Gene Chai and Dr Kirat Chand

Gene Chai

Title: Precision dosing software to optimise antimicrobial dosing in the intensive care unit

Bio: Mr. Gene Chai is the intensive care unit (ICU) lead pharmacist at Eastern Health in Victoria. He is currently a PhD candidate within the CRE REDUCE group at UQCCR where he holds an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship. His current research focuses on optimising antibiotic dosing in the ICU using novel technology such as precision dosing software programs. 

Overview: Antibiotic dosing in critically ill patients is challenging due to the physiological changes they experience and the life-saving interventions they are exposed to that can adversely impact on antibiotic exposures. Up to 40% of these patients do not achieve target antibiotic exposures which is associated with poorer clinical outcomes. Precision dosing programs are tools that can be used by clinicians to optimise antibiotic dosing, but their efficacy in the ICU setting remains largely unexplored. This study aims to quantify the impact of using precision dosing software programs in the ICU to optimise antibiotic dosing. 

Dr Kirat Chand

Title: Targeting neuroinflammation in hypoxic-ischemic newborns

Bio: Kirat Chand is a postdoctoral researcher in the Perinatal Research Centre (PRC) at UQCCR. His research focuses on neurodevelopment, neuroinflammation and therapeutic strategies in newborn brain injury.

Overview: Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating neurological illness caused by a lack of blood and oxygen to the newborn brain. It is a major contributor to infant morbidity and a leading cause of infant death worldwide. Around 3.5% of all perinatal deaths in Australia each year are due to HIE. The exact mechanisms of HI brain injury are still unclear however the triggering of these processes is long preceded by the early changes in the vasculature and dysfunction of the BBB which is associated with neuroinflammation. Currently, therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the only treatment option, though ~70% of TH-treated infants still suffer poor neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Using our pre-clinical pig model of HIE, we examined the influence of inflammation to brain neuropathology during the early phases following insult. We are now investigating a novel combination of placental derived stem cells as a therapeutic for treating HIE in newborns.