A partnership between the Dietetics and Surgical divisions at Logan Hospital has sparked a Metro South Health-wide clinical trial for adults with obesity undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.
What began as an LBHS Allied Health Research and Quality Improvement (AH R&QI) Initiative exploring whether a preoperative very low-calorie diet (VLCD) clinic was safe for colorectal cancer patients has grown into a larger project, after the team secured a Metro South Health Research Support Scheme Fellowship Grant late last year.
Senior Gastroenterology Dietitian and Research Officer Rainbow Lai said the team’s early work was recognised when the Logan dietitians presented their safer surgery model at the 2025 Queensland Health Research Excellence Showcase.
“Building on this success, the team secured funding through the 2026 Metro South Health Research Support Scheme, with a Fellowship Grant,” Rainbow said.
“Dr Sally Griffin, a Logan Hospital Senior Dietitian and Principal Investigator for the project, will oversee the Metro South Health-wide trial, while I lead the project on the ground.”
Rainbow said the collaboration between dietetics and surgery was a unique one and credited it and the AH R&QI Initiative for making the project possible by giving allied health staff dedicated time and support to carry out research alongside their clinical roles.
“The initiative gave us the space to evaluate the clinic and the opportunity to publish a world-first study” she said.
Deputy Director of General Surgery and Colorectal Surgeon at Logan Hospital, Dr Ian Bloomfield, will also remain part of the team as a co-investigator and will support successful recruitment of patients at Logan.
“It is great to see what started off as a collaboration at Logan now turning into a MSH-wide trial with other surgeons across QEII and PAH as a co-investigators of the trial.” Dr Bloomfield said.
“It has been really rewarding as a clinician to work alongside allied health to improve patient outcomes throughout the service.”
The new project, PRIME (Preoperative Intervention and Management for Excess weight), will expand the research into a MSH-wide clinical trial.
PRIME will test and evaluate a fully remotely delivered Dietitian-led VLCD Clinic adapted from the successful model at Logan Hospital, as a preoperative weight loss intervention for patients with excess weight for colorectal cancer surgery.
Rainbow said the project showed how the AH R&QI Initiative could help turn small collaborative research projects into larger, funded studies with the potential to improve patient care across the health service.