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The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.

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Partnership

 
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Doctors reviewing patient data.
Automatic movement monitoring of recovering heart patients at Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland.

Australian e-Health Research Centre: a partnership between CSIRO and the Queensland Government

The Australian e-Health Research Centre is a leading national research facility applying information and communication technology to improving health services and clinical treatment for Australians.

CSIRO's joint venture in e-health research with the Queensland Government was established in 2003 as the e-Health Research Centre.

In 2008 the partnership was extended to 2012 and the centre renamed the Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC).

Under the renewed contracts, the partners will contribute an additional A$20 million in cash, supplemented by in-kind contributions.

The Brisbane-based AEHRC combines CSIRO's capabilities in information and communication technology and health, with Queensland's extensive health research and clinical expertise.

In Brisbane, and at research nodes in other states, the AEHRC develops and deploys leading edge information and communication technology innovations in healthcare to:

  • improve service delivery in the Queensland and Australian health systems
  • generate commercialisation revenue
  • increase the pool of world-class e-health expertise in Australia.

Specialist staff

The AEHRC combines CSIRO's capabilities in information and communication technology and health with Queensland's extensive health research and development, and clinical expertise.

The AEHRC's multi-disciplinary team includes internationally prominent researchers, software engineers and doctoral students, dedicated to serving the needs of patients, clinicians and health agencies.

The AEHRC researchers and engineers are experts in:

  • database and data integration technology
  • clustering and analysis of patient data
  • electronic health records
  • ontology (clinical terminology) engineering
  • query and retrieval of complex data
  • natural language processing.

National approach

As its national research and development role expanded, the Centre established research nodes at:

  • Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia
  • Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 
  • Monash University, Melbourne,Victoria
  • University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria.

Researchers in Adelaide and Melbourne are working on a BioGrid Australia  project, to which the AEHRC also contributes.

The AEHRC's projects benefit from close collaboration with hospitals and other healthcare research organisations

Examples of research projects

The AEHRC's disease management and clinical projects address cancer, dementia, heart disease, surgery, and emergency management.

Research on lung, prostate, breast and colorectal cancer is aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment planning.

The AEHRC's researchers are enhancing MRI and PET scan images to detect the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

Automated assessments of everyday movements by recovering heart disease patients are aimed at improving care after discharge from hospital.

By analysing physiological signals from patients under anaesthetics, the AEHRC seeks to improve surgical care and anaesthesia.

AEHRC scientists are studying procedures in hospital emergency departments using data integration and patient admissions modelling. Their goal is better prediction of the number of patients requiring admission.

Read more about CSIRO’s CSIRO ICT Centre.

 
 

Fast facts

  • The AEHRC combines CSIRO's capabilities in information and communication technology and health, with Queensland's extensive health research and clinical expertise
  • The multi-disciplinary team includes internationally prominent researchers, software engineers and PhD students, dedicated to serving the needs of patients, clinicians and health agencies
  • The AEHRC's disease management and clinical projects address cancer, dementia, heart disease, surgery, and emergency management

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Ms Jo Finlay
Communication Manager
ICT Centre
Phone: 61 2 9372 4309 
Alt Phone: 61 4 447 639 688 
Fax: 61 2 9372 4585 

Location

Australian e-Health Research Centre
Level 7, UQ CCR Building 71/918
Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
Herston QLD 4029
Australia