Operational

PeopleSense
A website for UQ staff from PeopleSense, UQ’s Employee Assistance and Wellbeing Program (EAP) provider. It provides information on a range of mental health and wellbeing topics, along with access to their 24/7 service contact details Call 1300 307 912 or use UQ's dedicated PeopleSense booking site to make an appointment.

Be heatwave ready
As Queenslanders we're no strangers to our sunny hot climate, but this summer is predicted to bring more than just our standard heat. With heatwaves on the horizon, we are being urged to prepare more than ever before as everybody is at risk of heat. Please find attached the Safety Alert regarding Outdoor work heat stress.

Mould, mould, mould
With the current temperatures and humidity in Brisbane, you might want to find out more about mould. Please report mould outbreaks to P&F. HSW have some information on Mould in indoor spaces which you might find helpful.

Alcohol consumption & lab work
If you’re having an end of year celebration that includes alcoholic beverages, please make plans to end lab work before the party starts. Workers must have a zero blood alcohol concentration for higher risk work. This includes handling hazardous chemicals, biologicals and GM material, as well as power tools, sharps and administering first aid. Check the Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy for more info.

Safe road travel for the holidays, we can’t affect the behaviour of other drivers (or animals), but there are a lot of things we can control to mitigate risk. The Faculty HSW Safety guide to fatigue and road safety management here is worth reviewing, before the Christmas Holidays. Qld Gov (https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/holiday-travel).

Events

CRE RESPOND Education Program
Professor Jason Roberts, Director, UQCCR and CRE RESPOND invites you to subscribe to the CRE RESPOND Education Program to learn what you can do to improve antimicrobial dosing in critically ill patients to reduce resistance. These seminars are free and open to all, please share with your community.

View archived announcements

Check in from Director

Dear All

November is awards month for CHRC – whether it is university or faculty wide, or internal to CHRC – our team’s efforts and achievements has not gone unnoticed. We are all so proud of our accomplishments. Nominations across a variety of categories of awards is a wonderful endorsement of CHRC’s strength and collaborative nature, and really highlights our performance all around. Click on links below to find out more about our achievements and nomination details:

• 2024 UQ Awards for Excellence – Diversity and Inclusion nominee – A/Prof. Jasneek Chawla “Families in Focus”
• 2024 Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards
• 2024 CHRC Excellence Awards

CHRC will also be holding our annual Research Symposium – celebrating the continuous and varied achievements our members have made this year. Follow our LinkedIn and X for the latest happenings at the Child Health Research Centre.

CHRC continues keep the dialogue open with Faculty and Central executive teams to ensure that CHRC received the support we need to excel, especially as the University works through its process in establishing the Faculty of Health Medicine and Behavioural Sciences. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Annie and I.

Thank you again for all you do.

Kind regards

Professor Craig Munns

Director Child Health Research Centre

Want to be included in the newsletter?
Email your updates, event, awards to uqchrc@uq.edu.au for inclusion.

Pencil this in your diaries  
**Working group/supporters wanted!! Reach out if you are able to spare some time to help organising these events – email uqchrc@uq.edu.au**

• Thursday 28 November: CHRC End of Year celebration & symposium

Felicitations!

• Dr Athena Stein – 2024 Faculty of Medicine PhD Graduate of the Year Award – runners up
• Karen Mistry – 2024 winner of the Gayle G. Arnold Award, American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Science
• Rebecca Greenslade – Royal Rehabilitation Nursing Research Prize (best research paper), 2024 Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses Association Conference

View archived announcements from CHRC

ACEMID on film!
The Australian Centre of Excellence in Melanoma Imaging and Diagnosis is showcased in the Conquering Skin Cancer film, premiering nationwide this month. The film highlights skin cancer survivors' stories and raises awareness of skin cancer's impact in Australia. For more details and screening information, click here.

From the Director's Desk
What a way to end the year! Congratulations to all CHSR nominees in the 2024 Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards: Australian Frailty Network, SMART Hub Team, Dr Soraia De Camargo Catapan, Professor Tracy Comans, Dr Dilki Jayasinghe, Dr Lee Woods, Jonaa Eva, Professor Jason Pole, Associate Professor Liam Caffrey, Donna Reidlinger, Dr Hanh Dao, Dr Helen Haydon, Dr Syed Afroz Keremat, Caitlin Horsham and Centre for Online Health professional team. 

Congratulations also to everyone who represented CHSR at the 13^th HRSAANZ conference last week, and special thanks must go to Anna Jones who had the vision for our CHSR booth with a beautiful Jacaranda tree which was the highlight of the non-academic program.

It’s been my honour to serve as your Director for another year, particularly one featuring so much achievement alongside significant transition.  I wish you a happy, safe and most of all restful festive season break, and look forward to sharing the next exciting phase of CHSR’s growth with you in 2025.  Please note that CHSR offices will be closed 24 December to 2 January, with reduced Centre Management staffing mid-December to mid-January.

Best wishes, Monika

See you on CHSR Socials?
CHSR has recently joined Bluesky and is continuing to grow a Linkedin presence to complement our existing X channel. As the year winds down, please take a moment to follow us - and remember to tag us in your future posts (particularly those linked to your publications!) so we can continue to build a rich and diverse reflection of our Centre’s work in 2025.

Research Support Team updates
Please notify the CHSR Research Support Team via the online survey or email med.research.chsr@uq.edu.au if you are applying for grants (either as CIA or collaborator). For post-award support, please contact med.rpms.chsr@uq.edu.au or med.rpms.aktn@uq.edu.au, and cc med.research.chsr@uq.edu.au.

Funding opportunities
MRFF Frontier Health and Medical Research – EOIs close 31 March 2025
NHMRC TCR Call into Health Service Improvement – Forecasted opening early 2025
MRFF Current Funding Opportunities

Training opportunities
UQ Library online and in-person training available here
QCIF online biostatistics and bioinformatics training available here

Publications

Chelberg, G. R., Goodman, A., Musuwadi, C., Lawler, S., Caffery, L. J., Mahoney, R., & eHRCATSIH Group (2024). Towards a best practice framework for eHealth with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - important characteristics of eHealth interventions: a narrative review. The Medical journal of Australia, 221(6), 336–345. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52419

Fox, S. T., Demichelis, O., Pond, C. D., Janda, M., & Hubbard, R. E. (2024). How do geriatricians practise comprehensive geriatric assessment in the outpatient setting: an analysis of geriatricians' letters and a comparison to the Medicare benefits schedule requirement. Internal medicine journal, 54(12), 1990–2008. https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.16535

Low, L. F., Barcenilla-Wong, A., Laver, K., Yates, M., Gibson, C., Shen, S., Hall, D., Brodaty, H., Pond, D., Comans, T., Cations, M., Gresham, M., Laranjo, L., Tan, E. C. K., & Phillipson, L. (2024). Development of a model of help-seeking for dementia diagnosis by the person experiencing changes and family supporters. Aging & mental health, 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2430537

Nkunu, V., Tungsanga, S., Diongole, H. M., Sarki, A., Arruebo, S., Caskey, F. J., Damster, S., Donner, J. A., Jha, V., Levin, A., Nangaku, M., Saad, S., Ye, F., Okpechi, I. G., Bello, A. K., Johnson, D. W., & Tonelli, M. (2024). Landscape of kidney replacement therapy provision in low- and lower-middle income countries: A multinational study from the ISN-GKHA. PLOS global public health, 4(12), e0003979. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0003979

View archived announcements from CHSR

Medical School community achievements

Master of Mental Health Graduation Exhibition 2024

The 2024 Master of Mental Health Graduation Exhibition was held on Saturday 9 November 2024. This was an exciting opportunity to learn more about the students’ independent research projects and enjoy the artworks on display.  We wish the best to both our Master of Mental Health Art Therapy students, and Master of Mental Health Psychotherapy students, as they prepare to enter the workforce as graduate therapists.  You can view the exhibition online or download photographs of the event here.

People and culture

Staff appointments

We are pleased to introduce new staff within the Medical School. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to:

Dean’s Office

Ms Kathleen Ye, Student and Academic Administration Officer
Mrs Sophie Slayne, Student and Academic Administration Officer

PA Southside Clinical Unit Celebration of Service Event

On Monday 9 December, the Head of the PA Southside Clinical Unit, Associate Professor Claire Ellender, welcomed 65 attendees to a celebration of service event at the Princess Alexandra Hospital’s medical grand rounds. At this event, Professor Stuart Carney recognised the service of Professor Ian Scott, Professor Jon Upham and Dr Rob Eley who are retiring from their clinical and research roles.  In addition, the Dean also thanked Dr Michael Walsh and Associate Professor Leo Nunnink, who are stepping back from their UQ roles. 

Research  

Medical School Research Showcase

The UQ Medical School Research Showcase was held on 11 November 2024. This event showcased the outstanding research in the School and featured presentations from early-to-mid-career, as week as established researchers. The night included a key-note speech from Professor Geoff McColl, and the awarding of prizes for research presentations.

Congratulations to Dr Chris Wall and Ms Alice Pender who received HDR Student Excellence Awards, and Dr Sean Halstead who received a commendation, for their presentations. Congratulations also to the Physical and Mental Health Research Stream, led by Professor Dan Siskind for receiving the Research Partnership and Impact Award, and to Professor Dan Chambers, and The CLIP-II trial investigators, led by Professor Michael Reade AM, who received commendations.

Click here for photos.

Faculty Research Alert

The Faculty Research Alert is circulated weekly via email and includes information about UQ internal schemes, external funding opportunities and awards.  If you would like to receive the Alert, please email the Faculty of Medicine Research team.  Detailed information on research funding opportunities and awards can be viewed on the Faculty of Medicine intranet.  For previously advertised grant and award opportunities and events, please refer to the Archive Faculty Research Alert webpage. 

UQ-IITD Research Academy joint PhD program – call for projects now open

Academic staff interested in recruiting a PhD candidate through the UQ-IITD Research Academy joint PhD program are invited to submit PhD project proposals. Submissions close Sunday 19 January 2025, for projects commencing in July 2025.

Visit the Academy’s website for more information on becoming a UQ-IITD joint PhD Supervisor, access the Supervisor Handbook, and submit a project proposal.

Education

Updated Names for Teaching Activities

As part of the ongoing commitment to enhancing teaching and learning, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) are implementing updates to the naming conventions for academic activities across the university to ensure greater consistency and clarity. These changes are designed to standardize the terminology used across UQ to:

• Provide greater clarity for students, academic staff, and leaders when describing academic activities.
• Support the design of learning spaces and technologies.
• Ensure a smooth transition for students navigating across courses and faculties.
• Strengthen the alignment between activity types and the Enterprise Agreement.

The changes will take effect in Semester 2, 2025, with preparations beginning in February 2025. Further updates will be released in early 2025, which will include further information and training. The UQ Teaching Activity Types document will be published on the ITaLI website shortly. Please reach out to dvcacomms@uq.edu.au with any questions in the interim.

Engagement

UQ Stretch RAP Launched

UQ launched the new Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to expand and develop our reconciliation initiatives. The aim is to enable Indigenous excellence by crafting strategies that last, and introducing performance indicators that matter, including Indigenous employment, research, procurement, cultural education, Indigenising our curriculum, and RAP governance. To mark this significant milestone, Stretch RAP launch assets, including a new email signature, are now available. For questions regarding the UQ Stretch RAP, please contact the UQ RAP Team. 

UQ Respect Network – New APD Goals

We are excited to introduce the new Respect Network, which will replace the previous DHCO network and merge with the First Responder Network. Supported by UQ Respect and Human Resources, this initiative aims to educate, equip, and empower UQ staff and students to enhance the prevention of, and response to, sexual misconduct and all forms of discrimination and harassment across the university. This network is an excellent opportunity for staff to include in their APD citizenship and service goals. If you have any questions about the new APD goals, please reach out to the Medicine HR Client Partnering Team: med.hr@uq.edu.au.

For more information about the Network, please visit the Respect Network website.

Ventures Empower program now open

Calling all entrepreneurs who are women and in the early stages of founding their startup! Applications are now open for UQ Venture’s transformative 10-week experience to accelerate your startup. Join a cohort of inspiring founders and get the support, knowledge, and confidence you need to reach your business goals.

Empower is open to solo women founders or founding teams with at least 50% women. 

• Applications close Wednesday 5 February.
• Places are limited.
• Register to join the information session for more details.
• Apply today at https://ventures.uq.edu.au/programs/empower

IP Starter Voucher Program

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) and UQ, are excited to announce the launch of the IP Starter Voucher Program - a unique opportunity to accelerate the development of your food and beverage innovations.

With $25,000 in research funding on offer, this program is designed to help you turn ideas into valuable intellectual property, whether it's for new products, ingredients, or breakthrough manufacturing innovations. This exclusive opportunity is available only to the UQ community and is supported by UniQuest. Applications close COB on 6 January 2025.

UQ Sport Summer Pass on Sale for UQ Community

Make the most of your summer and save big on the 3-Month Summer Pass to all UQ Sport venues. The pass includes:

• 3-level Weights & Cardio Gym⁠
• Pool Access⁠
• Tennis Court Hire⁠
• Track Access⁠
• Unlimited Group Fitness Classes

For more information, visit the UQ Sport website or contact the friendly staff, in-person at the Fitness Centre on 07 3365 6612.

General Practice Clinical Unit newsletter

The General Practice Clinical Unit distributes a quarterly newsletter. Click on the Newsletters tab for the latest information regarding the Mayne Academy of General Practice and General Practice Clinical Unit, teaching tips, articles and more.

UQ named Australia’s best university in AFR’s Best University Ranking

UQ has been named the best university in Australia for the second consecutive year in the Australian Financial Review’s 2024 Best Universities Ranking. The ranking measures Australian universities across four pillars - teaching, research, equity and career impact. The ranking also recognised the breadth of UQ’s research, which is helping to address some of the world’s most complex issues, from innovation in food sustainability to breakthroughs in health and medicine.

Pay-Impacting End of Year Deadlines

To avoid pay and/or system impacts for your team, please ensure all fixed-term renewals and other employment changes are submitted and fully approved in Workday by 13 December 2024. Recruitment activities will also pause from 13 December 2024 until early January 2025. More Pay Deadline information is available here.

Reminder: University End of Year Closure

The University will formally close from 5pm 24 December 2024 - 2 January 2025. All fixed-term and continuing staff are required to either submit leave for the shutdown period OR request an exemption via Workday. Exemptions to work during the shutdown will only be approved where the work is critical and required. More information is available here.

View archived announcements from the Medical School

November Highlight 

Congratulations to the RCS Year 4 class of 2024 and big thank you to all the team who have contributed to a successful 2024!!

Staff Updates

• Academic Guidance Leads for Wide Bay and Central Queensland Learning Communities have been recruited. Congratulations to Dr Fionna Hadden (Wide Bay) and Dr Monica Gantus (Central Queensland) who have both started in November.
• Farewell to Ann-Maree Lucht (Acting RRM Team Leader) finished up on Friday 15 November.  Thank you Ann-Maree for all your hard work.

Recruitment

The following opportunities are lists on the UQ Careers page:

• Principal Marketing Professional

November recap

• Toowoomba RCU - Early to Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) GP Information Evening held on Tuesday 12 November bringing the local GPs in town together for Dr Iqbal to talk about Adult ADHD: Assessment and Management in General Practice and also to give them an update on the new MD Curriculum from 2025.
• Intern Celebration Dinner held on Thursday 7 November which brought together the staff and 4^th year students who will be interning at the Toowoomba Hospital next year.
• Toowoomba and Rockhampton RCUs hosted a celebrations events for returning Year 4 students and those going on to intern in the region.
• Bundaberg RCU hosted an End of Year social mixer in collaboration with RTH, RCS, WBMS + JMAB.
• 18/11 – End of year break for all cohorts.

Team Successes and achievements

• A big thank you to everyone involved in the OSCEs! It is a huge undertaking and a lot of  hard work and dedication was required to make the assessments run smoothly.  All RCS MD students commenced they end of year break on 18 November.
• TROHPIQ elected their committee for 2025. Elected representatives are listed here.
• Congratulations to staff who have been nominated for the UQ Medical School Excellence Awards. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 11 December.

• Collaborators of the Year - Millee Barr, Rocky RCS – Beek Week, RCS Research Centre
• Leader of the Year (Academic) - Riitta Partanen, Rachael Hopper
• Service Excellence Award - Dr Ann Arlott, Renay Marshall, Dr Robyn Cooke
• Spirit of Reconciliation Award - RCS Research Centre

Visit our Facebook page for more news from November.

Upcoming events for December

Add the Rural Clinical School Events (uqrcs.events@uq.edu.au) calendar to outlook to see more events  

• Friday 6 December – 2025 MD program graduation ceremony (Brisbane)
• Thank you celebration events will take place across all RCUs this December

Finance

A reminder that all credit card payments and purchases should have been completed by 22/11/24 and reconciled by 6/12/24. All student expense claims need to have been submitted to us by 22/11/24. Please reach out to the uqrcs.finance@uq.edu.au if any assistance is required for end of year processing. Thank you.

Marketing

Social media update for November  (as at 25 November)

Reach – 2.1K (45% decrease)
Content interactions 181 (59% increase)
10 net followers (17% decrease)
Most engaged post for November –Jenna Krivit – poster success

Nil media to report for November

View archived RCS announcements

Reminder – Codes of Conduct
A reminder that we all need to abide by our codes of conduct, whether it is animal or human ethics, work associated with the GAF, or how we speak to people face to face or in emails. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for knowing the codes and abiding by them.

Training Records
Please remind your staff and students to keep a record of all their training in the green OHS folder in your laboratories. 

Formic Acid
Tanya is currently auditing Formic Acid holdings across the School.  This is another new Time Sensitive Chemical (TSC) and needs regular venting in a fume hood.  If you have no current use for your Formic stocks, we suggest disposal to ChemWaste and Tanya can help you do this.

Old or Unused Chemicals
We are encouraging disposal of old or unused chemicals.  If you have found any for disposal during the Clean Up Day please dispose of to ChemWaste.  If you have any concerns, please let us know. 

Faculty of Medicine HSW Manager
You may have heard that Dr Paul Lovelock is leaving the University for greener pastures.  His last day is on 20 December, so please reach out to him to wish him well.  Dr Cindy Tan will be the Acting Faculty HSW for the first half 2025, leading the HSW Team through the merger. 

New SBMS Publications
If you are preparing a manuscript and you would like SBMS readership before submission, members of the Research Committee are willing and able to assist. Please contact the chair, Jana Vukovic.

If you have recently had a new publication accepted or published, please let us know. 

View archived announcements from SBMS

Head of School Update

Dear Colleagues
This is our last SPH Newsletter for 2024, and what a year it has been in navigating considerable change and at times, uncertainty. We have had incredible achievements across teaching, research and engagement, so thank you to each and every one of you and your commitment to the work we do in public health.

On Monday 2 December I had the privilege of attending the Launch of UQs Stretch RAP and UQs Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategy
https://about.uq.edu.au/stretch-reconciliation-action-plan.

A Stretch RAP is a commitment to embedding reconciliation initiatives as business as usual https://www.reconciliation.org.au/reconciliation-action-plans/the-rap-framework/, where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people work together, united to make a better future. The work that we do in the school particularly in health equity is foundational to achieving this mission. There will be a number of workshops held in 2025 about how we can implement the Stretch RAP.

As I noted in the last Newsletter, on the 21^st & 22^nd November we had the School Retreat Facilitated by Sue Sampson where we continued the work we have commenced across the year in response to the School review recommendations and set goals and intentions for 2025. For those of you who were unable to attend the Retreat, I will be hosting the Zoom Showcase in early February to share the key outcomes of the retreat. Two important co-designed artefacts that will be embedded across the school in 2025 are the SPH Culture Charter and SPH Conversation Principles. Thank you to everyone who attended the retreat and contributed your ideas to all the activities.  

On Thursday 5 December we held the SPH End of Year Celebration. Thank you to Caroline Clark, Ailsa Bolton, Adele Spencer, Libby Kelly, Sarah Piper, Frankie Berardi for all your efforts in organising this event, particularly Christmas Triva and Heads and Tails – it was great to hear so much laughter and see all the sparkle. We also announced the SPH 2024 Award Winners. Congratulations to all the winners!

Congratulations also to our 2024 Publication Award Winners:

It is now time for us all to take a break to recharge and relax. I look forward to working with you all in 2025. I wish you and your families all the best for the Festive Season.

All the best 
Sheleigh & Ilan 
 
Sheleigh Lawler                                                                Ilan Mears 
Head of School                                                               Acting SPH School Manager 

Dates for diaries
17 December - Slow deep stretch class - Mayne Level 3 boardroom (315), 1pm - 2pm. Please check with Jeb Brady to ensure that the class is going ahead prior to attending.
20 December - APD end of year deadlines. APD 2024/2025 Information.
20 December - Ensure all your corporate card transactions are reconciled by Friday 20 December 2024.
17 January - In Workday you can substitute the Australia Day public holiday on Monday 27 January 2025 for an alternative day in 2025. Further information is available on the substitute Australia Day public holiday webpage and a guide on how to request the substitute day is also available online.

Days of Note
18 December - International Migrants Day. This day reaffirms the commitment to safe and dignified migration for all.
23 December - Festivus. Festivus (/ˈfɛstɪvəs/) is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the perceived pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Originally created by author Daniel O'Keefe, Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focus of the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike",[1][2] which O'Keefe's son, Dan O'Keefe, co-wrote.
25 December - Christmas Day
25 December (Evening) - 2 January - Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is usually celebrated in early to mid-December, but this year the festival of lights will happen a little late. It is all dependent on the Hebrew calendar which doesn't always match up with the daily calendar.
26 December - Boxing Day
26 December - 1 January - Kwanzaa, commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is widely celebrated with religious services, gift-giving, festive decorations, and gatherings with family and friends. This is a week-long celebration that honours African heritage and culture. It involves lighting the Kinara (candle holder), storytelling, music, dancing, and reflecting on seven principles known as the Nguzo Saba.
31 December - New Years Eve
1 January - New Years Day 2025
4 January - World Braille Day - This day celebrates awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realisation of the human rights for blind and visually impaired people.

In The News
Continued coverage of our media release on Minnie King and Associate Professor Nina Lansbury’s research promoting menstrual health awareness in Indigenous communities. The story was on SBS online, and Koori Radio.

The UQ Climate Change Research Network (CCRN) has now been approved by the Provost. There will be a Health node (one of 8 nodes in total), and Nina Lansbury, Dung Phung, Fiona Charlson’s names are against these. Nina, Dung and Fiona will share responsibility representing the node at each CCRN advisory group meeting. The Health node will have a level of autonomy, and can consist of our other existing networks- such as QAEHS and the MHCCTRN. The academic contact point is Justine Bell-James (from Law), with support from UQ Corporate (Alisa Becker and Milena Arsenijevic). The network will have a small amount of funding ($50K/year x 3 years) for events and network admin support.

CAPHIA has launched the Climate & Health Education Network (CPHEN), run by co-chairs A/Prof Aditya Vyas (University of Canberra) and Dr Rebecca Patrick (University of Melbourne). Nina Lansbury was the UQ representative present at the launch, and it’s a comprehensive network across multiple universities. The network discussed the range of possible roles and activities, and Nina is keen to know more about the nature of the need/gap identified by CAPHIA members for this network and how SPH can potentially fill that gap. More people are welcome to join (contact caphia@caphia.com.au).

SPH is thrilled to congratulate Chinonso Christian Odebeatu and his UQ colleagues, Darsy Darssan, Phu Do, Simon Reid and Nick Osborne on the recent paper: The role of greenspace in vitamin D status: cross-sectional, observational evidence from the UK Biobank.

HDR Update
SPH HDR Subcommittee
The Subcommittee is responsible for coordinating the HDR experience and is comprised of and co-led by students and faculty members. For example, the team manages the annual HDR retreat/conference and social activities. The team is recruiting members to join the Subcommittee. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Frankie Berardi  or Germaine Lai. An EOI form to join the 2025 SPH, Poche and CHSR Conference working group will also be distributed in the coming weeks.

SPH School Space and Design Committee 
The SPH School Space and Design Committee is actively looking for at least one HDR student to join the working group. This committee is responsible for evaluating and improving the physical layout of the SPH building. This also includes activities related to the design and development of a student recreational space. Time commitments for this role are minimal with meetings typically occurring one hour every fortnight. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Sarah Piper.

SPH Volleyball
We are recruiting participants for an SPH volleyball team. The next game will be on Saturday 14 December. No prior volleyball experience is required; everyone is welcome. If you are interested, please contact Frankie for more information.

Frankie Berardi (Co-Chair), Germaine Lai (Secretariat), Lisa McHugh (Deputy DHDR) and Megan Ferguson (DHDR & Co-Chair).

Upcoming Events
Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards
Wednesday 11 December. Please click on the purple link to register your attendance by Thursday 5 December.

16^th World Congress on Endometriosis
Join us at the 16th World Congress on Endometriosis in Sydney, Australia from Wednesday 21-Saturday 24 May 2025.

Australasian Epidemiological Association 2025 Scientific Meeting
Embracing change: epidemiological methods for the future, Wednesday 16 – Friday 18 July 2025.

SPH Space update
The masterplan and business case for the Public Health building was submitted to the Capital Management Group (CMG) for their November meeting. A further site visit from the Property & Facilities Division subsequent to the meeting took place on Tuesday 10 December. We are hopeful to hear back later this month about whether the University will fund this project.

In the meantime, the SPH Space working group is focused on opening an interim student common room on Level 1 for Semester 1, 2025. More information will be shared as plans are finalised.

L0 flashing flooding update – After the flashing flooding incident that occurred on Sunday 1 December, flood remediation contractors were called in and the following actions were taken:

• carpets were steam cleaned on Monday 2 December
• drying with industrial fans, dehumidifiers and continuous A/C took place all week from Monday 2 – Monday 9 December

Please continue to liaise with Ilan (or Sarah Piper when she returns from leave on Wednesday 18 December) via schoolmanager@sph.uq.edu.au, if you have any questions or concerns related to the L0 flooding incident.

SPH Review update
Please see Head of School’s report above for brief summary of retreat, with more to follow in the new year.

SPH LinkedIn Page
Continue to help build our SPH LinkedIn community by following and inviting others to follow our School of Public Health LinkedIn page. Please send Ailsa Bolton any content you would like uploaded to LinkedIn. She will need:

• An introductory paragraph to be posted that summarises the content
• Any link or document to go with the post
• Any person or organisation who needs to be tagged in the post (eg: coauthors, people in photos, partner organisations).

Alternatively, you can post on your own personal LinkedIn page and tag the School of Public Health by simply typing @UQ School of Public Health and clicking the SPH page that appears as a tag option. 

All the info  

• 2025 Academic Calendar - Academic Calendar
• CAHP - CAHP Information & Services 
• Research News - UQ Research Main Page 
• Current Funding Opportunities - Current Funding Opportunities 
• MRFF 2024 Early to Mid-Career Researchers Initiative - MRFF 2024 Early to Mid-Career Researchers grant opportunity
• Parking changes from 3 February 2025 - Parking at UQ February 2025

SPH Research Dissemination Toolkit
Keen to disseminate your research publicly? The SPH Research Dissemination Toolkit can help you do this. 

View archived SPH announcements

From the Director’s desk
Congratulations to Benn Sartorius for being named as Australia’s leading researcher in the field of General Health and Medical Sciences in the Australian 2025 Research Magazine.

I’d also like to congratulate Prof Andreas Obermair who has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. This is a major recognition from his peers to have this acknowledgement for the peak body that advises the Federal Government on issues related to health and medical sciences in Australia.

Congratulations to the Infectious Diseases Theme, led by Luis Furuya-Kanamori who held an excellent infectious diseases showcase in the last fortnight which brought together a lot of related researchers. We hope this serves to generate new ideas and collaborations into the future!

I have some leave planned from just before Christmas until mid-January. Times where I am unavailable, A/Prof Judith Greer will be UQCCR Acting Director.

This will be the last UQCCR Update for 2024 and when we meet again, it will be 2025 and within the new HMBS Faculty. 2025 promises to be an exciting year and I hope that you all have a safe Christmas-New Year period.

Annual Performance Planning
This is a reminder to supervisors who still need to complete APDs for their staff to please make sure you schedule these important discussions. You can see the status of APDs in Workday in the My Team’s Performance Reviews report.

Want to be included in the newsletter?
Email your updates, event, awards to news@uqccr.uq.edu.au for inclusion.

Are you a wellbeing? Check out UQCCR’s Wellbeing committee Initiatives and other Centre news on the Staff hub.

Publication of the Month
If you've recently published as a first or last author in a Q1 journal, don't miss the chance to submit your work for Publication of the Month. Apply now: https://uniofqueensland.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dbZJmOGJ85zgXsi.

Applications close 7^th of each month.

Seminar Series
The seminar series has completed for 2024. We look forward to seeing you in 2025.

UQCCR updates continued
See standing items such as social club chocolates, after-hours building access and research support services on UQCCR's tab in the Staff Hub. 

Faculty’s Research and Statistical Support Services (RASSS)
Need help with study design, data analysis, manuscript, grant application or PhD supervision? To discuss bespoke statistical support at UQCCR, please complete a request form. See more information under the Research Support banner.

UQ clinical trials procedure
If you are establishing a clinical trial, please check the UQ Ethics page to ensure that you are familiar with UQ requirements, such as submitting additional notifications, obtaining any additional insurance for international sites, completing the UQ template Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) and ensuring your GCP training is current. Sabine is happy to assist with any enquires. Alternatively, please visit the Research Support team in Room 735 for any questions.
 
Budgets
Many research contracts submitted for signature are not using the UQ costing and pricing tool and do not factor in overheads or provide a relevant independent exemption reference, such as the funding body’s rules on their website. Failure to confirm these aspects early can mean delays in getting your contract signed or GRL issued. If you have any questions about the CPT or overheads, please contact Roheen.
 
COIs
FACs and research contracts require confirmation that your online COI disclosures, if applicable, have been approved by UQ, before a GRL can be issued or a research contract signed. Online approval happens via Workday in consultation with your line manager. As the COI process can take a few weeks, please ensure that you attend to your annual COI and updates, and factor in the timing required to avoid delays.
 
Research infrastructure
If there is a piece of equipment or infrastructure that may benefit several research groups within UQCCR please let us know by filling in this form ( UQCCR Equipment & Infrastructure Request Form March2024.docx) and submitting it to the CCR Facilities Desk (FacilitiesDesk@uqccr.uq.edu.au). Information provided will be discussed within the Infrastructure Committee and can be used for developing external grant and/or philanthropic opportunities, or be used for developing access through the Faculty capital replacement scheme or via access at alternative locations. Please also discuss any infrastructure/equipment issues with the Facilities Team.

Research funding support
Visit the Faculty website for current research funding opportunities. Please contact Roheen Gill well ahead of any deadline if you are planning to apply for upcoming opportunities and Sara Gollschewski to discuss strategic funding alignment. You can find a summary of funding support and assistance available to researchers for administration, reporting and closing out of existing funding in this document under 'Research Resources'.

View archived announcements from UQCCR

 View archived announcements from The Frazer Institute