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Consolidated list of facilities funded under the Enabling Grant Scheme

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A National Population-based Genetic Epidemiology, Biospecimen and Bioinformatic Resource

Chief Investigator — Professor Lyle Palmer
Institute — The University of Western Australia

This proposal is to build a new national resource for medical research. The project will integrate human medical research resources (including DNA) in WA with the core WA Data Linkage System, with complementary initiatives in bioinformatics and biostatistics. The resulting unique facility will comprise one of the largest and best-characterised population-based enabling facilities for epidemiological and genetic epidemiological research in the world, and will considerably enhance the national research capacity.

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Australasian Biospecimen Network — Oncology

Chief Investigator — Ms Lisa Devereux
Institute — Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Victoria)

Availability of ethically consented, clinically annotated human cancer tissue is a key determinant of the international competitiveness of Australian biomedical researchers. This project will provide a structured national network to collect, process and disseminate tumour tissue; strategically target specific tumour types such as mesothelioma and rare paediatric tumours that can only be collected in substantial numbers through the formation of such a network and provide infrastructure that can be contracted by clinical and translational researchers. The project builds on a wealth of experience in tissue banking, large-scale molecular genetic and genomic studies in breast, ovarian, colorectal cancers and mesothelioma, and on an established consortium — the Australasian Biospecimen Network.

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Australasian Kidney Trials Network

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Carmel Hawley
Institute — University of Queensland

The Australasian Kidney Trials Network will facilitate well-conducted clinical research and foster collaboration between leading researchers in kidney disease. The Network’s focus will be to answer important questions about prevention and treatment of kidney disease to improve health and quality of life outcomes. The Network will be at the forefront of knowledge creation and address complex economic, technological and social needs relating to the patient care and the translation of research into clinical practice.

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Australian Centre for Vertebrate Mutation Detection (ACVMD)

Chief Investigator — Professor Douglas Hilton
Institute — The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Funding — $1600000 over 5 years

Over the last 20 years, generation and analysis of genetically modified animals has proven to be an important step in the transition from in vitro studies of gene function to in vivo studies and eventually clinical research. The remarkable parallels between the human, mouse and zebrafish genomes means that there are now many examples of mutations that cause or modify disease in humans, and which lead to similar phenotypes when present in mice and zebrafish. Until recently, the prime method of introducing mutations into specific genes of interest in the mouse (although still unavailable in the fish) was via homologous recombination, and the principal classes of mutations induced were large deletions or insertions. This type of mutation rarely occurs in humans. Rather, point mutations and single-nucleotide polymorphisms are the prevalent form of genetic variation. An alternative approach to the development of mouse models with the more relevant point mutations is TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes). The goal of this Enabling Grant is to make TILLING technology accessible to the Australian research community and in doing so promote movement of research from the in vitro setting into animal models of disease. 

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Australian Childhood Diabetes DNA Repository

Chief Investigator — Professor Grant Morahan
Institute — University of Western Australia

Childhood diabetes [both type 1- and young type 2-] is increasing alarmingly. Diabetes prevention will be a great benefit via both a healthier population and relief to the national health budget. To develop targeted preventive treatments we first need to identify genetic risk factors, requiring access to a large number of samples. We will establish a national Repository which will make DNA available to all qualified Australian researchers enhancing their ability to identify causes of diabetes.

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Australian Drosophila Biomedical Research Support Facility

Chief Investigator — Professor Robert Saint
Institute — Australian National University
Funding — $1000000 over 5 years

Breakthroughs in biomedical research frequently come from the study of model organisms, one of the most important of which is the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In Australia, Drosophila is used in biomedical research with a particular focus on understanding processes that result in human cancer or are associated with birth defects or inherited diseases. Drosophila-based research is funded by bodies such as the Anti-Cancer Foundation, the NHMRC and the National Institutes of Health of the USA. This proposal seeks to establish infrastructure support for Drosophila research in the form of a central collection of key research stocks, a centralized facility for the importation of genetically defined stocks and a facility for the generation of transgenic Drosophila for use in biomedical research. 

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Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry

Chief Investigator — Professor John Simes
Institute — University of Sydney

The Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (the ANZCTR) is an on-line registry of all types of clinical trials being undertaken in Australia and New Zealand. The support of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is enabling Australian researchers to take the lead worldwide in developing this comprehensive registry.
The ANZCTR will include information about:

  • clinical trials of pharmaceuticals, surgical procedures, preventive measures, lifestyle, devices, rehabilitation strategies and complementary therapies; and
  • all clinical trials involving Australian researchers and participants and covering all areas of health.

Web address: www.actr.org.au

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Australian Motor Neuron Disease DNA Bank

Chief Investigator — Dr Roger Pamphlett
Institute — University of Sydney

The Motor Neuron Disease (MND) affects many Australians, one Australian dies of MND every day. MND is likely to be due to a genetic susceptibility to an environmental agent such as a toxin or a virus. Recent advances in gene therapy have emphasised the urgent need to find the gene abnormalities in MND. We propose to set up an Australia-wide DNA Bank for MND to allow researchers to look for genetic abnormalities and environmental influences in this disease.

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Australian Mouse Brain Mapping Consortium

Chief Investigator — Professor David Reutens
Institute — Monash University           
Funding — $1840000 over 5 years

We propose to establish the Australian Mouse Brain Mapping Consortium which is a national network of facilities allowing Australian researchers to better characterise mouse models of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and stroke. Just as accurate maps were key to the voyages of geographic discovery in the 17th and 18th century, improved methods of mapping structural and functional changes in the brain of mouse models of neurological disease will be key to discovery in the neurosciences in the 21st century. For the Consortium the cartographic tools will be magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), microscopy and sophisticated computational methods of mapping brain structure and function. Participants in the Consortium are internationally recognised leaders in brain imaging based at Monash University, the Howard Florey Institute, the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and the Centre for Magnetic Resonance and the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland.

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Australian Ovarian Cancer Study: a multidisciplinary ovarian cancer resource for the genomic era

Chief Investigator — Professor David Bowtell
Institute — University of Melbourne

Ovarian cancer is relatively uncommon and is histologically very diverse, making it difficult to analyse ovarian cancer at a molecular level, to identify genetic risk factors, or to understand the interaction of genes and environment. Recognizing that a large collaborative study was the only way to achieve sufficient power to address major translational questions in ovarian cancer, the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study was established and is now the largest study of its kind in the world. This proposal aims to maintain and add value to this unique resource for ovarian cancer research.

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Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit: a collaborative network for child health research

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Elizabeth Elliott
Institute — University of Sydney

The proposed Facility will formalise a collaborative, national network of organisations to enable the conduct and dissemination of research on serious child health conditions. The Facility will provide a reliable, accessible, unique mechanism for national research that is aligned with national priorities and addresses knowledge gaps. It will disseminate that research widely to inform clinical practice, policy, prevention programs, resource allocation, the community and health professionals.

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Australian Phenome Bank

Chief Investigator — Professor Christopher Goodnow
Institute — Australian National University

The Australian Phenome Bank will establish a frozen sperm bank, database, and training program to enable access by the research community to new strains of genetically modified mice. Efficient access to diverse strains, provided by the Phenome Bank, will be critical for translating the human genome sequence into an understanding of specific mechanisms regulating all the body organ systems in health and disease, and for developing new disease prevention and treatment approaches.

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Australian Prostate Cancer Collaboration (APCC) Bio-Resource

Chief Investigator — Professor Judith Clements
Institute — Queensland University of Technology

The Australian Prostate Cancer Collaboration (APCC), supported by the Commonwealth Bank, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Andrology Australia, has been developing an Australia-wide network of prostate tissue banks and associated clinical databases for the past 3 years. The concept of this innovative project is to establish “nodes” or branches of the tissue bank in each State where tissues are collected and to coordinate the use of this material from a central committee or “head office”. A website has been established (www.apccbioresource.org.au) that is the national face of this ‘virtual’ national tissue bank and 7 State-based tissue bank consortiums are participating in this venture. The goal of this ‘virtual bank’ or network is to further enhance the national research effort by facilitating greater collaboration nationally and providing better access to, and optimal utilisation of, the clinical material available to facilitate improvements in prostate cancer management. Operational support for the nodes is critical for the success of a national Bio-Resource.

Web address: www.prostate.org.au

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Australian Proteomics Computational Facility

Chief Investigator — Professor Antony Burgess
Institute — Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

In recent years, Australia has invested in the equipment capable of identifying proteins important in health and medicine. This sophisticated equipment requires high capacity computing support. The Australian Proteomics Computational Facility will establish a single advanced computing cluster accessible to scientists at proteomics centres all over the country. This integrated approach to proteomics computing and the sharing of databases will put Australia at the forefront of the world’s efforts to identify the proteins associated with the early detection of our major diseases

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Australian Rheumatology Association Database

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Rachelle Buchbinder
Institute — Monash University

We plan to collect health information from Australian patients with arthritis to monitor the benefits and safety of new treatments. All patients being treated with the new injectable biologic agents and other patients taking conventional drugs will be invited to take part in the follow up program. We will measure the impact of arthritis on quality of life and physical function and the long-term effects of all arthritis drugs. This will be of immense value to the Australian community as this data are not routinely available from any other source. It will help rheumatologists and patients make the best decisions regarding long-term arthritis treatments.

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Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank

Chief Investigator — Professor Vaughan Carr
Institute — Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia & Allied Disorders

Schizophrenia research is constrained by difficulty in achieving large samples for research into the causal role of genetic factors in this complex disease. The Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank will comprise a large sample of schizophrenia probands (N=1000 initially) and their first-degree relatives (N=2 per proband) with linked clinical, cognitive, neuroanatomical and genetic data. These data will be available to Australian researchers to study the genetic underpinnings of this disease and its subtypes, leading to improved treatments and preventative strategies.

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Australian Sleep Health Clinical Trials Network

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Ronald Grunstein
Institute — Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

There is increased recognition that sleep health problems are a major cause of illness in the community. These include disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome and health problems related to shift work. It is proposed to form a consolidated network of sleep investigation groups to undertake larger scale clinical trials aimed at deciding what are the best treatments for different sleep disorders. The enabling grant will provide resources that will make Australian involvement in international studies more competitive and achieve higher publication quality for the research work.

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Australian Twin Registry

Chief Investigator — Professor John Hopper
Institute — University of Melbourne

The Australian Twin Registry (ATR) is a volunteer registry of over 30,000 twin pairs willing to consider participation in health research. This national resource was established in the 1980s with NHMRC support because twin studies play a unique, powerful role in research on the impact of genetic and environmental factors on health. Over 400 studies have benefited. The ATR seeks on-going funding to remain internationally competitive and meet increasing demand due to advances in genetic research.

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Australian Zebrafish Phenomic Facility

Chief Investigator — A/Professor Andrew Perkins
Institute — The University of Queensland
Funding — $1500000 over 5 years

Globally, zebrafish are making a very significant impact on biomedical research. Zebrafish have a number of attributes that make them ideal models for the study of development and disease,
including:

  • adults are relatively small, so housing is cheap
  • eggs are transparent, so early developmental processes can be visualized easily
  • development is rapid - organs are made in 1-7 days
  • zebrafish are vertebrates and thus have a gene complement very similar to humans
  • large numbers of eggs are produced each week from a single mother, aiding experimentation
  • ENU mutagenesis screens have generated thousands of useful mutants, including an increasing number that accurately model human genetic diseases
  • high-resolution imaging of RNA and protein expression in whole embryos is easy
  • drugs and chemicals can be easily tested for activities in zebrafish by adding them to the water

Because of these attributes, zebrafish are becoming the model organism of choice for the study to human development and disease - indeed, the zebrafish field is growing at three times the rate of the mouse field.

The international biomedical community has invested very heavily in infrastructure to aid the zebrafish community in realising the potential of this model. In Australia we have very strong basic research teams whom have embraced zebrafish mdoels. However, we lag behind other parts of the world in that, as yet, we have not had much specific funding allocated to animal model infrastructure. This Enabling Grant will build unique infrastructure by bringing together the zebrafish community with two areas in which Australia is very strong - genomics and biodiversity.

This will result in a greatly enhanced ability to determine how genes work, and a pipeline for screening Australia’s rich source of natural products and chemical libraries for activities against common human diseases such as cancer, dementia, and muscle diseases using zebrafish models.

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Breast Cancer Biospecimen Resource

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Christine Clarke
Institute — The University of Sydney

The Breast Cancer Biospecimen Resource will consist of stored samples of the majority of newly diagnosed breast cancers in NSW and through the Australian and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group together with accurate, prospectively tracked clinical data on each specimen. This facility will serve as a model for extension of similar procedures to other common Australian cancers including cancers of the lung, bowel, prostate and melanoma. Research that is facilitated by this Resource holds real promise for improving patient selection for treatment. This will return a significant humanitarian and cost saving benefit. In addition this advance would also maximise the benefit of population mammographic screening.

Web address: www.abctb.org.au

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Cell Bank Australia

Chief Investigator — Dr Roger Reddel
Institute — Children’s Medical Research Institute (New South Wales)

The proposal is to set-up a high-standard cell culture facility that will enable the establishment of a national repository of quality-controlled vertebrate cell lines derived from various tissues and species. This will facilitate high quality studies in a wide range of areas of basic health and medical research and in biotechnology.

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Genetic Repositories Australia

Chief Investigator — Professor Peter Schofield
Institute — University of New South Wales

Genetic Repositories Australia (GRA) will provide a central national facility for establishing, distributing and maintaining the long-term secure storage of human genetic samples (cell lines and DNA) from a variety of sources. No facility exists in Australia to provide these services yet they form a vital part of genetic and epidemiological studies. GRA will fill an essential ‘missing link’ in the translation of population and family-based research into genetic and genomic studies. This will deliver new knowledge in health and disease and lead to improved health care outcomes.

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Infrastructure support for the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group Trial Centre

Chief Investigator — Dr Max Wolf
Institute — Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute

Lymphoma, leukaemia and related cancers of the blood affect thousands of Australians, including children. The Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group, a network of clinical and laboratory haematologists, will integrate laboratory research to discover new approaches to treatment, with clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of the new treatments. This approach should accelerate the research and maximise patient and community benefits.

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Interdisciplinary Maternal Perinatal Action on Clinical Trials Collaboration

Chief Investigator — Professor Caroline Crowther
Institute — University of Adelaide

The aims of the Interdisciplinary Maternal Perinatal Action on Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboration is to promote and support high quality clinical trials addressing important research questions to improve the health and well being of women and their children. These aims will be achieved by implementing the three objectives of the Collaboration being:

  • provision of high level support to researchers at a national and regional level;
  • provision of ongoing education and training; and
  • identification of national priority research areas and encouraging methodological trials.

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KConFab — Kathleen Cuningham Foundation Consortium for Research into Familial Breast Cancer

Chief Investigator — Professor Joe Sambrook
Institute — University of Melbourne

Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease of women. In families with an inherited form of breast cancer, nearly half the women in every generation can develop the disease. The aim of this Australasian-wide study is to complete collection of clinical, epidemiological and genetic data on 1,600 of these severely-affected families. The national resource is, and will continue to be, of great value for researchers who want to identify and characterize the genetic and life style factors that affect onset and progression of the disease.

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National Centre for Intensive Care Research

Chief Investigator — Professor Rinaldo Bellomo
Institute — Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society

The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group (ANZICS CTG) provides the only coordinated clinical trials research strategy for intensive care medicine in Australia and one of the few in the world. Its core business is the design and conduct of world-class multicentre randomised controlled trials. To date the group has operated with extremely modest infrastructure support supplied by the parent society (ANZICS) and its success has been due to the voluntary hard work and commitment of full-time clinicians. These efforts have already significantly enhanced the medical research effort in Australia by documenting the epidemiology of important areas of critical illness and, more importantly, by the conduct of world-class clinical trials. The recently published SAFE study is the largest clinical trial conducted in the intensive care population and has been recognised as a “landmark trial and a milestone for the specialty of critical care medicine.” It is noteworthy also that other craft groups in Australia (for example — renal medicine) are seeking to imitate the structure and activities of the ANZICS CTG. It is clear however, that a national methods centre providing dedicated epidemiology, database and statistical expertise, together with improved infrastructure to support large clinical trials, would ensure the future of the group and enable greater productivity.

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National Leukaemia and Lymphoma Tissue Bank

Chief Investigator — Dr Paula Marlton
Institute — Princess Alexandra Hospital

Recent advances in knowledge about how cancer differ from normal cells, why some people are susceptible to cancer, and how new treatments can target cancer have all occurred through research on cancer cells from patients. To benefit patients with cancers of the blood and the immune system, we established a National Leukaemia and Lymphoma Tissue Bank in 2002. It is proposed to dramatically expand its size, add relevant clinical data, and streamline access and utility for Australian researchers. Ultimately, this will lead to better treatment and prevention of blood cancers.

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National Network of Brain Banks

Chief Investigator — Associate Professor Catriona McLean
Institute — Mental Health Research Institute (Victoria)

Brain disorders are a major public health and economic problem. Study of brain tissues from deceased patients using current technologies has great potential to unlock our understanding of how these diseases occur and may lead to improvements in diagnosis, treatment or the development of preventative strategies. The furthering of this knowledge as new technologies come on-line justifies the need to develop a National Network devoted to storage and provision of carefully characterised brain tissue to neuroscientists.

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National Non-human Primate Breeding and Research Facility

Chief Investigator — Mr Stephen Marshall
Institute — Monash University
Funding — $2500000 over 5 years

Some biomedical research is best undertaken on primates, in order to allow the greatest relevance to understanding health and disease in humans. Examples of such research include studies into diseases like HIV/AIDS and much of the research into understanding the human brain and nervous system.

The NHMRC, through its Animal Welfare Committee, has taken an international leadership position in ensuring that any non-human primates used for biomedical research are bred and housed in the best possible facilities and looked after with the highest level of care available. To ensure this quality of care, it is NHMRC policy to only use animals that have been bred and reared specifically for research purposes.

The National Non-Human Primate Breeding and Research Facility, hosted by Monash University, ensures that Australian community has access to macaque monkeys and marmosets to carry out research under the highest quality conditions. Additionally the colonies will provide a key resource in any national response to pandemics and bioterrorism for vaccine and response development. 

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National Resource for public good, web-based, investigator-initiated trials

Chief Investigator — Professor John Simes
Institute — University of Sydney

The facility will provide resources in clinical trials expertise and web-based trials systems to enable investigator-initiated clinical trials of public good. This should ensure that the highest quality of clinical trials research can be undertaken by clinical trials researchers in new and priority health research areas, at any institution throughout Australia. Areas supported through this national resource will include controlled trials of current clinical practice, surgery, new health technologies, palliative and supportive care and complementary medicine.

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Protocol Development, web-based data collection and data quality for all Cancer Cooperative Trials Groups

Chief Investigator — Professor Stephen Ackland
Institute — University of Newcastle

Each year, 85,000 Australian develop cancer and 35,000 die of it. The Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and nine Australian cancer trials groups run studies that test new and better ways of preventing, curing, treating and palliating people affected by cancer. This grant will help these groups start trials faster; run them more efficiently; coordinate quality assurance; and standardize operating procedures. This grant will enable collaboration that increases the speed, efficiency and quality of cancer research to lessen the suffering of people affected by cancer.

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The Health 2020 Cohort Study (Health 2020)

Chief Investigator — Professor Graham Giles
Institute — Cancer Council of Victoria

The project is to develop appropriate infrastructures necessary to facilitate access by researchers to the accumulated data, including questionnaires, direct physical measurements, blood, DNA and other tissues collected on over 40,000 people in the Health 2020 Cohort Study (Health 2020) and, subject to proposals being judged sufficiently meritorious by an approved peer review process and gaining HREC approval, to facilitate supervised access to participants as required.

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The National NHMRC Baboon Colony

Chief Investigator — A/Professor Annemarie Hennessy                                    
Institute — Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Funding — $600000 over 5 years

The National NHMRC Baboon colony provides access to large non-human primates to support Australia’s research efforts in diverse scientific areas around the country. These include diabetes research (kidney involvement and prevention of kidney damage, nerve damage and eye damage); treatment options inlcuding gene therapy of blood/bone-marrow cancers; understandng pregnancy changes in blood pressure and the causes of hypertension (high blood pressure) in pregnancy; identification of new techniques for analyis of brain function; the effects of aging on liver function especially with regards to drug metabolism; new therapies for transplantation which would allow more rational and lower/safer drug use for transplant patients; breaking down the barriers to animal-to-human transplantation through assessment of safety and development of new techniques; behavioural aspects of fertility management; vaccine development; development of oral vaccination; the nature of wound healing.

There is diverse and wide access to the National NHMRC Baboon colony from research interests around Australia. The use of the animals is at all times approved by the Animal Welfare Committee governing the colony, as well as that which governs the researchers involved. All approved projects have been given access to the animals required. The need for non-human primate use as opposed to other animals or other techniques not involving animals is justified to the relvant committees before any project proceeds. The use of the animals therefore adds a dimension to Australian research due to animal similarity to humans physiology or size comparisons.

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The Western Australian DNA Bank

Chief Investigator — Professor Lyle J Palmer
Institute — University of Western Australian

This proposal is to build a new national resource for medical research that will both underpin and enhance the national health and medical research effort in Australia by systematically enabling world-class biobanking capacities and hence the population-based resources in WA for genetics epidemiological research. The WA DNA Bank will also provide national access to WA biospecimen resources, and will facilitate collaboration and research into national priority diseases of childhood and adulthood.

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Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group

Chief Investigator — Associate Prof David Ball
Institute — University of Newcastle

The Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group is an experienced research group conducting cancer clinical trials involving radiotherapy (RT) in order to improve cure rates, quality of life and to reduce side-effects of treatment. Fifty per cent of all cancer patients need RT as part of their treatment. The aim of the proposal is to strengthen the quality and safety of RT trials by (a) enabling rapid review and checking of treatment by electronic means and (b) improve trial design.

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