Centre of Research Excellence in Urban Indigenous Health

  • Unmet health needs for urban Indigenous Australians are well documented, alongside a persistent gap in health research conducted with this population. Australia’s first Centre of Research Excellence in Urban Indigenous Health will drive innovative research aimed at achieving excellence in health care delivery. The CRE will harness existing partnerships and infrastructure to strengthen the capacity of the next generation of health researchers to drive Australia's first urban Indigenous health research agenda. The Centre of Research Excellence in Urban Indigenous Health aims to improve health outcomes for urban Indigenous peoples through an Indigenous-led program of innovative, high-quality, community-driven research aimed at transforming health service delivery for Indigenous peoples who live in major cities of Australia. The CRE will generate new knowledge by developing and executing a health services research agenda with four research themes: (i) Innovation in Indigenous-led models of health care; (ii) Integrated health care systems; (iii) Best practice in patient-centred care and community engagement; and (iv) Digital transformation of urban Indigenous health. All projects within themes will be underpinned by cross-cutting themes of equity, cultural and social determinants of health and health economics.

  • $2,500,000.00

  • 2023 to 2027

  • Project Lead

    • Professor James Ward, Director, The University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. poche.director@uq.edu.au

    Chief Investigator

    • CIA: Professor James Ward, Director, The University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. poche.director@uq.edu.au

    • CIB: Adjunct Professor Adrian Carson, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health

    • CIC: Professor Raymond Lovett, Program Leader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University; Mayi Kuwayu Study Director, College of Health & Medicine. raymond.lovett@anu.edu.au

    • CID: Professor Sandra Eades, Dean and Head of Curtin Medical School at Curtin University and Professor of Public Health University of Melbourne. sandra.eades@unimelb.edu.au

    • CIE: Professor Gail Garvey, Professor of Indigenous Health Research, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland. g.garvey@uq.edu.au

    • CIF: Professor Clair Sullivan, Associate Professor of Clinical informatics, The University of Queensland. c.sullivan1@uq.edu.au

    • CIG: Professor Luke Connelly, Professor of Health Economics at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland. l.connelly@uq.edu.au

    • CIH: Associate Professor Judith Dean, Principal Research Fellow, UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. j.dean4@uq.edu.au

    • CII: Associate Professor Federica Barzi, Principal Research Fellow, UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. f.barzi@uq.edu.au

    • Dr Carmel Nelson, Director, Quality and Innovation, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health. Carmel.Nelson@iuih.org.au

    Associate Investigators

    • Mr Kaava Watson, Director, Network Development, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health

    • Dr Shea Spierings, Postdoctoral Researcher, Education and Economies Theme, ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland s.spierings@uq.edu.au

    • Dr Lyle Turner, Manager – Data and Research Unit, Biostatistician, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health lyle.turner@uq.edu.au

    • Professor Dan Chambers, Executive Director, Research, Metro North Hospital and Health Service d.chambers2@uq.edu.au

    • Ms Renée Brown, Cultural Integrity, Organisational Development, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health renee.brown@iuih.org.au

    • Ms Sherry Holzapfel, Executive Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, Metro North Hospital and Health Service.

    • Ms Kirsty Leo, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team Manager of Data, Research and Clinical Governance, Metro North Hospital and Health Service

    • Dr Clare Bradley, Senior Research Fellow, Workforce Capability and Capacity team, Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia; Honorary Senior Research Fellow, UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, The University of Queensland clare.bradley@uq.edu.au

    • Dr Alison Nelson, Director, Organisational Development, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health Alison.Nelson@iuih.org.au

  • Institute for Urban Indigenous Health

    Metro North Hospital and Health Service

    The University of Melbourne

    Australian National University

  • Stajic, Janet, Adrian Carson, and James Ward. “Rationale and plan for a focus on First Nations urban health research in Australia.” Medical Journal of Australia 220, no. 2 (2024): 64-66. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52181

    Mamun, Abdullah A., Edmund Wedam Kanmiki, Stuart Leske, Janet Stajic, and James Ward. “Research needed on urban Indigenous health inequalities.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 102, no. 2 (2024): 146. https://doi.org/10.2471%2FBLT.23.290868

  • Professor James Ward, Director, The University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. poche.director@uq.edu.au

    Dr Stuart Leske, Senior Research Fellow and Program Manager of the Centre of Research Excellence in Urban Indigenous Health, The University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. s.leske@uq.edu.au