Monash paediatric research on world stage

Associate Professor Simon Craig
presenting in Ghent

Monash University’s Associate Professor Simon Craig was invited to present his latest research at the PREM European Paediatric Resuscitation & Emergency Medicine Conference in Ghent, Belgium and the Pediatric American Societies (PAS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco last month.

A Monash Health paediatric emergency physician, Associate Professor Craig’s presentations in Belgium addressed the diagnostic approach to abdominal pain in preschool children, and the latest evidence-based therapies in acute viral lung disease.

“Together with Professor Tom Beattie, an emergency physician from University of Edinburgh, my presentation about abdominal pain focused on diagnosis and management of malrotation, intussusception and appendicitis,” Dr Craig said.

“The viral lung disease presentation, shared with Pierre Tissieres, an intensivist from Paris South University Hospital, focused on emergency department and intensive care management of bronchiolitis, with discussion of pharmacotherapy, and non-invasive ventilatory support.”

In San Francisco, Associate Professor Craig presented three posters relating to a global project on critical procedures in paediatric emergency medicine on behalf of the international Paediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN), and another poster on outcome measures in clinical trials of acute severe paediatric asthma on behalf on the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) Network. 

Associate Professor Craig is Coordinator of an international collaborative research group examining therapies for acute severe asthma in children on behalf of PERN.

“Our first face-to-face meeting was held in San Francisco, and we have commenced a number of projects examining outcome measures from both the patient, family and clinician perspective, bedside assessment of asthma severity, and variation in clinical practice,” he said.