AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR USES AI TO SAVE LIVES, CONNECTING CRITICAL COVID-19 PATIENT DATA FROM ACROSS THE WORLD

10 February 2022 – DUBAI, UAE

Professor Fraser shares insights on his Critical Care Consortium with experts at Expo 2020 Dubai World Majlis event.

At the recently concluded Expo 2020 Dubai conference, ‘World Majlis: At the speed of life: faster and safer medical innovations,’ noted global healthcare experts provided insights on how intelligent data capture, analysis and sharing by interconnected hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world has helped save millions of lives.

Professor John Fraser, Founder/ Director, Critical Care Research Group, Prince Charles Hospital and The University of Queensland, was invited to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai by the Australian Pavilion where he joined expert discussions and share the insights he and his team of researchers had acquired, working with hospitals, physicians and patients from across the world since the start of the pandemic.

The global tally of COVID-19 cases is over 350 million with almost 6 million confirmed deaths, but this number could have been higher without the work undertaken by ‘COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium,’ which connects 380 hospitals from 54 countries, including top hospitals in the UAE and GCC. Its data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) processed analytics helps hospitals cope with patient care in real time and could be the second most important tool in the fight against the pandemic after vaccines, as per experts.

With 40 million data points and statistics, the consortium has created a dashboard with the world’s most in-depth database of critically-ill COVID-19 patients. The Journal of the American Medical Association has noted the ‘quantum change’ the consortium has made to patient care and how it warns countries about outbreaks and preparedness of their ICUs.

The panel sought to answer questions including, ‘What have been some of the most disruptive medical innovations of recent times?’ and ‘What is driving the accelerated pace of medical innovations?’ They agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged healthcare systems around the world and pushed the industry to accelerate innovation. Researchers have stunned the world by reducing a 10 to 15-year vaccine development timeframe to just over a year. Medical breakthroughs have given rise to hope, but the industry needs to find new solutions in disease prevention.

Professor John Fraser of the University of Queensland said: “The power of data has been realised with our response to the pandemic as patient data sharing among 54 countries helped improve outcomes for intensive care patients and saved lives. We now know that a 5 per cent improvement in timely data quality can help reduce mortality by 20 per cent in ICUs and help save countless lives. It also created a global family of specialists who could learn from their experiences, at the forefront of the fight.”

The COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium (COVID Critical) aims to equip intensive care clinicians with the best and most up-to-date information and help save lives of COVID-19 patients. It has generated new knowledge about COVID-19 including identification of higher risk patients (obesity, diabetes, comorbidities); determining when to change treatment modalities; better understanding of Long COVID; and providing real‐world clinical and ethical guidelines for healthcare systems under duress. It is the largest data repository of ICU COVID-19 patients in the world with over 20,000 enrolled patients to-date and has published 10 papers with a further 3 under review and 12 in development.

“What we have learnt from the massive amount of data collected will help countries fight future pandemics. During a pandemic, we can’t travel but our data can, and will be shared with clinicians anywhere immediately as we work with a shared ambition to understand disease to provide improved quality of care and life. Millions of data points from patients across the world can help frontliners understand the best way to treat critically-ill patients,” concluded Professor Fraser.

Other panellists at the ‘World Majlis: At the speed of life: faster and safer medical innovations,’ at Expo 2020 Dubai, included: –

• Sergio Abrignani, MD, PhD, Immunologist, University of Milan.
• Prof. Dr Raghib Ali, Director of Public Health Research Centre, NYU Abu Dhabi.
• Dr Yvonne Cagle, Physician, Professor, retired US Air Force Colonel, former NASA astronaut.
• Dr G. Anton Decker, President, Mayo Clinic International USA.
• Dr Mahender Nayak, Area Head ICMEA.
• Senior Vice President, Takeda; and Dr Walid Al Zaher, Chief Research Officer, G42 Healthcare UAE.

Australia’s leading and visionary approach to world-class healthcare has been showcased through a range of events, forums and workshops held at the Australian Pavilion and across Expo 2020 Dubai during Health and Wellness week.

As inventors of the cochlear implant, spray-on skin for burn treatments, the cervical cancer vaccine and cure for peptic ulcers, Australian health and medical research community is proud to have the opportunity to connect and collaborate during Expo 2020 Dubai to help produce tangible health outcomes to improve and save lives.

Experts from Australian Universities based both in Australia and in the UAE, such as the University of Wollongong in Dubai, have shared their knowledge with participants at Expo including an upcoming 3D bioprinting demonstration which is set to take place in the Mata Foyer on 11 Feb – you can find out more details about this demonstration on the Australian Pavilion website here https://www.australiaexpo2020.com/whats-on/3d-bio-printing-demonstration

For more information about Australian health innovations and activations at the Australian Pavilion please contact: PRteam@acornstrategy.com

THE AUSTRALIAN PAVILION AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

Situated in the heart of the Mobility District at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Australian Pavilion pays homage to a nation built on mobility. From our earliest histories to the modern day, the movement of people and ideas are embedded in our nation’s DNA. As one of the world’s most multicultural societies, Australia brings a powerful understanding of how the transfer of people, innovations, and culture work together to build economies and enrich lives. The Pavilion theme, Blue Sky Dreaming, encapsulates Australian optimism and creativity and celebrates Australian diversity and collaboration, envisaging a future of infinite possibilities founded on 60,000 years of innovation.

From under the gleaming canopy of its cumulus cloud-inspired roof, the Australian Pavilion visitor experience will tell Australia’s story, from ancient indigenous know-how to modern day discovery and invention. Visitors will be invited to share, see, and hear about our people, land, history, and innovation connecting communities locally and globally. The Pavilion provides a compelling experience of Australia through immersive storytelling, bold artistic art installations, and true Australian hospitality through Australian inspired-food and culturally diverse entertainment.

The Pavilion will also host a strategic program of events connecting Australian business and industry to global trade and investment opportunities, and demonstrating the best of Australian products, services, and expertise to other participating countries.

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