Dr Brent McMonagle and a World-First Spinal Cord Injury Trial
A world-first clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury is underway on the Gold Coast, using specialised nasal cells to help repair damaged nerves. Dr Brent McMonagle’s surgical expertise and PhD research have helped bring this science from lab work to clinical reality, with patients generously contributing nasal cells for research over many years.
Hope on the Horizon: A Conversation with Dr. Brent McMonagle
Dr Brent McMonagle is Scientific Committee Director of the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation and a Principal Investigator on Griffith University’s spinal cord injury clinical trial. In this interview, he explains how his patients have played a key role in the research by donating nasal tissue to help advance the work, how olfactory cells are being used in the trial, what outcomes the team is measuring beyond safety, and how community and philanthropic support is turning promising science into real progress.
A New Hearing Implant Service on the Gold Coast
For years, many Gold Coast patients needing cochlear implant care have had to look beyond the region for parts of their treatment journey. That’s changing. Gold Coast Health has introduced a hearing implant service at Gold Coast University Hospital, designed to bring more of that pathway closer to home, with coordinated support before and after surgery. Dr Brent McMonagle performs hearing implant surgeries at GCUH and works alongside a specialist audiology team, including the structured programming and follow-up that matters most in the first year after implantation.
Source: Gold Coast Health, “Hearing services closer to home for Gold Coast residents”.
New 60/60 rule a revelation in cochlear implant surgery
In Australia, cochlear implants are widely accepted for children who need them, yet adults are still being left behind. Around 90% of eligible babies receive implants, but only about 11% of eligible adults do.
That gap is not a technology problem. It’s an access and awareness problem. In this piece, Queensland ENT surgeon Dr Brent McMonagle explains why referrals are the sticking point, why “too early” is rarely a reason not to refer, and how the simple 60/60 guideline can help more adults reach a proper cochlear implant candidacy evaluation, instead of spending years struggling on with hearing aids that no longer do the job.