QBIC symposium recap

Last  November saw our first annual symposium, held at UQ Brisbane City. Over 50 people attended a full day of presentations from leading voices in Queensland’s brain injury community.

After introductory remarks from Dr Mark Jacobs (Department of Environment and Science), plenary talks from Mr Nick Rushworth (Brain Injury Australia) and Professor John Prins (Health Translation Queensland) set the stage for the day to come. Professor Prins drew on his vast experience to give advice on building a collaborative research network, noting the importance of minimising duplication, learning from success stories in other areas, diligently building a brand and reputation, and having a clear value proposition.

In what would become a theme for the day, Mr Rushworth called on his personal experience of brain injury to stress the importance of giving patients a voice and providing them with realistic hope. This was echoed by Professor Tamara Ownsworth (The Hopkins Centre, Griffith University), who encouraged health professionals to let patients reclaim their agency through self-advocacy. Jennifer Muller, a consumer advocate, talked of her personal experience of stroke, encouraging researchers to use the knowledge and experiences of people with brain injury throughout the research journey.

Several speakers gave overviews of successful service implementation, showing that well-designed efforts can produce tangible benefits for the community. Areti Kennedy (ABI Transitional Rehabilitation Service) described ABI TRS’ success in improving clinical outcomes, reducing hospital stays, increasing service capacity, and reducing out-of-pocket expenses and carer costs. Professor Alice Theadom (Auckland University of Technology) showed that implementing a screening and pathway decision-making tool led to lowered costs and improved referral and recovery times for mTBI and concussion. And Louise O’Reilly (Statewide BaSCI Project) gave an update on the BaSCI Project, with various pilots progressed to a sustainable future and efforts now focused on a future networked service model for specialist ABI rehabilitation.

There were also presentations on the biological underpinnings of brain injury recovery. Dr Tara Walker (University of Queensland) presented her work showing that in mice, exercise can protect the brain and reverse cognitive decline post-stroke through the creation of new neurons, and that selenium – a trace element found at elevated concentrations in Brazil nuts – is important to this process. Professor Karen Barlow (Queensland Children’s Hospital) shared her research showing that post-concussion symptoms in children can be correlated with neuroimaging-based markers, suggesting a means of predicting recovery and return to activities.