Congratulations to Royal North Shore’s Intensive Care Clinical Research Manager Dr Naomi Hammond, who’s been awarded a hotly-contested National Health and Medical Research Council investigator grant.

Dr Hammond will receive more than $500,000 for her program of research, to investigate the role of fludrocortisone and hydrocortisone steroids in the treatment of patients with septic shock.

Dr Hammond said steroids have been used to treat septic shock for decades, and while hydrocortisone has been shown to help save lives, adding fludrocortisone may improve patient outcomes.

“This approach is not currently recommended in international guidelines and not consistently adopted in clinical practice,” she said.

“The research program, which will be coordinated through The George Institute for Global Health, will undertake a series of studies to help inform a definitive trial of hydrocortisone plus fludrocortisone.

“The studies will also help determine the optimal dose of fludrocortisone in patient care.

“The research will be conducted in the Intensive Care Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital, and through the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Network.

“We will also be collaborating with the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, with plans for a future trial in that region.

“Sepsis and septic shock are leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, claiming approximately 11 million lives each year.

“Our program of research will investigate a simple, inexpensive treatment which has the potential to reduce disease and the number of lives lost to this condition.

“This research is particularly important for low and middle-income countries where the burden of sepsis is disproportionally high,” Dr Hammond said.