Our Research
The BloodCare Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) is an NHMRC-funded program established in 2026, to coordinate Australian supportive care research focussed on blood cancers. The BloodCare CRE aims to develop research capacity and infrastructure to drive better supportive care for patients and their families living with blood cancer. The program will work towards achieving better patient outcomes, embedding research, building capacity and informing health policy and practice. At initial launch, the CRE will focus on four initial key pillars: transfusion support, infection prevention, nutrition & microbiome, and symptom control & psychological support. The CRE may extend to other domains of supportive care in the future, subject to funding.
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. This comes at a major financial cost to the healthcare system and carries potential risks for patients.
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.
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).