Bond University’s newest research professor hopes to find a way to reduce the $80 billion waste in medical research that occurs each year.
Professor Paul Glasziou – an internationally recognised expert in Evidence-Based Medicine – has joined Bond University from the University of Oxford to take up the position of Director of the newly formed Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice.
Professor Glasziou brings with him to Bond a NHMRC Australia Fellowship to support research into evidence-based practice. He was awarded the $4.2 million grant (over five years) in 2008 while he was Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in the Department of Primary Care at the University of Oxford.
Recently, he and colleagues received an additional $8.2 million NHMRC grant for a joint University of Sydney and Bond University study into whether, when and how to use medical tests.
A qualified GP, Professor Glasziou said; “I want to improve the exchange between research and practice by working with both groups. A small reduction in the $80 billion waste in medical research each year would be a big gain.”
"My hope is to make better use of the research we do. Much medical research is unpublished or unusable. So rather than do more research, I want to understand why this gap exists, and fix it!”
Professor Glasziou joins a team of leading evidence-based medicine experts at Bond, including Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research and internationally recognised evidence-based medicine expert, Professor Chris Del Mar, Professor Mieke Van Driele and Professor Jenny Doust.
This critical mass of expertise is expected to see Bond University’s Centre of Research in Evidence-Based Practice establish itself as an international leader in the field in the coming years, with the goal of improving health care nationally and internationally through the better use and usability of health care research.
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research, Professor Chris Del Mar said the arrival of Paul Glasziou from the University of Oxford is a real feather in the cap for Bond University.
“He is a figure that strides across the world stage in the area of evidence-based practice, and several epidemiological areas, and he is mightily well-respected,” Professor Del Mar said.
“Because his research is so applied – meaning its results can be applied to clinicians immediately – I believe this [his appointment] will further strengthen the relationship Bond enjoys with our clinical partners. Their own clinical practice will be enhanced, and I hope they will all be stimulated to ask the hard questions that lead to exciting improvements in health care delivery,” he said.
Professor Del Mar added that Professor Glasziou’s arrival would also act as a magnet for other leading experts to visit Bond University.
“Already, we have had a visit from Professor Patrick Bossuyt from the Netherlands – another of the world’s giants in epidemiology. He was so impressed by what he found here that he is planning a sabbatical here at Bond University in two or three years time. These are exciting times,” he said.
Professor Glasziou will be presenting his first public seminar at Bond University on the evening of July 28 on the topic he is most passionate about – reducing the avoidable waste in producing and reporting medical research.Â