Posted: 13 October 2025
A new national data asset initiative, Connect-TBI, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, is set to transform care for Australians experiencing moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI). The initiative brings together more than 60 leading clinicians, researchers and health system partners from across Australia and internationally, coordinated through Monash University.
Chief Investigator Professor Belinda Gabbe, Head of Pre-hospital, Emergency and Trauma Research at Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said the programme would create Australia’s first nationally representative data asset dedicated to msTBI.
“Connect-TBI will harness existing infrastructure and emerging digital health capabilities to establish a sustainable data foundation for msTBI care and research in Australia,” Professor Gabbe said. “This national asset will not only improve outcomes for patients, but will reduce research waste, inform policy and resource allocation, and enable real-time quality improvement.”
Building on foundational projects including PRECISION-TBI, PREDICT-TBI and AUS-TBI, the consortium will integrate clinical, biomarker, imaging and psychosocial data through the Clinical-Biomarker-Imaging-Modifier (CBI-M) framework. Three complementary workstreams – Clinical Innovation, Informatics and Research – will advance the Medical Research Future Fund’s Traumatic Brain Injury Mission by improving treatment, rehabilitation and community reintegration.
The Clinical Innovation stream will define national quality indicators for msTBI care, develop localised neuroprognostication tools and implement benchmarking dashboards for hospitals. The Informatics stream, developed in collaboration with the Monash eResearch Centre and Helix platform, will deliver a secure, interoperable data asset aligned with national digital health standards. The Research stream will support embedded clinical and discovery research and adaptive platform trials to enable personalised, evidence-based care.
People with lived experience of msTBI, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives, will play a central role through dedicated advisory groups guiding governance, privacy and outcome measures to ensure the platform reflects community values and health equity principles.
Connect-TBI is supported by significant in-kind contributions from national peak bodies and partner institutions, aligning closely with federal and state health data priorities. The initiative aims to connect 15 trauma and rehabilitation sites nationwide by the end of the funding period, enhancing care for an estimated 11,000 Australians each year who experience msTBI.
Project partners:
Curtin University; Flinders University; Alfred Health; Queensland University of Technology; University of Sydney; University of Newcastle; Deakin University; Royal Perth Hospital; The University of Adelaide; The University of Queensland; University of Western Australia; Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; University of Cambridge (UK); Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; University of Melbourne; Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick; University of Wollongong; National Imaging Facility; Menzies School of Public Health; The George Institute for Global Health; Melbourne Health; John Hunter Hospital; Liverpool Hospital; Central Adelaide Local Health Network; Wellington Hospital; Griffith University; Hunter New England Local Health District; Gold Coast University Hospital; St George Hospital; Flinders Medical Centre; Auckland City Hospital; Brightwater Care Group; Brain Injury Australia; Australian and New Zealand Trauma Society; Australian and New Zealand Trauma Registry; Connectivity TBI Australia; Transport Accident Commission; Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society; and Synapse Australia.
Find out more here.
