Dear Friend of Jean Hailes

2005 is proving to be a year of diversity and growth for The Jean Hailes Foundation.

Here at Jean Hailes we are at the forefront of medical research into women's health. So it is with great pleasure we welcome endocrinologist Dr Helena Teede to lead our research team of talented scientists and health professionals.

With Helena's appointment there will be the opportunity to diversify and attract skilled researchers and support junior researchers and research students. Already we have a number of PhD students enrolled under Dr Teede’s supervision with backgrounds in endocrinology, dietetics, psychology and complementary therapies.

Collaboration between research, education and medical care will remain vital with a new focus on GP involvement in research and education.

Helena Teede has been actively involved in all three arms of the Foundation for a number of years. She has conducted various ongoing research projects, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, diabetes, prevention of heart disease, prevention of osteoporosis, hormone therapy and complementary therapies for the treatment of menopause symptoms. She has worked with women in the medical centre and she has actively been involved in designing and delivering education programs in metropolitan and rural areas across Australia.

She is passionate about her research and clinical work, and is equally passionate about ensuring that research results are translated into medical practice and education for women and health professionals.

The next phase of research, education and medical care at Jean Hailes will be richer with Helena at the helm of research. In particular, her ability to explore all options, think outside the square to come up with innovative solutions, and her inclusive approach together with her sheer energy are professional and personality traits that will take The Jean Hailes Foundation into the future.

Dr Teede holds several distinguished positions, including Director of Diabetes (as a clinical endocrinologist) at Southern Health. She is also an undergraduate lecturer in medicine at Monash University and an accredited supervisor and examiner in advanced training for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Her new role will see her combine the strengths of Southern Health and The Jean Hailes Foundation to broaden and strengthen research into women’s health issues.

Dr Teede follows on from Professor Susan Davis in an expanded collaborative research role. Professor Davis, together with her research team, has relocated the Centre of Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) to the Alfred Hospital Campus of Monash University. Susan Davis has made an invaluable contribution to the establishment and development of the Jean Hailes Research Unit and we wish her and her team well in their new location.

New directions at Jean Hailes will work to meet the current challenges of our ageing population. With midlife being the springboard for the later stage of life we remain committed to encouraging and supporting multidisciplinary research in women’s health, translating this into best practice in caring for women and ensuring that health information is constantly updated and accessible for all Australian women.

Janet Michelmore AO 
Director, The Jean Hailes Foundation.

Growth and diversity in research at The Jean Hailes Foundation:

what it will mean for women across Australia

Dr Helena Teede

The Jean Hailes Foundation is entering an exciting new era of clinical and health services research led by new director, Dr Helena Teede.

Given Australia’s high life expectancy and a worldwide trend towards ageing populations, women can now expect to live half their adult life postmenopause. Many of the health issues affecting women at midlife and beyond can be prevented, reduced or postponed through preventative health education and information, particularly through nutrition and lifestyle modifications, and through early detection and intervention.

The Jean Hailes Foundation is committed to preventing ill health in women and supporting both women and their health professionals in taking an active role in their own health and wellbeing as they age.

The Jean Hailes Research Unit will:

• diversify its research interests

• expand collaborative research

• conduct clinically significant research that will tackle the gaps that currently exist in research literature

Primary areas of research interest

Research undertaken at The Jean Hailes Foundation is driven by women’s own medical needs and the prominent gaps that currently exist in both national and international research literature. The Research Unit will be working to find direct answers to the clinical questions/issues raised by women across Australia.

Current gaps to be researched at Jean Hailes:

Options for dealing with hormonal changes in midlife women

• The effects of herbs on menopausal symptoms

• Yoga: physical and psychological benefits in midlife women

• How to create sustainable lifestyle programs

Hormones and the cardiovascular system

• Polycystic ovarian syndrome

• Diabetes in pregnancy

• Metabolic syndrome

• Type 2 diabetes Sex steroid effects and the cardiovascular system

• Androgens

• Oestrogens and progestins

• Phytoestrogens and the cardiovascular system

• Mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and identifying early therapeutic targets

Healthy ageing and health services research: women & health professionals

Research at Jean Hailes will focus on a dual approach in health services research and healthy ageing.

Healthy ageing will take on a community approach: for example ‘how to do the things we know we should be doing’ to prevent ill health, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease and obesity, as well as looking after our emotional wellbeing.

Health services research will take on a health professional and health care systems approach: for example ‘how to provide better and more efficient services’ and ‘ how to improve the care and management of medical conditions’.

This dual approach (educating and informing women alongside their health professionals) will allow us to find ways to make cultural and behavioural changes in health care in order to achieve health outcomes based on what we know through research and implementation.

Educational research will help us bridge what we learn from important advances in the prevention of disease so that we effectively communicate these findings to the community and into clinical practice. A key way of doing this is through our national profile, using our interface with women across Australia, through various communities, health professionals and the media to address women’s health issues head on.

We believe that keeping in touch with women, their families and their health practitioners is essential if we are to be successful in improving the health and wellbeing of women.

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Note: This article is an archive. Whilst the Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health has made every effort to ensure this information was accurate at the time of publication, the article content has not been updated since the date listed below.

Content created May 30, 2005