Trauma specialists gathering late at night is usually cause for concern but a unique event is uniting them in an evening of fun for a good cause.
The HeARTfelt event on 7 November is raising funds for trauma research at The University of Queensland’s Burns, Trauma & Critical Care Research Centre.
Centre Director Professor Jeffrey Lipman urged Brisbane residents to get behind the event to boost vital research and improve care for trauma patients.
“The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Foundation is hosting the event and we’re tremendously grateful for their support,” Professor Lipman said.
“We hope Brisbane residents will get behind it and help us ensure our most critically ill and injured patients have access to the best available treatment.”
Professor Lipman’s research team is based at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital’s Critical Care Unit, which is one of Australia’s busiest, treating more than 2000 patients a year.
From humble beginnings in 2004, the Burns, Trauma & Critical Care Research Centre has dramatically expanded its research across the areas of drug dosing, critical care, burns, anaesthesia, emergency medicine and military medicine.
Professor Lipman said his team was already revolutionising trauma care through research into antibiotic dosing.
“Patients in Intensive Care respond to antibiotics very differently to people without critical injury,” Professor Lipman said.
“Our work is examining the genes of individuals to see if we can identify the right time to ‘superdose’ patients with antibiotics for a short period, improve their likelihood of recovery and limit the over-use of antibiotics.”
These large doses of antibiotics at critical times have already saved the lives and accelerated the recoveries of many critically ill people, including high-profile burns patient chef Matt Golinski.
“We hope the event will enable us to continue this valuable research and provide good outcomes for more patients like Matt,” Professor Lipman said.
The HeARTfelt dinner will be held at Light Space in Fortitude Valley from 6.30pm to 11pm on Friday 7 November.
Tickets are $165 each which includes pre-dinner drinks and canapes, a sumptuous three-course meal prepared by the chefs from Aqua Linea at Teneriffe, as well as wine and beer.
There will also be an art exhibition and auction featuring established and emerging artists plus the opportunity to purchase their work on the night.
To buy tickets call 07 3646 7588 or visit www.rbwhfoundation.com.au.
Media: Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Media Manager Bernadette Condren, +617 3346 5309, b.condren@uq.edu.au, www.mbs.uq.edu.au.
