Launch of ACBD’s Community Engagement Program

PhD Student, Ms Charlene Lam and consumer partner Ken Young. 
See his story, "Sequencing MPNs could change my life" 

On behalf of the Community and Researcher Engagement (CARE) Committee at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), we are proud to announce the launch of our Community Engagement program. 

This program aims to connect dedicated researchers at the ACBD with community members (often called consumers) who have experienced a blood disorder or cancer. Consumers will be partnered with researchers or a research group, bringing their valuable lived experiences to the team and contributing to our shared goal of turning new discoveries into better patient outcomes. 

There is increasing emphasis within funding bodies, such as Cancer Councils, Cancer agencies and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), that effective and sustained engagement with consumers provides a valuable and unique contribution to medical research programs. The CARE committee is focused on making this engagement and connection with consumers a natural and readily accessible part of our research program at the ACBD.

Consumer and Researcher Engagement (CARE) Committee. 
L-R Back row: Dr Donia Moujalled, Dr Ioanna Savvidou,
Dr Cedric Tremblay, Dr Karen Alt, Dr Michelle Zajac.
L-R Front row: Dr Catherine Carmichael, Dr Fiona Brown,
A/Prof. Matthew McCormack. Absent: Ms Jen Cheung,
Mr Ken Young, Ms Anna Steiner

On Tuesday 23 March at 11am, the CARE committee is hosting an Introduction to Community Engagement at the ACBD seminar by Zoom (zoom details click here), to which all CCS staff and students are warmly invited. See flier.

While this pilot program has been established by the ACBD with support from the Alfred Foundation, we hope to expand this program to include other CCS departments. If you would be interested in engaging with a consumer or have any questions or comments regarding the program, please see the Expression of Interest form for researchers. Note, the EOI is currently tailored for ACBD researchers, but if you are interested, email us on ACBD.care@monash.edu. 

See more about the initiative at our Community Engagement webpage.