Donor support driving innovative research forward

Your support is driving innovative research forward What if an Apple Watch could help doctors better predict which chronic kidney disease patients are at risk of a heart attack, stroke or serious blood clot?  

That’s exactly what Associate Professor Hui Yin Lim and her team are exploring through the ICONIC project – made possible with support from the 2026 Northern Health Foundation Research Grant.  

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, each year a $50,000 grant is awarded to a high-impact research project with the potential to improve patient outcomes at Northern Health and beyond.  

This year’s grant was awarded to Associate Professor Lim for the ICONIC project – the Integrated Cohort Study Evaluating Novel Coagulation Assays and Digital Technology in Chronic Kidney Disease.  

A haematologist specialising in thrombosis and blood clotting, Associate Professor Lim is working to improve how doctors predict which people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at risk of serious complications.  

The ICONIC study will test the team’s earlier findings in a much larger group of CKD patients from across Northern Health. Alongside regular blood tests, the study will introduce an innovative new element: wearable technology. Patients will use an Apple Watch to provide information about factors such as their heart rate, physical activity, sleep and other day-to-day physiological changes.  

Essentially, the research will bring together what is happening inside a patient’s blood with what is happening in their body and everyday life.  

By combining these two sources of information, Associate Professor Lim and her team hope to develop a much more personalised and accurate way of predicting each patient’s individual risk.  

The ICONIC project is a wonderful example of Northern Health’s commitment to innovative research with the potential to transform patient care. Thanks to your generosity, researchers like Associate Professor Lim have the funding and resources they need to test new ideas, build the evidence and take promising research to the next stage