Canberra Hospital's cancer centre is usually focused on treating people who have the disease. But a new clinic will be focused on make sure people don't need treatment in the first place.
In an Australian-first, the clinic will be screening people for genetic changes, which can lead to illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, and educating people on how they can manage their risk and, ultimately, prevent disease.
It is part of a five-year trial led by the Australian National University in collaboration with Canberra Health Services, led by clinical researcher and haematologist Mark Polizzotto.
"We're here in the cancer centre but a lot of our research is thinking about how we can keep people out of the cancer centre," he said.
"How we can prevent them developing cancer and prevent some of the other complications that come with age like heart disease and other major medical problems."
Professor Polizzotto said many of the problems associated with ageing occur due to genetic changes while people are alive, they are not inherited but rather they are changes that happen in stem cells during the course of a life.
The clinic is focused on helping people age well and it is hoped its findings could help reduce pressures on the health system. Professor Polizzotto said one of the main challenges for the system was the population was getting older and they need support to help them through this.
"Part of that is going to involve some creative and some lateral thinking, not just about building bigger hospitals to care for people but about preventing major health problems and supporting people to be well," he said.
"If we can address a fraction of the risk of heart disease and cancers that are big drivers of health problems and big drivers of healthcare utilisation that makes sense to those people individually because they're health and well but it also helps us take the pressure off the healthcare system that's really going to need to cope with an ageing population."
The clinic will initially be open to people who have been referred through haematology or cardiology who they think might have abnormal cells. As the clinic becomes more established, it is hoped general practitioners can start referring patients.
Professor Polizzotto said if people might be interested in the future, they could have an appointment with their general practitioner and ask for a check up. He said this would include a full blood count and if there are any abnormalities, the clinic would consider bringing them in.
There will be a trial later in the year where patients will trial medication in the hope it will promote the production of normal stem cells and not the mutated ones. For those visiting the clinic outside of the trial, advice and treatment would focus on lifestyle factors.
The clinic was highlighted in a report by Canberra Health Services into research conducted by the organisation last year. The report showed there were 619 active projects last year, including 122 new research projects, 163 active clinical trials and 18 new clinical trials.
Research projects including autoimmune disease, immunodeficiency, period pain, pharmacy, wound healing and haematology.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she was hopeful further research would help in attracting more health staff.
"We know health research is instrumental in improving patient outcomes, and the ability to undertake research also makes CHS a better place for clinicians to work," she said.
"By further developing its expertise in research, Canberra Health Services will attract even more skilled doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who can actively contribute to innovation and continuous learning."
