A Game-changer in Concussion Research
Sophie Quick, Editor
Just four years after leaving Ormond, Ella Swaney’s (2017) PhD research into blood markers in concussion has led to a significant discovery that could identify children at-risk of long-term head injuries.
Sunday 1 December 2024
I think that anything I’ve achieved to date is a sum of the opportunities that others have given me.
Ella Swaney (2017)
‘Well, this next story’s a big issue for parents with kids playing sport,’ said host Sally Sara on ABC Radio National one morning in April this year. The news? ‘A new discovery from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute could help parents identify if their child is more susceptible to long-term concussion symptoms.’Her guest that morning was PhD candidate Ella Swaney, an Ormond alumna, and part of the research team who’d identified that children with lower levels of a particular blood protein are likely to be at higher risk of a slow recovery.Not only had the team’s research been instrumental in the discovery, but Swaney – along with her supervisor Professor Vera Ignjatović – had patented the blood marker allowing them to predict which children are more susceptible to slow concussion recovery.In 2019, just five years before the paper outlining her research was published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, Swaney had been in her final year at College, with no notion of what the future held.‘I never had any intention to do a PhD, and didn’t have a good grasp on what it would entail,’ says Swaney. ‘It was only when I was working in the Diabetes Research team at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in 2019, during my last year at Ormond, that my boss suggested I do an honours year at the MCRI. I did my honours in blood markers of concussion, and then continued this work during my PhD. It certainly wasn’t something I sought out, but it was an incredible opportunity.’For those who know Swaney and her commitment to service – she’s a surf lifesaver and volunteered as an ambulance driver during the pandemic – her success in a field that contributes to the greater good makes a lot of sense. At Ormond, Swaney’s community spirit led her to take on a leadership role as Vice Chair on the Ormond College General Committee (GC).‘Being on the GC was more difficult than any job or position that I’ve held since,’ Swaney reflects. ‘It was a role that you balanced on top of university and work commitments. It had no set hours, and it required you to live with the people that you worked with and for.’Now having moved away from Melbourne, Swaney looks back fondly on the times she spent in Ormond.‘One of my closest friends and I shared a study in my final year on level one of Main Building. Everyone would always drop by the study to chat, have a movie night or get ready for events … It’s so special to have those memories of everyone spending time together in the study.’To Swaney, it’s the people she’s met – the things she’s been lucky enough to experience – that have deepened her desire to give back.‘There have been so many people who have gone out of their way to support me. I think anything I’ve achieved to date is a sum of the opportunities that others have given me,’ says Swaney. ‘The foundations of a strong community are people going out of their way to do things for others without expecting anything back, and I saw that volunteering in the ambulance service in 2021.’‘Having a sense of service is so important in medical research because so much of the work that’s done isn’t glamorous. It can be repetitive and requires a lot of attention to detail, but if ultimately it contributes to answering a research question, then it can hopefully lead to improved health outcomes for others.’ First Published in New & Old Magazine | Issue No. 104 December 2024
