It is with a heavy heart we announce Dr Merran Smith, our Chief Executive, will retire in mid-2025. For more than 15 years, her vision and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in advancing Australia’s national data linkage infrastructure. Thanks to her leadership, PHRN has established itself as the nation’s only comprehensive network of specialist data…
Hundreds of research infrastructure experts from across the globe attended International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI) in Brisbane and online last week. Our CE, Dr Merran Smith, joined a panel discussing how the integration and regulation of digital tools in health research will help provide better public health outcomes. Prof Alan Duffy‘s Research Infrastructures Beyond 2050 was another…
Congratulations to Associate Professor Daniel Horton who has been awarded the 2025 Robert and Maude Gledden Visiting Fellowship at UWA, through the Institute of Advanced Studies at UWA. A/Professor Horton is coming to UWA in late 2025 from the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University in Illinois, US. His research explores how…
GP information is increasingly used for quality assurance, evaluation, health service planning and research. This medicSA article explores the legal, ethical and social implications of using primary care data for research. According to a community attitudes survey undertaken through the Digital Health CRC with PHRN funding support, Australians are concerned about how their personal general…
How can we maintain community trust in data usage? On day two of the IPDLN conference, this collaborative workshop with HDRN Canada explored social licence issues regarding the use of health data for research. Spoiler alert…data breaches, AI & government transparency are thought most likely to impact community acceptance of health data. In photos, left…
Artificial intelligence (AI) and its transformative role in life sciences took centre stage at an event featuring European Bioinformatics Institute | EMBL-EBI Director Prof Ewan Birney and jointly hosted by EMBL Australia and Bioplatforms Australia at Canberra’s iconic Shine Dome (The Australian Academy of Science). Dr Merran Smith (Chief Executive of the Population Health Research…
The International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) conference kicks off this month in the windy city – Chicago, home of deep dish pizza, Al Capone and architectural gems – attracting 700-plus international delegates. Read why former IPDLN Director Merran Smith is excited (spoiler alert: it’s about the people) and infrastructure that enables research. 15-18 September 2024, Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois….
Sydney will host the World Congress of Endometriosis in May 2025, marking the largest gathering of clinical, scientific and allied health professionals working in the field. In our new Impact Story, Professor Gita Mishra explains how the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health links health and survey data to shed light on this crippling condition,…
More than 100 concussion experts across the country have collaborated in a groundbreaking Australian Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (AUS-mTBI) study, so volunteers can now monitor their concussion symptoms via a newly revised HeadCheck app. Study participants can track and manage their symptoms over a 12-month period or until their symptoms resolve, while gaining access to information…
The Population Health Research Network (PHRN) Board and wider network were deeply saddened to hear that PHRN Board member, Adjunct Professor John Bancroft, died in England on 31 July 2024. Professor Bancroft had a distinguished career across a range of sectors, specialties and geographical locations. He was a graduate Chemist, a Fellow of the UK’s…