The Ramaciotti Regional and Remote Health Sciences Training Centre

Background:

In regional and remote areas of Australia, hurdles to education can be exacerbated by distance and extreme social disadvantage. Approximately 50% of Northern Territory youth do not complete high school. Low high school completion rates result in reduced biomedical training and employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth who live in regional and remote communities in northern Australia.

One of the main barriers to a local biomedical workforce in northern Australia is a lack of supported pathways into employment for youth. This gap is addressed by the Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre. The Centre focuses on delivering high-quality training in order to develop a local biomedical workforce for rural and remote northern Australia. Students benefit from training in the latest technology, industry partnerships, dedicated trainers, mentoring programs, internships across institutions, and access to Menzies School of Health Research teams and networks.

Our governance structure includes the Management Team, Steering Group and a Youth Advisory Group. Non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander representatives will be included as members of these groups; however, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives will be sought for the majority of positions. Youth advisors will be included as key members in the Management Team and Steering Group. This governance structure will enable the Centre to grow and connect youth from across the Northern Territory to previously unimagined pathways into the biomedical and health sciences workforce.

Overview:

The Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre enables regional and remote youth to overcome barriers to the biomedical and health workforce by providing multiple entry points for training in health sciences. Youth can enter the program via:

• High school engagement pathways
• Certificate level training
• Undergraduate training
• Postgraduate training and research

The Centre leverages existing partnerships with communities, schools, training organisations and employers in order to deliver high-quality training in biomedical and health sciences. The Centre also builds on existing programs in remote community schools.

Our program is co-led by highly experienced researchers who are committed to creating opportunities for young people entering the biomedical and health sciences workforce. A dedicated project manager and student placement coordinator facilitates student placements, ensures students receive recognition for the skills they acquire, and works with the team and other Menzies personnel to ensure that students receive academic support, pastoral care and mentoring.

Students can undertake a range of educational and workplace training experiences, including laboratory techniques, data analysis, computer literacy, literature reviews, coding and bioinformatics, health promotion and allied health. Laboratory-based training includes microbiology, immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, parasitology, genomics, metagenomics, microbiomics and transcriptomics. Students also undertake training in Good Clinical Laboratory Practice and clinical trials.

For students completing laboratory-based placements, the Centre employs a dedicated laboratory supervisor who is responsible for training students. The laboratory supervisor is committed to supporting remote and regional students in the successful completion of placements to meet defined competencies.

Banner image: Undergraduate peer trainers with the Administrator of the Northern Territory, Her Honour Vicki O’Halloran AO. From left to right, Raelene Collins, Erin Gargan, Vicki O’Halloran AO and Kelly McCrory

Training opportunities:

The Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre offers laboratory and non-laboratory training to the following groups:

• Work experience students: students 16 years and over seeking to undertake work experience in the field of health sciences
• Traineeships: school-leavers seeking pathways prior to, or instead of, tertiary study
• Cadetships: students currently enrolled in undergraduate study

School work experience program 

• Week 1: 26th-30th September 2022
• Week 2: 3rd-7th October 2022

Training Enquiries

For all enquiries about work experience, traineeships and cadetships, please complete the training enquiry form. For any other enquiries, please email or call us on (08) 8946 8635.
 

Partners and collaborators:

• Biyamarr ma
• HealthLAB
• Northern Territory School of Distance Education

Funders and donors:

• Perpetual, as Trustee of the Ramaciotti Foundations

We would like to thank all who donated to the Bridging the Gap Foundation fundraiser which is now supporting three trainees, and a film being created by one of our trainees about staying healthy in the blackfella and whitefulla way.

The Centre’s waiting list is long so please donate to support a trainee. Please email or call us on (08) 8946 8635 to make a donation.

Centre co-leads: 

• Associate Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan, Menzies School of Health Research
• Dr Robyn Marsh, Menzies School of Health Research
• Dr Kalinda Griffiths, Menzies School of Health Research and the Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW
• Mark Mayo, Menzies School of Health Research

Project manager and vocational placement coordinator:

• Michael Johnston

Laboratory supervisor: 

• Karla Cardenas Gomez

Centre administrator:

• Dr Sophie Bowman-Derrick

1. 

   ABC News | Men's health

   Date

   October 23, 2021 - 19:00pm

   Menzies Indigenous project assistant, Jahdai Vigona talks about why it is important for more young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men to enter the health workforce.

2. 

   Training centre to boost biomedical workforce

   Date

   February 16, 2021 - 11:56am

   The new Ramaciotti Regional and Remote Health Sciences Training Centre will provide a pathway in the health sector for young NT residents.

3. 

   Media Release | Opportunities for the next generation of local scientists

   Date

   February 09, 2021 - 13:39pm

   A new training centre aimed at developing a sustainable, local biomedical and health sciences workforce has been launched at Menzies School of Health Research.

4. 

   NT News | $300k raised to assist in bridging gap

   Date

   November 07, 2020 - 08:00am

   SMALL acts of charity and an AFL legend from the Territory have played a crucial role in raising $300,000 for five new traineeships at a cutting-edge research centre in Darwin.

5. 

   This 'Time Machine' is showing what the future holds - for your face

   Date

   November 02, 2020 - 16:00pm

   NITV - Ever wondered how you'll look at 60? What if you're a smoker? This new app will show you the difference.

6. 

   CDU Origins Edition 1 2020 | Award secures future of NT biomedical services

   Date

   April 01, 2020 - 10:00am

   Associate Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan and her Menzies team are using the 2019 biennial Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award to establish a sustainable centre for excellence focussing on biomedical career entry and progression for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

7. 

   Ramaciotti awards

   Date

   December 09, 2019 - 10:36am

   Menzies' researchers are developing a new centre to develop the biomedical workforce in the Northern Territory. Associate Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan, Dr Robyn Marsh, Dr Kalinda Griffiths and Mark Mayo have received the biennial $1 million...

8. 

   2019 Ramaciotti AWARD WINNER

   Date

   November 25, 2019 - 09:15am

   View a short film of the 2019 Ramaciotti BioMedical Research Award recipients.

9. 

   Ramaciotti Biomedical Award worth $1 million granted to Northern Territory research team

   Date

   November 07, 2019 - 01:00am

   The biennial Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award, worth $1 million, has been granted to a biomedical research team at the Menzies School of Health Research, based in Darwin.

10. 

    Ramaciotti Foundations recognise strides in Australian-based research

    Date

    October 31, 2019 - 00:15am

    Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan and her team at Menzies have been awarded the biennial Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award, worth $1 million.

For more information about the Centre, please email or call us on (08) 8946 8635.

1. 

   Brandon Turner

   Brandon is a Larrakia man with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biomedical Science at Charles Darwin University. He is currently undertaking his Doctorate of Medicine with Flinders University while working part-time in the Menzies laboratory.

2. 

   Callum Rowe

   Callum has been a member of, and chaired the Menzies-Ramaciotti Youth Advisory Group, and involved in supporting research projects looking at youth Type 2 Diabetes.

3. 

   Helena Warria

   Helena is a laboratory training scholarship recipient at the Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre currently undertaking a Certificate III in Laboratory Skills and Undergraduate Certificate in Biomedical Science.

4. 

   Henrique Thomas

   Henrique is a proud Indigenous Australian of the Yuin nation and Badu Islands who has been born and raised in Darwin.

5. 

   Jayde Hopkins

   Jayde Hopkins is a proud Gurindji and Woolwonga woman from Darwin. She is currently completing her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at La Trobe University.

6. 

   Mia Hardcastle

   Mia is a recipient of the HOT NORTH Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre Vocational Placement and is studying a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Tasmania.

7. 

   Nyasha Majoni

   Nyasha has undertaken vocational training in laboratory sciences at Menzies School of Health Research facility. He is currently working on a project under the supervision of Dr Robyn Marsh in Chronic Suppurative otitis media (Chronic ear infection).

8. 

   Porsche Cahill

   Porsche was born in Adelaide and moved to the Northern Territory when she was 6 months old.

9. 

   Royce Ramsamy

   Royce was born in Cairns, QLD and moved to Darwin in 2010. He completed school in 2021.

10. 

    Shenea Tipungwuti-Edwards

    Shenea is a proud Tiwi and Burarra woman who grew up on Kunwinjku country in a community called Gunbalanya.