Staff profile - Meet the Northern Sydney LHD research team

Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD) Research Manager Jodi Humphreys, and her team at the Research Office, have been hard at work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic helping researchers take their vision from concept to a potentially life-changing reality.

They have been helping researchers across the district to deliver all the approvals they need.

“Before human research is conducted, all applications must undergo a two-step review process; ethics and research governance,” Jodi said.

“It is the role of the research governance officer to minimise risk in the delivery of the research with the aim of ensuring optimum patient and staff safety.”

However, just because the approvals have been given, the work for the office doesn’t end there, with researchers required to submit regular updates to the office.

“There are currently 1,359 active projects authorised to be conducted at a NSLHD site, which means post-approval project monitoring is a significant responsibility for the Research Office,” Jodi said.

That number could grow substantially, with COVID-19 resulting in a boost in applications, including the Smelly Study by Professor Rory Clifton-Bligh, which has generated a lot of interest across the country.

“Like many in the community, our team hope to see an increased understanding of this illness so it has been a privilege to be able to make a difference by expediting applications for COVID-19 research,” Jodi said.

“Our governance team have approved four COVID-19 research applications with another 10 applications in progress.

“I know I can speak on behalf of the team when I say we all feel like we play a vital role in enabling research and therefore providing sometimes life-saving treatment options for our patients.

“We believe our roles are very important and that we do make a significant difference to many people and for that we are very grateful to be in the positions we are in.”​​