QCGC Research's IMAGINE Trial named one of NHMRC's '10 of the Best'

Professor Andreas Obermair and the QCGC Research team received exciting news at the beginning of 2024. They had been chosen for NHMRC's 'Ten of the Best Research Projects' for groundbreaking work on 'The Implementation of MinimAlly INvasivE hysterectomy (IMAGINE) Trial!'

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is globally recognised as one of Australia’s leading expert bodies in health and medical research. Its mission is to create pathways to a healthier future through funding research that has the potential to improve millions of lives.

It is a researcher’s dream to be awarded NHMRC funding, and in 2017 the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer (QCGC) Research team was awarded a $656,854 NHMRC grant for its IMAGINE Trial.

The IMAGINE trial included developing a surgical teaching program involving a multidisplinary team, from hospitals and health care services, charitable organisations, medical device companies and universities to upskill surgeons in laparoscopic hysterectomy rather than traditional abdominal surgery. The aim was to achieve better outcomes for women and less complications. As a result of the project, Professor Obermair estimates that now about half of OBGYN surgeons are undertaking laparoscopy hysterectomies, up from about 1 in 10 seven years ago.

NHMRC’s 10 of the Best – Fifteenth Edition, is a tribute to the exceptional researchers and their teams around Australia who are adding new evidence to our mounting knowledge and understanding of health by addressing Australia’s greatest health challenges.

It showcases research projects completed in 2021 that demonstrate the quality and diversity of projects funded by NHMRC through its grant program, and which have significantly contributed to improving human health.