An inspiring line up of early and mid-career researchers and lived experience experts took centre stage this week for the annual Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum EMR-C (HiPPP EMR-C) conference.

A joint event with Early Promotion of Optimal Child Growth (EPOCH-Connect) this year, the two-day conference, Unified Frontiers in Parental and Early Childhood Health: Integrating Consumer and Community Involvement, in Melbourne shone the light on authentic engagement of lived experience as an integral pillar to effective and meaningful research, translation and outcomes.

Highlights of the conference included each day’s keynote address, from Ms Rebecca Hyde and Dr Charlie Benzie on day one, who shared experiences of their projects researching the experiences of parents with newborns in neonatal intensive care, and maternity care experiences of women with disabilities, respectively.

Ms Hyde spoke to the very impactful outcomes of working alongside parents with babies in NICU, who helped inform the language used to communicate to parents depending on their experience of NICU, such as bereaved parents, to reduce trauma and avoid distressing content.

Dr Benzie left the audience with the reflection that, “consumer involvement is not just a box to tick… it’s the foundation for research that truly matters… when we value lived experience alongside academic expertise, we make maternity care research stronger, more relevant and more impactful”.

Day two’s keynote was an eye-opener for some, as health consumer advocate-turned researcher Dr Bec Jenkinson, from the University of Queensland, detailed her transition from a teaching career to publishing research.

Dr Jenkinson’s touching anecdote of a federal politician offering to change her newborn son’s dirty nappy in the middle of an advisory meeting set the tone for just how those with lived experience should be accommodated to allow for their valuable contributions.

 Dr Jenkinson detailed a number of her research projects that the value of partnering with lived experience, stating that authentic engagement requires courage, reflexivity and a commitment to equity.

“Involving consumers in research is about valuing the expertise that comes with lived experience right alongside technical research expertise,” she said. “Together we can do things that neither of us could do separately.”

These strong themes of respectful and authentic lived experience and researcher collaboration shone throughout the entirety of the conference program, across all oral and rapid-fire presentations too.

Winners of this year’s HiPPP EMR-C and EPOCH-Connect Conference Awards are:

• Best oral presentation by a postgraduate student: Alex Candon
• Best oral presentation by early/mid-career researcher: Dimity Dutch
• Best rapid-fire presentation by a postgraduate student: Michelle Dever
• Best rapid-fire presentation by an early/mid-career researcher: Dr Emily Bowden
• People’s Choice Award for best oral presentation: Lesley Pascuzzi

Winners of the annual HiPPP EMR-C International Awards are:

• Best publication for a postgraduate student: Bereket Gebremichael
• Best publication for an early/mid-career researcher: Dr Emma Cassinelli
• Award for international collaboration: Dr Maryam Kebbe
• Award for outstanding impact outside academia: Dr Madeline Benton
• Award for outstanding partnership and engagement: Dr Sinead Currie

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

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