Northern Sydney Local Health District researchers, Associate Professor Anthony Delaney, Dr Tessa Garside and Dr Christopher Andersen have received two grants for their intensive care unit research projects.

The team has received grants for two projects: Australian Brain Injury Biobank and Registry (Neurological injury) (ABIBaR) and Critical Illness, Inflammation and Immunology Biobank (CI3 Biobank).

Both projects are being carried out through the NSW Health Statewide Biobank, where the grants will be used to collect and store biospecimens from patients who choose to opt into the projects.

The ABIBaR project’s objective is to develop a biobank collecting and storing samples, like blood, from patients presenting with acute neurological injuries.  

Anthony said the findings of the project will hopefully lead to better clarity on prognosis and further refined treatment options.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to help provide an earlier and clearer prognosis for patients and their families,” he said.

“Collecting the samples will allow us to determine ways to guide our treatment options.”

Christopher said the team hopes to eventually expand the projects across various hospitals and districts, which will help many patients and their families.

“These projects put us at the centre of ICU research, which is a very exciting thing,” he said.

“We look forward to deriving some outcomes from the projects generating learnings from ICU patients.”