Professor Rob Pierce was the founding Director of the Institute for Breathing and Sleep (IBAS) here at Austin Health until he was tragically killed while defending his home in St Andrews during the Black Saturday bushfire in February 2009.
The Rob Pierce Grant in Aid was established by the Australasian Sleep Association in his memory and was first awarded in the year of the late professor’s untimely passing, to support an early career sleep researcher in their sleep research in Australia or New Zealand.
So imagine the delight when this year the 2021 Rob Pierce Grant in Aid was awarded locally to Dr Marnie Graco – a physiotherapist and implementation scientist from IBAS.
Marnie’s research into sleep apnoea in people with spinal cord injury was borne from research funded by a $5 million TAC grant Rob was awarded just weeks before his death.
“I commenced working at IBAS just months after Rob's death as the project manager for the TAC funded research to improve sleep health in quadriplegia ,” Marnie said.
Marnie completed her PhD at IBAS on Improving the management of sleep apnoea in spinal cord injury. Her PhD discovered that sleep apnoea is highly prevalent in people with spinal cord injury, yet few people were receiving adequate management.
“The Rob Pierce grant will support my research into alternative models of care for identifying and treating sleep apnoea in people with spinal cord injury – a group with poor access to diagnosis and treatment,” Marnie said.
“I’m piloting a novel rehabilitation-led approach to managing sleep apnoea in a spinal cord injury rehabilitation unit in Sydney.
“It is great to see the Rob Pierce Award return to its home on the 21st anniversary of IBAS. This work promises to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury, just as Rob hoped.”
Many thanks to the Austin Health Communications team for permission to republish this article, which meets their approval.
Posted 3 years ago
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a chronic lung condition that causes stiff lungs and restricts sufferers from taking a deep breath. Exercise in a gym, or swimming, walking or riding a bike, can help...
SHIFT WORK AND BREASTFEEDING PROJECT
Researchers at Austin Health are looking for volunteers to participate in a study exploring the impact shift work has on breast milk composition. Participants will be compensated with a $100 gift voucher.
HEALTHY MALES AND FEMALES WANTED FOR SLEEP STUDY
Interested to participate in a study investigating the effect of fatigue on driving performance?
Grants Success: The Institute for Breathing and Sleep (IBAS) has received two research grants from the Austin Medical Research Foundation (AMRF) for 2025. Congratulations to Dr Charissa Zaga and Dr Catherine Hill from IBAS.
Congratulations to Professor David Berlowitz, Dr Marnie Graco, and Dr Nicole Sheers who were recognised by Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Australia at a Parliament House event sponsored by the Parliamentary Friends of MND in Canberra last week.
WORLD SLEEP DAY ON 15TH MARCH 2024
The benefits of quality sleep and to acknowledge the issue of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects as well as the prevention and management of sleep disorders, is promoted on World Sleep Day on the 15th March 2024.
IBAS leads project to revolutionize Home Ventilation with $1.2 million grant for Assoc. Prof Mark Howard's research titled "Synchronise non-invasive ventilation at home".
© 2024 Institute for Breathing and Sleep. All Rights Reserved. ABN 39 093 685 879
Powered by Helmut Design | Manage
