At any time, there are hundreds of thousands of clinical trials and research projects taking place across the world in a wide range of disease and health areas including stroke, cancer, asthma and more.
Those who participate in clinical trials and other studies are often the first to access and benefit from new and emerging treatments across a range of areas, and have the satisfaction of one helping someone else with an illness, providing important scientific information that will be used to develop or improve disease treatments.
There are a number of research projects at HMRI that allow eligible people to access emerging medical research and treatments in a range of areas. Learn more about these projects and how you can become involved below.
Research Register
The Research Register recruits a central database of people who are interested in contributing to medical research. The Register helps researchers access to the type of people they require in their efforts to improve the health of the community.
Learn more about the research register
Stroke Research Register - Hunter
The Stroke Research Register - Hunter recruits a database of people with stroke, living in the Hunter region, who are willing to be contacted to participate in research at a later date. The Register will be a centralised process for contacting people with stroke who would like to take part in the research.
Research Projects Currently Recruiting
Researchers of the HMRI Food and Nutrition Research Program are conducting a nutrition-based research study to enhance our knowledge of certain diets, foods, and their health effects.
We are looking for adults who are interested in participating in an 8-week study. During this study, you will follow two different diets for a total of 4 weeks (2 weeks per diet), which have been developed and designed by our experienced dietitians.
As part of the study, we will provide all your meals and snacks for the 4 weeks, and our dietitians will tailor your diet according to your individual nutritional needs. For the other 4 weeks, you will consume your usual diet.
We’re inviting women with MS or NMOSD who have already used ART to take part in surveys and interviews to discuss if and where they felt there were gaps in their pregnancy planning and fertility treatment care.
The purpose of this study is to improve the quality of care that women with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD) receive while using Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
Have you recently been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease?
Our researchers invite you to participate in a study which will explore how diet affects and triggers Crohn’s disease.
Many people with Crohn’s disease believe that diet is important in managing their condition, however, there is limited data on precisely which specific food components trigger symptoms.
Several different diets have been trialed to date, however, there is no consensus on a specific diet that can be recommended for the management Crohn’s disease.
This study will investigate how different food components affect the immune system and contribute to symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute Active Living Program are looking for men and women with type 2 diabetes to participate in 8 weeks of FREE group telehealth exercise sessions, supervised by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist. Participants will undergo testing of their health and fitness before and after the intervention.
Click here to find out more
The purpose of the research is to understand the experiences of people with type 2 diabetes who have had COVID-19.
This includes understanding your experience during the first four weeks of your COVID-19 illness, any symptoms you are currently experiencing, and how these persistent symptoms have impacted you.
Click here to find out more
Be part of a new research study, that looks at the important contribution of food and nutrition to health and wellbeing.
Health and wellbeing are more important than ever, and the contribution of dietary and culinary factors is an emerging area of interest.
Teachers are key individuals within the school environment and it's important to identify ways to support their health and wellbeing.
Our research aims to test a screening tool to assess the contribution of food and nutrition factors to teacher health and wellbeing.
Here at HMRI, Professor Michael Breakspear is heading the regional arm of the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT), which is a national multi-site project to pre-screen potential participants for local clinical trials into Dementia.
One of the current local trials is the AHEAD trial which is testing the drug lecanemab’s (BAN2401) ability to prevent cognitive deterioration before noticeable signs of Alzheimer’s disease have commenced.
Watch this brief NBN news clip where Michael explains our study here at HMRI.
If you would like to become a volunteer please register your interest on the ADNeT volunteer portal.
We are looking for both people with acquired hearing loss that are eligible for treatment with cochlear implant devices, as well as healthy adults who do not have hearing loss to participate.
Left untreated, acquired hearing loss is known to be a significant risk factor for developing dementia in later life.
Our researchers are using MRI brain imaging to measure changes in brain function and structure after cochlear implant surgery. The aim of this project is to establish how the treatment of acquired hearing loss reduces the risk and severity of dementia onset, and to promote healthy ageing through early interventions.
Are you a carer for someone with advanced cancer?
Researchers are currently looking at ways they can provide support to carers of people with advanced cancer.
We invite adults with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) to participate in the international NF1 cutaneous neurofibroma consortium project which aims to improve our understanding of how genetics affects the number of skin neurofibromas a person with NF1 may develop.
Click here to find out more
We are inviting people between 16-50 years of age who do not have a serious mental health condition, who can serve as baseline participants for this study
Click here to find out more
Researchers are looking for volunteers to participate in a trial testing a dietary supplement which may improve immune function and protect against virus infection.
Click here to find out more
We would like to invite you to complete the Digestive Health & Wellbeing Survey (DHWS) and the Structured Assessment of Gastrointestinal Symptoms Scale (SAGIS). These surveys contribute to digestive health research by providing information that will allow us to better characterise gastrointestinal problems.
They will ask for information about your gut symptoms, anxiety and depression, sleep, smoking and alcohol intake. This helps us understand why some people develop conditions and others do not. We would like people with and without gut problems to participate
Click here to learn more about this survey and to participate
Researchers are inviting people with asthma to participate in a study aiming to understand breathlessness
Click here to find out more
We are conducting a research study into an early intervention for cough following an upper respiratory tract infection, also known as the 'common cold'
Click here to find out more
Researchers are seeking volunteers for a study looking at rehabilitation of arm function after stroke.
The study would involve assessments of arm and hand function, before and after a 6 week period, during which training may be given to improve arm and hand function. There will also be a follow-up assessment after 6 months.
Researchers are seeking premenopausal women aged 18 years and over to participate in a clinical trial that is investigating whether a nutritional supplement (resveratrol) can prevent menstrual migraines.
Click here to find out more
Researchers are looking for people with debilitating fatigue after stroke to test a wakefulness medication called modafinil.
Click here to find out more
Researchers are seeking fathers of infants to complete a 15-minute online survey investigating the relationships between postnatal thoughts and parental wellbeing.
Click here to find out more
Researchers are seeking new parents of infants aged 1 to 13 months to trial a new game-based learning experience.
Click here to find out more
The Breathing for Life Trial Nutrition Study: A study of maternal and infant diet and nutritional health and its relation to respiratory health.
FIND OUT ABOUT
CLINICAL TRIALS
At any time, there are thousands of clinical trials taking place across the world in a wide range of disease and health areas. Those who participate in clinical trials and other studies are often the first to access and benefit from new and emerging treatments across a range of areas.
The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry is an online registry that allows you to search for clinical trials currently available in Australia and New Zealand.
You can search the ANZCTR by location and disease or health area.
The search function on ANZCTR allows you to conduct either a basic search or an advanced search of clinical trials available on the ANZCTR database. Once you find a relevant trial, you will be able to contact the health care or research professional listed as the 'public contact' on the trial record for more information.
If you wish to search of clinical trials for a local trial, try putting the location and health or disease area in the search field. For example, Asthma, Newcastle.
To find out more information about how to be part of clinical trial, the first important step is to find out more information about clinical trials in general and what is involved in being part of a clinical trial.
There is a lot of information available online about the clinical trial process, the ethics and regulation of clinical trials and why a person would want to be a part of a trial in Australia.
A good place to start is the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council.
You can find out a great deal of information about clinical trials by visiting the site below.
Who Can Help?
You can also talk to any health professional involved in your care about upcoming clinical trials. This includes general practitioners (GPs), specialists, or nursing or allied health professionals. Your health care team may be able to provide general information about clinical trials and could have information on clinical trials that are relevant to you.
Support groups or consumer health organisations with an interest in a particular disease or condition that you are interested in may also have information on trials, or be able to provide contact information for other patients who have been involved in trials.
FOR RESEARCHERS -
RESEARCH PROJECT SUPPORT
HMRI offers a range of services to support HMRI affiliated researchers throughout each stage their research project.
These services include:
- Study Recruitment
- Clinical Trials Unit
- Clinical Research Design and Statistics
- Health Research Economics
- Bioinformatics and Special Applications Support
