NSLHD News May 20 2022

RNSH CNC presents poster on the world stage Royal North Shore Hospital Clinical Nurse Consultant Elsa Chu has recently had

B vaccine to inhibit the spreading of the disease. “No woman should have to live with the lifetime of guilt from having passed on hepatitis B to their child,” she said. “No child should be born with a life-limiting disease when there is a vaccine available. “We know the prevention of mother-to-child transmission is crucial in reducing the incidence of hepatitis B and can be achieved through maternal antiviral therapy and postnatal active and passive immunisation.” Elsa is committed to the Therapeutics in 2016 for her work on gene therapy. Linda said recognising days like Clinical Trials Day is important for not only achieving desired patient outcomes but also encouraging participation through awareness. “A clinical trial could be something simple that gives people hope – we all want hope,” she said. “It’s also important to note that clinical trials are there for healthy people as well as sick people.” Like Linda, Associate Professor Anthony Delaney said seeing the outcomes of clinical trials makes all of the hard work worth it. “The most enjoyable part is seeing the results of the trial being used across the world to help clinicians provide better care for patients,” he said. Anthony, who is currently working on the Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage, red blood cell transfusion and outcome (SAHaRA) trial to help evaluate stroke treatment options, said the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge learning curve for those conducting

her poster accepted and presented at The World Hepatitis Summit 2022. Elsa’s poster is themed around post-vaccination serological outcomes for infants born to women infected with hepatitis B. The poster has been presented and accepted in four conferences throughout 2021 and 2022. Elsa said her motivation for constructing the poster was her passion for helping raise awareness of the hepatitis Clinical Trials Day International Clinical Trials Day takes place on May 20 each year to celebrate and recognise the significant efforts of those who conduct clinical trials. The day provides an opportunity to acknowledge some of the achievements of clinical trials and research as well as emphasising the importance of clinical trials for improved patient outcomes. Royal North Shore Hospital Research Nurse Linda Pallot recently celebrated her 50 year anniversary in nursing, with 25 of those years being spent as a research nurse working on clinical trials. Linda said becoming a research nurse has allowed her to work on some life altering trials for patients. “Being a research nurse is a wonderful career, testing new drugs or devices is ground breaking work,” she said. “Some of the trials I worked on for Multiple Sclerosis went to market and have now become current treatments.” Alongside getting to work and care for her patients, a highlight of Linda’s career was being awarded a Cure the Future Service Award for

Elsa Chu with her poster

global fight against viral hepatitis and wants to play her role in helping eliminate the disease. “I always want to be at the forefront of the global fight against viral hepatitis, and I intend to play a key role in the historic elimination of the disease,” she said.

RNSH Research Nurse Linda Pallot

clinical trials. “While COVID has led to many challenges for intensive care units, it did speed up the use of novel clinical trial methods that delivered results much quicker than previous methods, and so we were able to introduce treatments that saved many lives,” he said. Speaking on the importance Clinical Trials Day, Anthony said raising awareness around participation is one of the key factors in achieving trial results that can save lives. “We can’t complete clinical trials without the patients being willing to be involved,” he said. “The more people that understand the benefits that can arise from clinical trials, hopefully the more willing they will be to consider participating in a clinical trial.”

NSLHDNEWS | ISSUE 9| 20 MAY 2022

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