Dr Luke Perry awarded multiple grants for the PUMA Pilot

Congratulations to Department of Critical Care Honorary Senior Research Fellow and RMH Anaesthetics Registrar Dr Luke Perry and his team, who were awarded a 2023 Vanguard Grant from the National Heart Foundation and a 2023 Project Grant from ANZCA.

The grants, totalling $140,000, will go towards The PUMA Pilot – a randomised controlled pilot and feasibility study led by an interdisciplinary team cardiac anaesthetists, surgeons, and intensive care specialists based at the Department of Critical Care of the University of Melbourne.

The PUMA Pilot will establish the foundations for a world-first, international, and definitive multicentre trial of pulmonary artery catheter avoidance in low risk cardiac surgery. This exciting study will answer a highly contentious and editorialised question: do patients undergoing low risk cardiac surgery really need a pulmonary artery catheter?

“While these monitoring devices can be used to make precise, targeted treatment decisions in the critical hours after open heart surgery, our preliminary studies suggest they may also overcomplicate care, lead to unnecessary treatments, and prolong the length of stay in the ICU after surgery” said Dr Perry.

“A major strength of the PUMA Pilot is our involvement of consumers from the ground up. Consumer co-design has ensured that the PUMA Pilot – which is all about highlighting an area of potentially low value care – is considered important and accepted by real patients.”

“Winning prestigious grants from the National Heart Foundation and ANZCA is a credit towards the quality of our team and the possible impact we can make with the PUMA Pilot.”

“As an early career researcher navigating the grant application process for the first time, I am incredibly grateful for the support I have received from senior mentors based at the Department of Critical Care.”

Congratulations to Luke and his colleagues on their success.

Dr Luke Perry explaining the PUMA Pilot Study