Associate Professor Carmel Hawley
Name: Carmel Hawley
Research Group/Institute: Renal Research Group, Department of Nephrology, Princess Alexandra Hospital
Research Interest/Field: All areas of renal medicine including chronic kidney disease, dialysis and transplantation
What made you decide to work in this field? I was inspired by people I worked for as a young medical graduate.
What is the goal and significance of your research that you would like people to know? The goal of the particular grant we were funded for is to aim to try to improve outcomes for patients with kidney disease, particularly try to reduce the very high burden of cardiovascular disease which is the main cause of death and disability in this group.
If you were at a dinner party and someone asked you what you are researching, what would you say? I am researching ways to try reduce the risk of heart disease in patients with kidney impairment. We are currently searching for a tool to help guide fluid management in dialysis patients to achieve this goal.
How does or how has or how will funding from a Foundation help your research project? The funding from the research grant will allow us to carry out this study to determine the usefulness of a tool to guide fluid balance in this group. It will determine its usefulness. If it is useful it will be a useful tool. If the study is negative it will be helpful in limiting the inappropriate use of the test.
What is on your research wish list? To improve the outcome of patients with renal disease, particularly to improve the quality of life if those patients who remain for many years on dialysis.
What do you like to do when you're not at work? Working in both clinical and research endeavours is very time consuming. Like most people when not at work I am involved in family activities and responsibilities. I also like contemporary fiction, go walking and/or camping.
What would you be doing if you weren't a researcher? I would probably spend more time in clinical administration and medical statistics.
What are you most proud of? Three things: (1) Keeping a reasonably balanced life. (2) Being part of a unit that achieves good clinical outcomes and maintains a strong research focus. (3) Being involved in the training of excellent young clinician researchers who will be the future leaders.
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