PREDICT (Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative) profile

Topics:ACTA

Each month we profile an ACTA Member, to get an update about their achievements and to find out what ACTA means to them.

PREDICT (Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative) aims to enhance emergency care for children and adolescents through rigorous research. Its mission is to improve the power and capacity of paediatric research by coordinating research activities among a range of institutions and providing a supportive research infrastructure.

This year’s achievements include:

  • PREDICT now has 122 members—in the past year they welcomed 34 new members.
  • PREDICT has commenced working actively with consumers in their research and have their own designated ED consumer group.
  • The PREDICT Executive reviewed and endorsed 10 new projects which are now in various stages of development.
  • The successful completion of 3 PhDs supported by the network and continued mentoring of another 5 PhD scholars. 
  • Twenty papers were published in various journals including the Lancet, Medical Journal Australia and BMJ.
  • It has been a successful year for grants with seven successful applications yielding combined funds of over $8,500,000.

PREDICT was originally founded in 2004 with 14 foundation sites. The group now works with more than 55 hospitals across all states of Australia and several provinces of New Zealand including tertiary, suburban and regional/rural hospitals.

PREDICT joined ACTA because of a belief that Clinical Trial Networks are very important to achieving high quality research. Joining ACTA helps to promote the work of CTNs and assists the network to learn how they can develop further and become a stronger and more sustainable network.

PREDICT members Associate Professor Ed Oakley and Ms Cate Wilson have been involved with ACTA’s Effective and Efficient CTNs and Consumer Engagement Reference Groups. They believe that ACTA is facilitating the compilation of a wealth of knowledge from across the clinical trials community so that CTNS can improve or have better resoruces to develop from scratch.

PREDICT is focused on ensuring rapid and successful translation of research outcomes into widespread practice. The group has developed evidence based on their research, undertaken guideline development and then implemented this into clinical practice in the area of bronchiolitis. Work on guidelines for the management of acute paediatric head injury is also now well underway. 

To find out more about PREDICT and its activities go to https://www.predict.org.au/