Meet our previous winners
The Science Prizes, Awards and Research Committee (SPARC) administers awards, prizes and grants associated with the annual National Scientific Congress (NSC) of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists. These are divided into “pre-NSC Adjudicated Grants” which are decided prior to the NSC, and those presented and adjudicated by a panel at the NSC as the “NSC Presentation Awards”. Locally Administered Prizes are administered by the relevant State Committees
Small Grants Research Winners 2023
Dr Jess Davies
ASA Small Grants – Winner 2023
Dr Jess Davies is an anaesthetist at Austin Health and leads a group of enthusiastic trainee researchers at TRA2SH (Traineeled Research and Audit in Anaesthesia for Sustainable Healthcare). For the last three years TRA2SH has held an annual implementation event focussing on sustainable healthcare engagement called Operation Clean Up (OCU), which aims to educate and engage staff in operating theatres in improving their environmental impact. The successful ASA funding will facilitate OCU survey research into the feasibility, acceptability and repeatability of OCU in a variety of hospital settings as perceived by OCU participants. It will help TRA2SH understand participant demographics, activities undertaken as part of OCU as well as the barriers to environmental sustainability for the volunteer participants. The ASA funding
will contribute to the ongoing costs of delivering OCU via website hosting, resource storage and distribution. Healthcare contributes 7% of Australia’s carbon footprint and finding ways to implement improved environmental sustainability through education and behaviour change are important steps in addressing individual clinician actions and their impact on climate change and health.
Dr Mathew Miller
ASA Small Grants – Winner 2023
Dr Matthew Miller is a Staff Specialist with NSW Aeromedical Operations and VMO anaesthetist at St George Hospital, Sydney. His research team includes, Dr Frances Page, Head of Department at Gosford Hospital and organiser of the Gosford Awake Fibre Optic Intubation Course and Dr Clare Hayes-Bradley, Airway lead and Staff Specialist with NSW Aeromedical Operations and Blacktown Hospitals, Sydney. The team is investigating the use of local anaesthetic before performing awake fibreoptic intubation
in clinical practice, using a variety of techniques. The study will involve healthy volunteer physicians who will apply the anaesthetic to their own airways and will compare the effectiveness of a 4% lignocaine preparation diluted to 2%, versus alkalinised 2% lignocaine. The study will measure plasma lignocaine levels and the amount of lignocaine needed for endoscopy. This is the first study to measure lignocaine levels after topicalisation with alkalinised lignocaine. The ASA Grant will cover the cost of shipping and processing blood samples to a lab in Queensland for lignocaine measurement.
Dr Yayoi Ohashi
ASA Small Grants – Winner 2023
Dr Ohashi is a consultant anaesthetist at Fiona Stanley Hospital in WA, has a passion to improve obstetric anaesthesia care and is leading this project. Co-investigator,
Dr Mullington is a consultant anaesthetist at St Mary’s Hospital in London UK, and is an expert in human thermoregulation. The team consists of anaesthetists, obstetricians, a research nurse, a statistician, and a clinical engineer. Hypothermia can occur in up to 50% of patients undergoing elective Caesarean section (CS) under subarachnoid block if active warming is not used. By contrast, hyperthermia is a side effect of labour epidural analgesia, which occurs in 20% of cases and is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Therefore, it is important not to iatrogenically exacerbate hyperthermia during an emergency CS by instituting active warming inappropriately. Shivering is a common side effect of neuraxial blockade during CS. It is an unpleasant experience which hinders monitoring of
mother’s vital signs and prevents early mother-baby bonding. Their study aims to compare temperature changes during elective and emergency CS, differentiate
shivering, monitor temperature, and develop personalised temperature regulation strategies. The ASA funding will support purchasing equipment for the study.
NSC Presentation Prize Awards
Dr David Lam
2022 Gilbert Troup Prize
Dr David Lam is a VMO working at Eastern Health (Victoria) and in private practice. His special interests include the pharmacokinetics of TIVA and mathematical models used in TCI.
David’s winning Gilbert Troup presentation was on the feasibility of a lidocaine-remifentanil mixture (10mg/ml and 40mcg/ml) in a single syringe. The chemical stability of this mixture was examined using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. No significant degradation of either drug was detected.
In a mathematical model, the total amount of lidocaine delivered over six hours using a bolus infusion (1.5mg/kg bolus followed by 2mg/kg/hr) was similar to using TCI (lidocaine-remifentanil mixture, Minto model at a constant effect site target 4ng/ml) after a three-hour infusion. As this was a computer simulation, further research will be required before clinical use.
Dr Christine Wood
ASA/NZSA Best Poster Prize
Dr Christine Wood is an Advanced Trainee at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. She has a strong interest in wellbeing and trainee welfare, obstetric anaesthesia and perioperative medicine.
Christine’s Best Poster presentation was a six-month retrospective audit of maternal outcomes and staff perspectives after a change in labour epidural analgesia pre-mix from ropivacaine 0.2% with fentanyl to bupivacaine 0.0625% with fentanyl.
There was no significant difference in modes of delivery between the groups. While most women received excellent analgesia from their epidurals, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of women who received no analgesia using the low-concentration bupivacaine premix. Obstetric anaesthetists preferred using the previous ropivacaine pre-mix, reporting the low-concentration bupivacaine pre-mix increased their workload. Based on results of the audit, the Anaesthesia Department changed their protocols to reinstate the ropivacaine mixture.
Dr Xianglin Yeaw
ASA/NZSA Best Poster Prize
Dr Xianglin Yeaw undertook subspeciality fellowship training at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear and the Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne, where she still continues to work as well as at Eastern Health (Victoria). She has academic interests in perioperative medicine and quality improvement.
Xianglin’s winning presentation was about a project to standardise regional anaesthesia trolleys across multiple campuses to reduce medication errors when performing blocks, and to improve efficiency amongst staff. Based on electronic surveys, and anchored using ANZCA PG51 (A) Medication Safety guidelines, 93% of anaesthetists reported being satisfied with the newly arranged block trolleys. 72% agreed that standardisation improved their work efficiency. Opinions were mixed on whether their interventions had reduced their error at work.
Dr Matilda Tang
ASA/NZSA Trainee Member – Group Best Poster Prize
Dr Matilda Tang currently works at Western Health (Victoria) after a varied career in regional Australia including a previous life as an economist. Her hope is to one day become a clinicianscientist and amalgamate medicine, health economics and data science.
Matilda’s winning TMG Best Poster presentation focused on minimising pharmaceutical waste and improving environmental sustainability in theatres. In particular, propofol is an environmental hazard requiring incineration to be destroyed. A crosscampus study was conducted and found 23% of propofol discarded, 60% of which was disposed in general waste bins, accounting for an extrapolated cost of A$3,393 per year. Reductions in propofol wastage can be achieved through audits with feedback to clinicians using smaller ampoules, minimising pre-emptive drawing up, introduction of pharmaceutical bins to reduce environmental contamination risks, and accurately, predicting case duration.
Dr Robyn Scott
ASA/NZSA Trainee Member Audit/Survey Prize
Dr Robyn Scott is a second year anaesthesia trainee at Te Whatu Ora-Waitaha Canterbury, New Zealand. In her previous life, Dr Scott was a respiratory physiologist working on a combined golf/academic scholarship in the USA.
Robyn’s winning Audit/Survey Prize presentation focused on her interests in well-being, with the Physician Well-Being Index screening tool revealing that almost 20% of Canterbury Waitaha senior medical officers and 25% of anaesthesia trainees reached the threshold for distress. When weighted to increase the sensitivity for suicidal ideation, 60% of trainees reached the threshold for distress. Personal well-being was constrained by many organisational factors, but the importance of collegiality was affirmed. These results are important to inform initiatives to improve well-being in her department.
Dr Alexandrea Frankpitt
ASA/NZSA Trainee Member Audit/Survey Prize
Dr Alexandrea Frankpitt undertook her survey project whilst working as a trainee at Te Whatu Ora-Waitaha, Canterbury, New Zealand. Alex’s clinical interests include vascular and hepatobiliary anaesthesia. Her non-clinical interests include medical education and quality improvement in the perioperative journey.
Her commended presentation was an audit of postoperative blood pressure management following carotid endarterectomy (CEA) at Christchurch Hospital. Uncontrolled hypertension or hypotension is common following CEA, and increases the risk of complications, but local practice was variable, and no local guidelines for PACU management existed. Her project found quality gaps in her institution’s care with respect to documentation of postoperative BP targets, and escalation and management of postoperative hypertension and hypotension. The audit has since informed a quality improvement initiative including a practice guideline and education package.