Eleanor Johnson, Research Midwife at Northern Health, was selected for a prestigious MACH Track fellowship. She is one of only eight innovators who have been given this honour, which will allow her to combine postgraduate research training and clinical work.

MACH Track is a structured, mentored and fully funded career development program created for exceptional research-minded health practitioners, pursuing post-registration clinical training or career development in any of the ten health services affiliated to MACH.

The program seeks to develop the future leaders of healthcare innovation by offering an opportunity to integrate pre-PhD, PhD and initial post-PhD research training with completion of vocational training of the highest standard.

This program will enable Eleanor to continue her research with Kate Chaouki, Clinical Midwife Consultant, focused on partnering with consumers and community stakeholders through co-design to optimise abortion care in Melbourne’s north. Eleanor also had a top 10 abstract at Northern Health Research Week 2023 for part of this research.

“I want to acknowledge and thank my colleagues, supervisors, the Northern Executive team and MACH for their guidance and support of this research. I feel very lucky and grateful to have been able to undertake the MACH Health Service Research (MacHSR) Fellowship last year and now be part of the 2024 MACH-Trak Cohort. It was exciting to meet the other MACH-Trak trainees that are from a range of different clinical backgrounds at our Orientation in November and learn more about their areas of interest,” she said.

Honorary Associate Professor Laura Bignell, the inaugural MACH-Track Co-Director for Midwifery, says she is delighted to welcome the first midwife to the program.

“I’m thrilled we have our first midwife joining the 2024 MACH-Track cohort, who has the opportunity to bring research breakthroughs to the clinical frontline.”

“It’s a testament to the reputation of the MACH program, which offers excellent support to health professionals looking to combine a clinical and research career. Eleanor is an exceptional midwife, who has already done great things in the MacHSR Program, and I wish her and all the cohort every success as they begin their impressive research projects.”

Earlier this year, in June 2023, Dr Sanjeevan Muruganandan, Respiratory Physician at Northern Health, was awarded the 2023 MacHSR fellowship for his work on malignant pleural effusion (MPE) – fluid around the lung caused by cancer.

“MPE care is a neglected area and there is a lot of variation in care. My vision is to transform MPE care by using innovative, digitally enabled models to move MPE care from hospital to home. The MacHSR Fellowship will enhance my knowledge, research and leadership skills,” he said.

For more information about opportunities for supported research training, please visit: https://machaustralia.org/future-leaders/mach-track/ and https://machaustralia.org/machsr/ or you can email Eleanor Johnson at eleanor.johnson@nh.org.au