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An AOSpine Centre was originally established in Brisbane in February 2001 as a group of fellowship-trained orthopaedic spinal surgeons actively teaching AOSpine principles. In mid-2002 the first Clinical Fellow was appointed to the group, as well as a full-time Research Co-ordinator and a Centre Administrator. In mid-2003 the Centre was reconstituted under the auspices of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), as the AOSpine Reference Centre, Brisbane, giving the group access to a wide range of research tools and expertise. The goals of the centre remain:
- To develop an international centre of training in spinal surgery adhering to the principles of AOSpine;
- To provide a centre for surgeon education and training within the Asia-Pacific Region;
- To further develop the spinal research endeavours of the Brisbane spinal surgical group, particularly in the study of clinical outcomes and basic science.
Affiliation with QUT has enabled the AOSpine Centre to become part of the University's new Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) and the Centre makes a leading contribution to IHBI's Medical Device Domain.
The Queensland Government Smart State Facilities Fund awarded $5,000,000 to Queensland University of Technology in June 2004 to establish the Medical Engineering Research Facility (MERF) at The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside. This facility will house extensive cadaver and animal laboratories enabling improved capacity for basic science research and surgeon training.
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