health.

There are a range of PhD topics to choose from, all of which can be tailored to your interests. These topics broadly include a health economics focus to evaluate models of case, a unique field-based evaluation of a point-of-care testing device, application of implementation science frameworks to evaluate a novel clinical trial, or a focus on community consultation with First Nations communities in remote locations. Further information of these topics can be viewed below. 

This project is a partnership between Flinders University, Sepsis Australia, Northern Territory Health, the National Community Controlled Health Organisation, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and Point of Care Diagnostics. As such, there will be opportunities to work with and learn from a broad range of experts in their field, providing excellent career opportunities post-PhD.

Health Economics

The topic of this PhD is the use of economic analyses to prioritise, develop and evaluate new models of care in rural and remote health systems. The candidate will develop skills and experience in three critical areas of health policy, undertaking separate studies to a) analyse health systems data to identify areas of practice with the greatest capacity for improvement, b) use decision analytic modelling and expert elicitation to predict the costs and benefits of proposed models of care and c) evaluate an implemented model of care (point-of-care testing for sepsis in remote communities).

Point-of-Care Device Evaluation

The PhD project will be broadly based on the implementation of a full blood evaluation (FBE) point-of-care testing device within the remote primary health care setting, a process evaluation of the implementation strategy and an evaluation of device performance. The precise focus of the research project can be decided upon collaboratively between the candidate and Principal supervisors.

The funded PhD scholarship will be based at any of the Flinders University campuses within South Australia or the Northern Territory. The principal supervisors will be Dr Brooke Spaeth (Flinders University, Bedford Park) and Dr Tina Noutsos (Flinders University, Darwin). Associate supervision may be provided by the other members of the research team located within Australia (Prof James Smith, Prof Billie Bonevski, Prof Jon Karnon, A/Prof Jacqueline Stephens, A/Prof Shahid Ullah).

The scholarship includes:

• A stipend valued at $33,990* per annum (2024 rate) tax free.
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3 years.
• A Research Training Program Fee Offset Scholarship to cover tuition fees for Australian Citizens, NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents.

To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:

• Be an Australian citizen; or New Zealand citizen; or have been granted permanent resident status; and
• meet PhD admission requirements including: have an Australian Honours degree Class 1 or 2A or equivalent qualification (at least AQF Level 8), including a research component of at least 6 months’ full-time study achieving Distinction (75%) OR including evidence of equivalent research experience, such as a substantial first-author refereed publication or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant; and
• be available to commence as a full-time PhD student at Flinders University in semester 2, 2024 or Semester 1 2025.