NEWS & EVENTS

HTQ’s Work Program for 2024-25 to address barriers in research translation

22 July 2024

The Health Translation Queensland (HTQ) Board has recently approved HTQ’s Operational Work Program for 2024-25, designed to align with and support the HTQ Strategic Plan 2023-25. HTQ’s work program aims to address the challenges and barriers in translating research into clinical practice and advance HTQ’s mission in the following domain areas:

• Human research ethics and governance
• Workforce education and training
• Digital health
• Consumer and community involvement
• Research integrity
• Clinical trials
• Mental health.

The activities in this work program are identified and supported by HTQ's collaborative groups with membership drawn from HTQ’s partnership and beyond, ensuring that each initiative is well-informed and addresses current and actual need.

New initiatives for 2024-25


Human research ethics and governance

• Specialist experts database: Scope a database of specialist experts that Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) can consult when specific expertise is not available within their existing committee.
• HREC members: Investigate a system that allows HREC members to rotate or join another HREC whenever needed.


Digital health

• Digital scholarships: Develop a scholarships scheme to support digital innovation across the sector.

Ongoing initiatives for 2024-25

Human research ethics and governance

• Review and update the Research Passport Agreement to simplify the research approval process across our partnership.

Digital health

• Continue to establish systems, processes and relationships that enable FAIR principles for the sharing and re-use of clinical trial data for Queensland, through the Health Studies Australian National Data Asset (HeSANDA) Queensland node. 


Consumer and community involvement (CCI)

• Co-design a comprehensive framework for CCI in health research.

• Fund consumer involvement in research projects through a CCI microgrants program, ensuring their perspectives and needs are integrated into the research process.


Mental health

• Launch the Mental Health Workforce Hub, Queensland’s first website dedicated to mental health education, training and research resources for health professionals and researchers.


Clinical trials

• Launch the Clinical Trials Hub, Queensland’s first website dedicated to clinical trials resources, featuring the interactive ‘My Clinical Trial Planner’ tool. 


Workforce education and training

• Provide and coordinate education and training for HTQ’s partnership and beyond.
• Explore a Queensland wide clinician researcher pathway
• Partner with UQ’s School of Public Health to help build workforce capability and capacity, education and training.

HTQ is excited to embark on these initiatives and continue our existing efforts, driving forward impactful research and innovation in health.