Lumen Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 11
“THE PARENTS
WANT TO BE
INVOLVED, THEY
WANT THE BEST FOR
THEIR OWN KIDS,
BUT THEY ALSO WANT
TO HELP THE NEXT
PEOPLE COMING
THROUGH, SO
RECRUITING IS
NEVER A PROBLEM.”
“We also explain that we’re working on a trial in this space and
offer the opportunity to participate. The parents want to be
involved, they want the best for their own kids, but they also want
to help the next people coming through, so recruiting is never
a problem.”
Through the development of innovative academic programs,
external funding and partnerships, G-TRAC was formed to
explore frailty, falls, under-nutrition, and the genetic links to
healthy ageing.
The trials are taking things back to the fundamentals, exploring
the impact of changes using information from other demographics.
“One of the big trials we’re working on is about blood use in
transfusions. We are hoping to answer questions, such as the
optimal timing for transfusion, who the blood should come from,
and whether it should be washed. We know there’s evidence in other
demographics that using donors with certain demographics creates
better results – what we’re doing is bringing that to neonatology.”
It was 100 days before Madelin Koufalus (pictured above) had
her first bath in the WCH NICU.
“We formed such a good relationship with the nurses and
doctors, especially Professor Stark and Dr Chad Anderson, in
that time, we have this beautiful photo of Madelin in a bath with
balloons behind her to mark the moment,” Effie says.
“Now, she’s a happy nine-year-old who loves to swim, she goes
three times a week.”
Ageing on TRAC
The Adelaide Geriatrics Training and Research with Aged
Care (G-TRAC) Centre, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Woodville and Resthaven in Paradise, is all about best practice care
for the older generation, through innovative research and training
in partnership with clinical and aged care services.
“We needed to strengthen our teaching, training and
research program not only in our hospitals but also in the
community,” explains Professor Renuka Visvanathan, Head
of University of Adelaide’s G-TRAC and the Head of Unit of
the Aged and Extended Care Services (Geriatric Medicine)
at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. “At the same time, it was
acknowledged that we needed to partner with our consumers
and other primary and aged care stakeholders.”
“My PhD completed at the University of Adelaide was in
nutritional frailty; I recognised there was a big gap in healthy
ageing research and the need to continue to learn, to teach it
and to develop academic capacity for the future,” Professor
Visvanathan says.
“No matter what age someone is, they want to age well, to be
able to do what they want and value without any additional
barriers because of their age. Healthy ageing is about keeping
people healthy for longer, something which is necessary as we
have an ageing demographic.”
By 2050 it is estimated that up to 4 million older Australians will
be at risk of frailty or be frail. Frailty increases vulnerability to acute
illnesses, which in turn increases the risk of falls, hospitalisation and
loss of independence. Research to inform programs that prevent,
or better manage frailty, is crucial if we are going to help people age
well moving forward.
University of Adelaide alumni Jasmine Beger and Isobel Marshall
are also exploring ways to help women live stronger through midlife
and beyond. “On hospital placement over the past few years, we
have seen the disproportionate impact of muscle loss and frailty
experienced by female patients, and how this leads to poor health
outcomes and loss of independence into older age,” former Young
Australian of the Year, Isobel, a recent medical graduate, says.
“Watching our mums go through menopause, we were
spending time educating them on the importance of a highprotein diet and resistance training to protect their health into
the future. We created Acro Health to offer a very simple, clean
way for women to ensure they are reaching their new, higher
protein requirements after menopause, and to create a platform
from which we can share evidence-based information to help
women protect their health into the future, and help them separate
fact from fiction amidst the chaos of social media marketing.”
LUMEN
