UQCCR Seminar Series - What are HERA ULTRA and UQCTC?

Professor Nadine Foster
Professor Nadine Foster is Academic Director of the UQ Clinical Trials Centre, a physiotherapist, NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Nadine led the HERA ULTRA initiative (UQ’s Clinical Trials Capability) through which UQ has attracted a team of academic experts in innovation in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Together, ULTRA and the UQ CTC will make a step change to UQ’s capability, capacity, coordination and competitiveness in RCTs. Nadine has led or collaborated on 31 completed randomised trials, with 12 current RCTs in progress. She has gained over AUD$126 million in research funding, published 285 full papers including the internationally recognised Lancet Series on Low Back Pain, and supervised 15 PhD students to completion (nearly all were clinicians) with 5 current PhD students (UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia).

Professor Andrew Martin
Professor Andrew Martin is inaugural Professor of Innovative Clinical Trials and leads the University of Queensland’s cLinical Trials cApability (ULTRA) program. Andrew was Professor in the biostatistics group at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre University of Sydney. He maintains that role in an honorary capacity since joining UQ. Prior to academia, Andrew held senior biostatistics roles within research-based pharmaceutical organisations (Pfizer and Roche). Andrew has made original, innovative, and distinguished contributions to methodological research, as well as the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of clinical research that has had an impact at an international level policy, practice, and subsequent research programs. He has been responsible for the provision of statistical leadership to collaborative trials groups to design, undertake, analyse, and report on clinical trials, as well as promoting investigator-initiated research activities. 

Associate Professor Ingrid Hickman
Associate Professor Ingrid Hickman is a Principal Research Fellow in Implementation Science with the UQ ULTRA team (Clinical Trial Capability) located within the Centre for Clinical Research in Herston. A/Prof Ingrid Hickman is an implementation scientist and has over 20 years experience in health services clinical research. Her career has focused on research excellence, strategic leadership and translating scientific evidence into improved clinical care for people with complex chronic conditions. From randomised controlled trials and mechanisms of disease progression through to patient centred co-design of health services, her collaborative approach to research aims to find solutions to health care problems. Prior to taking up the role with the ULTRA team, A/Prof Hickman led the Metabolic Obesity Research Group and the Nutrition Research Program at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane for over 12 years. Within this role she has been a passionate advocate for embedding implementation science and methodologies into clinical trials and health services research and has been recognised internationally for her investment in implementation science and clinical workforce capacity building in research translation.

Dr Nathalia Costa
Dr Nathalia Costa is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's cLinical TRials cApability (ULTRA), located within the Centre for Clinical Research in Herston. Her research draws from a range of qualitative and mixed methodologies to make meaningful contributions to randomised controlled trials and healthcare more broadly. She is particularly interested in projects that involve a range of stakeholders, embrace complexity and have real-world applicability. Her publications (45+) span a wide range of areas, including musculoskeletal pain, health policy and sociology. She has also taught across a range of disciplines, including research methods, musculoskeletal physiotherapy, sociology applied to health, fundamentals of physiotherapy, fundamentals of health care, health policy, health economics and health systems finance. Nathalia is an Associate Editor for Qualitative Health Research, an international (Q1) journal dedicated to publishing interdisciplinary research to enhance healthcare and further the development and understanding of qualitative research in healthcare settings.