Anthony Hew awarded NHMRC postgraduate scholarship
Congratulations to addiction psychiatrist and Monash PhD student, Anthony Hew, who has been awarded an NHMRC postgraduate scholarship for his project Revolutionising System Reform in Mental Health: Addressing Gaps in the System through Big Data and Data Linkage.
The scholarship will enable Anthony to dedicate more time towards his PhD studies, and allow him to build his skills and experience in clinical health research.
Anthony will be using big data analytic approaches to identify and address the gaps in the current healthcare system through following the journey of individuals who frequently present to emergency services for mental health and drug and alcohol related presentations. Anthony aims to incorporate record linkage to multiple health service datasets to explore the patterns and trajectories of health service utilisation amongst frequent presenters. This will provide unique insights that will inform design and development of a mental health system that can better respond to the needs of those who are not receiving the care they require.
The research will incorporate a unique population-level dataset from the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS), a collaboration between Turning Point, Monash University and Ambulance Victoria that provides a detailed record of clinical information relating to each ambulance attendance.
Anthony says he is extremely fortunate to be supervised by Professor Dan Lubman AM, Associate Professor Debbie Scott and Dr Shalini Arunogiri who are at the forefront of research using clinical and surveillance data to shape policy and service development.
“As a psychiatrist I have experienced first-hand the impact of the current failures in the mental healthcare system resulting in a crises-driven approach to care. The recent National Productivity Commission and Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health have highlighted the need for a better mental health system. The subsequent commitment made to transform the current broken system has been long overdue,” said Anthony.
“I am extremely honoured and grateful to receive a NHMRC postgraduate scholarship which will allow me to develop my research skills. I hope to combine research with my clinical and leadership experiences as a psychiatrist to drive improvements to mental health care in Australia.”
The NHMRC postgraduate scholarships scheme provides support to undertake further training in research with the goal of fostering independent and innovative research amongst health and medical graduates in Australia.