Metro South Research

Metro South Research aims to foster all forms of research across Metro South Health - from basic biomedical to translational, clinical, health service and population health research. Metro South Research consists of the following key areas:

1. Research compliance

Research compliance entails provision of administrative and coordinating services in support of the following functions:

Metro South Hospital and Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) – National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Certified: EC00167
Research governance authorsiation - Site Specific Assessment (SSA)
Post-authorisation on-site monitoring - including research project set-up advice
PowerTrials - Research Support Module within the integrated electronic Medical Record (ieMR)
Research integrity and compliance support

The Metro South Health HREC's responsibility is to ensure that a research project is of the highest ethical and scientific standard and that appropriate mechanisms are in place to protect all participants, irrespective of whether they are patients or staff members.

Research governance ensures organisational requirements are met including; assessment of the resource impact of a research project, assurance that contractual requirements follow the Metro South Health Contract Management Framework (intranet link), implementation of appropriate accountability and outcome measure descriptions, and authorisation of the SSA.

Post-authorisation on-site monitoring of a research project enables research integrity to be assessed, in-situ including adherence to appropriate approvals and regulatory requirements.

PowerTrials, the ieMR Research Support Module facilitates research safety and visibility and has significant recruitment and research project management benefits.

2. Research development

In Metro South Health, research development is constantly evolving, adapting and improving practices to ensure the Health Service supports our researchers and contributes to our Metro South Health Research Strategy. Research development activities include:

Research support coordination and research grants administration – registered NHMRC Administering Institution
Strategic planning
Commercialisation advice including intellectual property
Policy and procedure development
Education and training – HREA, SSA, research protocol development, Participant Information and Consent Form (PICF) compilation
Metro South Health biostatistics service
General research advice and support

These mechanisms are coordinated by Metro South Research and aim to provide researchers with additional tools and resources that can take a research idea and potentially transform it into clinical practice.

3. Clinical Research Facility (CRF)

About the CRF and our commitment

The CRF is committed to delivering high quality, world-class research that enhances patient care, challenges clinical practice and promotes innovative health service delivery.
Patient safety is our top priority and dedicated research staff provide specialist care to participants.
All clinical research studies at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), including those performed in the CRF, must meet the requirements of international and Australian regulations and are approved by a registered HREC.

Taking part in a research project

If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial, please speak to your doctor about options that may be suitable for you.
The CRF Patient Information Brochure (PDF, 1.81 MB) provides additional information regarding our location and directions to the CRF.

CRF Policy Framework

For clinicians and researchers wanting to undertake clinical trials at the CRF please review our policy and procedures.

CRF services

Industry partners are also able to utilise the CRF to conduct their research.
For more information please see CRF at the PAH (PDF, 1.05 MB) and the Translational Research Iinstutute (TRI) site.

CRF contact

Please contact the CRF for more information or access.