Where maths meets medical research

As an Associate Professor with UQ’s Child Health Research Centre, Dr Kristen Gibbons is a senior epidemiologist working to solve problems affecting the health outcomes of kids around the world.

“My background is non-clinical, but I’ve found myself working in a very clinically oriented research field,” she explains.

“It was a happy accident many years ago. I’d finished my double degree in maths and IT and was doing my Honours, but I had no idea what I really wanted to do when I was offered a statistician job at the Mater Hospital.

“I was the Mater campus statistician for more than 10 years before I transitioned to UQ.

“The role of statistician is much more crucial than many people realise. We very much partner with the clinicians and help them design the research to maximise the use of the data that is collected, determine how many patients should be recruited, and then at the end we analyse the data.”

This year, Dr Gibbons stepped into a lead role as the chief investigator of one of the largest clinical trials to be conducted into paediatric sepsis, which received $1.3 million over five years from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

“Globally, a child dies from sepsis every 10 seconds and in Australia, a child dies every week,” Dr Gibbons explains.

“It’s crucial to diagnose and treat sepsis quickly, which is made more difficult because children can’t always communicate well about how and what they’re feeling.

“Our international research will look at a new intervention – a boost of vitamin C and steroids which can help the body recover and allow the antibiotics to do their work.

“These treatments can be easily accessed in low to middle income regions, so instead of coming up with a solution to a global problem that’s only suitable in Australia, we’re hoping to come up with a global solution.”

Associate Professor Kristen Gibbons

Dr Gibbons admits she’s humbled by the recognition that comes with a major clinical trial grant being awarded to a statistician and feels she’s incredibly fortunate that she is supported by a brilliant team of clinicians and researchers from around the country.

Apart from sepsis, Dr Gibbons is also involved in research that follows children who have undergone cardiac pulmonary bypass surgery as infants to determine how to best support them in the following years.

If juggling major projects and a family isn’t enough, this mother of two is also keen to tackle research in the area of personalised medicine for children in the future.

“At the moment, we investigate one intervention at a time and hope that it will work for everybody the same way. But particularly in paediatrics that’s not the case – where you can be treating a 10-day-old baby and a 17-year-old for the same condition.”

For someone who thought she’d end up working in either finance or insurance, this self-titled maths nerd is solving problems through leading medical research.

“I would never have thought that this is the impact I can have,” she says.

“When I walk through the children’s hospital, I can’t help but be amazed that I’m someone who is helping these kids in a small way and my work is having a direct impact on the lives of children here and around the world.

“It’s a dream job for someone who’s come from a maths background.”

This story is featured in the Summer 2022 edition of UQmedicine Magazine. View the latest edition here. Or to listen, watch, or read more stories from UQ’s Faculty of Medicine, visit our blog, MayneStream.