Women are leading some of Queensland’s most impactful medical research, backed by community support and investment through The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation.
As the Foundation marks its 40th anniversary, data shows nearly half of research grants over the past five years have gone to female-led projects. Among the researchers driving change are Dr Faye Jordan, Helen Edwards, and Dr Lisa Franks, whose work spans emergency medicine, women’s health, and cardiac transplantation.
Women in medicine: leading impactful medical research
Staff Specialist, TPCH Emergency Department, Dr Faye Jordan is improving delirium detection and mental health crisis care through technology and predictive data modelling.
“As a clinician-researcher working in a busy emergency department, my work is focused on practical, real-world change – improving systems, strengthening care, and making a measurable difference for patients and families,” Dr Jordan said.
By integrating technology into streamlined, evidence-based pathways, Dr Jordan said she hoped clinicians would identify high-risk patients earlier and activate the right supports, whether medical investigation, mental health intervention or community follow-up.
Helen Edwards, Physiotherapy Pelvic Health Service, Caboolture Hospital, researches menopause in the workplace and said support from The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation was critical for female-led women’s health research.
“As a woman with lived-menopause experience working as a clinician researcher in women’s health, funding to undertake research to improve health outcomes of working women is invaluable,” she said.
According to Helen, chronic disease burden among Australian women is increasing, with dementia, back pain conditions, heart and lung disease, and anxiety being the leading contributors. She said her research into menopause provided opportunities to support working women and change this increasing burden.
“What I would like to see in Australian workplaces is a focus on prevention with support provided across the lifespan,” she said. “Incorporating menopause into workplace healthy ageing strategies for all staff may reduce associated stigma and potential prejudice against menopausal women.”
Helen said open conversations and informed supervisors could foster more supportive environments for women navigating this life stage.
Dr Lisa Franks, Physiotherapist, Allied Health, The Prince Charles Hospital, has been developing more precise ways to assess heart transplant candidates.
“The work we’re doing at TPCH is helping us understand when a patient is ready for transplant and how to optimise their physical function beforehand, which is crucial for improving their chances of recovery,” she said.
“By refining functional tests and targeted prehabilitation, even as patients’ conditions worsen, we can improve post-transplant recovery and help patients return to daily life sooner.”
She said the Foundation’s support had made this important research possible and that she was “optimistic” about the future.
“Female researchers, particularly in allied health, are increasingly involved in projects and taking on leadership roles, with more support structures that have been put in place over the past couple of decades,” she said.
Dr Jordan added that nearly half of the Foundation’s research funding going to female-led projects sends a clear message that their work is valued.
“When early-career clinicians and health professionals see women leading funded, impactful research, it normalises that pathway,” she said. “It becomes something they can imagine for themselves. For me, that’s the most powerful part – not just what it means for my work now, but what it signals for the future of healthcare research.”
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