BloodCare Centre of Research Excellence
Advancing Australian research and infrastructure to improve supportive care and outcomes in blood cancers
Our focus
The BloodCare Centre of Research Excellence is an NHMRC-funded program established in 2026, to coordinate Australian supportive care research focussed on blood cancers.
Transfusion Support
Blood cancer patients are among the highest users of blood products, receiving approximately one-third of all red blood cell transfusions and 60% of all platelet transfusions in Australia.
Infection Prevention
Sepsis is a major threat to blood cancer patients, affecting 10% to 25% of individuals undergoing treatment. It is the leading cause of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for this patient group, carrying a staggering short-term mortality rate of 30% and accounting for 15% of all cancer-related healthcare costs.
Nutrition and Microbiome
Providing adequate nutrition support is incredibly challenging for blood cancer patients, especially those undergoing intensive therapies. Treatment-related toxicities—such as severe mucositis (painful mouth ulcers), constant nausea, and impaired oral intake—frequently prevent patients from eating normally.
Symptom Control and Psychological Support
Patients diagnosed with aggressive blood cancers, such as acute leukaemia, face an immense physical and psychological burden. The severe distress and debilitating symptoms experienced during intensive induction therapies can directly impact a patient’s ability to complete their treatment—sometimes leading to early cessation of therapy, which contributes to inferior survival outcomes and a vastly reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL).
About the Centre of Research Excellence
BloodCare CRE is supported by the invaluable contributions and expertise of our investigator team, consumer partners, working groups, stakeholder advisory committee, and individual health professionals and researchers across Australia.
Our key partners include Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group, Cancer Symptom Trials, Leukaemia Foundation, Lymphoma and Myeloma Australia
Our team
Professor Zoe McQuilten
Principal Investigator, Monash University
Professor Erica Wood AO
Chief Investigator, Monash University
Professor Claire Rickard
Chief Investigator, University of Queensland
Professor Meera Agar
Chief Investigator, University of Technology Sydney
Professor Eliza Hawkes
Chief Investigator, Monash University
Dr Andrea Henden
Chief Investigator, University of Queensland
Professor Jason Roberts
Chief Investigator, University of Queensland
Professor Dennis Petrie
Chief Investigator, Monash University
