An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney and aged care provider HammondCare has been awarded $3 million by the NHMRC’s Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) to create and lead a CRE in infection prevention in aged care.
“We have been studying aged care outbreaks long before the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus the vulnerability of aged care settings to infectious diseases and the need for robust infection prevention frameworks,” said Professor Raina MacIntyre, Head of the Kirby Institute’s Biosecurity Program.
“Aged care facilities face outbreaks with influenza, RSV, COVID-19, whooping cough and gastroenteritis. Residents are highly vulnerable, with many living with dementia. We have developed non-invasive methods for detecting viruses in the air and sparing residents the distress of invasive testing,” said Prof MacIntyre. “This centre builds on our collaborations across medicine, engineering and HammondCare, and will enable us to address the most pressing needs in outbreak prevention.”
The Prevention of Epidemics in Aged Care with Carers, Consumers and Community (PEACCCC) will focus on the prevention of respiratory and gastroenteritis epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, development of AI decision-support tools for early detection and mitigation, and translation of the Centre’s research into practical interventions in aged care.
The PEACCC will form an interdisciplinary group of medical, engineering, vaccinology and aged care researchers who will collaborate across universities and aged care facilities. This team brings a strong track record of research covering aged care infectious diseases in Australia, First Nations health, aerosol science and AI. The project will be delivered in collaboration with major aged care provider HammondCare, who has been a partner on past projects related to influenza vaccination policies at aged care facilities.
"One of the greatest challenges in aged care is turning evidence into solutions that work in real-world settings,” said Professor Christopher Poulos, Director of the Positive Ageing Research Program for Hammond Innovations, at HammondCare. “This Centre creates an opportunity to test and implement practical approaches that can help providers protect residents, support staff and respond more effectively when infection risks emerge. Importantly, we need to find solutions that minimise the impact on residents, families and staff,” said Prof Poulos.
Beginning in November this year, a series of studies will be conducted over five years. The research conducted within PEACCC will inform the development of AI decision support tools and a mobile app to assist aged care providers with implementing infection prevention and mitigation measures in their facilities. For example, data from biosensors in aged care can feed into a risk analysis tool that can suggest the best mitigations for outbreak prevention.
“Airborne infection risk is largely invisible, but through novel experiments and advanced flow modelling, we can make it measurable and actionable,” said Dr Charitha de Silva of UNSW’s School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, who will lead the Centre’s engineering work. “Working with Professor Con Doolan and Professor Flora Salim, our UNSW Engineering team will combine expertise in aerosol science, indoor airflow, biosensing and AI.”
"We will analyse patterns across real-time air-quality, biosensing and outbreak data to identify emerging risks, while the decision-support tools and mobile app will translate those signals into early warnings and practical, facility-specific actions," said Dr de Silva. "This will help aged care providers act earlier, improve indoor air safety and protect residents and staff with minimal disruption.”
“What aged care facilities need and what our research will focus on is infection prevention and mitigation measures such as vaccines and safe indoor air that are equitable and applicable across the aged care spectrum,” said Prof MacIntyre.