Clinical Trials Award winners announced at Sydney Innovation Week.

The outstanding contributions from researchers and research support staff across our District are recognised annually with the Clinical Trial Awards.   

Clinical trials are vital to accelerating the transfer of research innovations to patient care, with more than 730 clinical trials underway across 84 departments in our District.  

This year, the winners were announced during a Sydney Research and Innovation Symposium ceremony as part of Sydney Innovation Week.   

The Clinical Trial of the Year Award recognises the outstanding contribution from a District investigator-driven clinical trial that has led to an advance in clinical practice and saved or improved patient health outcomes.  

Winner: Professor Ian Harris AM, for his work on the CRISTAL Randomised Trial, comparing aspirin and heparin, two drugs frequently used to prevent clots after hip or knee replacement. The CRISTAL study, the first high-quality study to compare the drugs, involved 20,000 patients across 31 hospitals. It found heparin is significantly more effective than aspirin in preventing clots, suggesting most surgeons should change their practice. Study results were published in JAMA, a leading medical journal, and will influence post-surgical clot prevention.   

The Excellence in Clinical Trial Support Award recognises the outstanding achievements of staff supporting clinical trial activity in the District.   

Winner: Melissa Kermeen, Research Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Services, Concord Hospital. Melissa manages up to 40 research studies simultaneously across the trial lifecycle, a leader sharing her knowledge and training her department colleagues and research nurses.