One of our up-and-coming researchers within the Kolling’s Ageing and Pharmacology Lab has taken out two prestigious awards.
Pharmacist and PhD student Mai Duong received the initial award at the International Pharmaceutical Federation World Congress in Brisbane.
The APSA awarded Mai the Outstanding Oral Presentation in Pharmacy Practice prize for her discussion on the different perspectives of adverse drug events with heart failure medications in frail older people.
She also took out an award for her presentation at the Cardiovascular Symposium hosted by the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists.
Mai’s research has greatly benefitted from a new collaboration within the Kolling Institute involving researchers from the Ageing and Pharmacology Lab including Professor Sarah Hilmer and Dr Lisa Kouladjian O’Donnell and A/Professor Rebecca Kozor from the Cardiology Department.
She said her work has highlighted the contrasting consumer and clinician views on clinical outcomes, patient priorities and medication management of frail older people with heart failure.
“We know that heart failure is becoming more common in the ageing population, leading to frequent hospital visits and claiming lives,” she said.
“Patients report that the big problem for them is the number of medications they’re on and the possible interactions.
“We are seeing that some medications for heart failure can cause falls, dizziness, renal impairment and other adverse events.
“We know that optimising heart failure medication can be complex, but we hope that following our research there will be a greater focus on frailty and quality of life when these medications are prescribed.
“We found that clinicians recognised that frailty status was important, but it was not routinely measured or included in medication management plans.
“Backed by our research, we would like to see frailty measures considered when prescribing these medications, so that clinicians can tailor their approach for each patient for the best outcome.”