Director Appointed to Lead Australia's Largest
e-Health Research Program

3 August 2004
Brisbane, Australia

The e-Health Research Centre, Queensland's cutting edge research facility revolutionising the delivery of health care services in Australia, has appointed Dr. Anthony Maeder as Research Director.

With more than 20 years' research experience in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, Dr. Maeder will develop the Centre's research capabilities and direct e-Health R&D projects on a scale not previously possible in Australia.

e-Health's Chief Executive Officer, Gary Morgan, said Dr. Maeder's appointment was the first in a major recruitment drive, with the Centre in the process of recruiting more than 20 world-class research scientists, making it the largest single-funded e-Health R&D facility in the southern hemisphere.

"We have already secured more than half of these positions and are continuing talks with several more international research scientists with e-Health expertise in areas including ICT and remote patient monitoring," he said.

Jointly funded by the CSIRO and the Queensland Government, the $15 million e-Health initiative undertakes world-class applied research into the health applications of ICT, in a bid to improve the treatment and care of critical health conditions such as cancer and stroke.

The Centre is currently partnering with Brisbane North Division of General Practice (BNDGP), to deliver the Primary Care Electronic Health Document Exchange (EDoX) project, which this month received $200,000 in federal government funding.

EDoX uses advanced communication technologies to give key care providers immediate access to current information about patients' health conditions.

"EDoX, with its potential to create significant benefits for patients, clinicians and the Queensland economy, is one component of the comprehensive research program Dr. Maeder will develop and implement," Mr Morgan said.

"An important aspect of his role will be to develop and promote the value of collaborative research projects into next generation communication technologies that can improve the delivery of patient care in Australia," he said.

"His aim will be to identify future directions in e-Health research and to foster strategic relationships with clients, other research agencies and key academic institutions both nationally and overseas."

Dr Maeder brings to the position local and international experience in several fields relevant to the e-Health sector including image processing, the human visual system and software engineering. He vacated the role of Head of the School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering at Queensland University of Technology to take up his new position on 22 July.

The e-Health Research Centre was officially launched in May 2004 by Premier Peter Beattie and Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran.

Background on the e-Health Research Centre

The e-Health Research Centre, a $15 million joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland Government, is at the forefront of e-health innovation in Australia and globally, and will revolutionise the way Queensland's health sector delivers services in the future.

Its world-class researchers conduct trials on e-health solutions in Queensland and undertake R&D into critical health conditions such as cancer and stroke, with the aim of building knowledge on how the next generation of information and communication technologies can improve the delivery of patient-centred health care.