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Crossing disciplines to answer complex research questions
University of Adelaide's Professor Ian Olver received the 2021 NHMRC Ethics Award in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian health and medical research ethics over the last decade. As chair of NHMRC’s Australian Health Ethics Committee, and as a valued member of NHMRC Council from 2012 to 2018, his balanced and considered leadership style and willingness to engage sensitively on tough issues supported a wider understanding of the ethical impact of emerging health and medical research innovations and technologies.
New research on boosting killer immune response to cancer
Drugs already approved and available could be the answer to boost the production of killer T cells and improve the success rate of immunotherapies for cancer.
Working beyond our own borders for a better world
Associate Professor Joshua Vogel is a Principal Research Fellow at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, where he co-heads the Global Women’s and Newborn’s Health Group. His research focuses on addressing maternal and perinatal health issues affecting women and families in limited-resource settings. Associate Professor Vogel was the winner of the 2020 Peter Doherty Investigator Grant Award, and the Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research.
Australian research delivers rapid Hep B test for earlier treatment
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease that causes the liver to become inflamed and contributes to increasing rates of liver cancer in Australia and globally.
Getting to the cause of type 2 diabetes
The daily burden of living with diabetes can be significant. It’s estimated that people with diabetes face up to 180 diabetes-related decisions every day. That’s more than 65,000 extra decisions a year. These decisions can range from managing daily blood sugar levels, food intake and exercise to the management of serious diabetes complications.
Driven to improve mental health and intergenerational trauma through research
Having experienced two Indigenous internships with NHMRC, Vernon Armstrong has now started his journey in mental health research.
Diamond-enriched silk dressings the answer to next-generation smart wound treatment
A diamond-enriched smart dressing made of silk that enables doctors to read the chemistry of an infected or healing wound could be the answer to more effective therapies, particularly for burns.
Addressing Australia’s national transfusion research priorities
Professor Erica Wood is head of the Transfusion Unit at Monash University. Her research describes how blood is used in Australia, and how its use can be improved and made safer and more cost-effective. Through registry data and clinical trials, and studies of novel blood products, Professor Wood and her team aim to improve access and transfusion outcomes for patients.
Indigenous female researcher inspires next generation
As one of NHMRC’s first Indigenous Interns, Nada Powell is about to embark on her next journey which is likely to now include research.
Unlocking the secrets of the brain
Professor John Bekkers from the John Curtin School of Medical Research and his team are currently working on the neurons and circuits in the brain that underlie the sense of smell. His team focus on the olfactory cortex, a brain region that is responsible for our ability to recognise and remember odours.
Partnership with Aboriginal communities for a meaningful contribution
Professor Kate Conigrave from The University of Sydney is an Addiction Medicine Specialist and Public Health Physician based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Her work combines treating individuals with alcohol, drug and tobacco problems; promoting the health of communities and research and teaching. She is currently the chair of the NHMRC's Alcohol Working Group, which is charged with reviewing the guidelines to reduce the health risks from drinking alcohol.
Ensuring evidence is translated into practice
Professor Rachelle Buchbinder is an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. She is the Director and Professor in the Monash University Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine since 2007.
Music therapy to support people living with dementia
Dr Jeanette Tamplin from The University of Melbourne is using therapeutic singing groups to support people living with dementia.
Working to stop Parkinson's disease
Associate Professor Antony Cooper from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research is a cell and molecular biologist / geneticist with strong interests in elucidating how cellular dysfunction results in human diseases, with a specific interest in neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson’s Disease.
Transforming how to treat blood cancers
Professor Mark Dawson is a clinician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, meaning he both treats blood cancer patients and leads cutting-edge cancer research in the lab.
Improving the health and wellbeing of children by making it easy to be active throughout the day
Professor Jo Salmon from the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University received the Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award at last year’s NHMRC Research Excellence Awards. Her research focuses on how to effectively implement physical activity interventions at scale across the population, particularly in children. Physical inactivity is a leading modifiable risk factor for childhood obesity and other physical and mental health conditions.
Case study: Neurodegenerative disease and metals
The formation of abnormal proteins in the brain has long been suspected to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Yet many individuals with abnormal protein formations do not go on to develop such diseases.
Using antimicrobials to prevent infections in our hospitals
Professor Mark Willcox from the University of New South Wales received the Marshall and Warren Ideas Grant Award at this year’s NHMRC Research Excellence Awards. Professor Willcox’s research targets hospital-acquired infections. Half of all hospital-acquired infections are from microbial colonisation of medical devices such as catheters and hip replacements. Professor Willcox and his team are developing new antimicrobial coatings that can be applied to medical devices to reduce the incidence of these infections.
Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies
APPRISE is the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies. It was established in 2016 with an investment of $5 million funded by NHMRC and an additional $2 million in 2020 to undertake a range of studies to inform the public health and clinical responses to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Twenty years of preparation
Over the past 20 years, NHMRC has invested more than $23 million in 37 projects on pandemic preparedness.
Linking high quality international research for improvements in Indigenous health
Professor Sandra Eades from Curtin University has dedicated her career to research in Aboriginal health improvements. Professor Eades works with NHMRC to advise and develop strategic guidelines focused on closing the gap.
Repairing the nervous system with patients’ own stem cells
Associate Professor James St John from Griffith University received the Marshall and Warren Innovation Award at the 2020 NHMRC Research Excellence Awards. His research involves the development of cell transplantation therapies to repair the nervous system, particularly peripheral nerve and spinal cord injuries.
Improving kidney health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Associate Professor Jaqui Hughes from the Menzies School of Health Research received the 2019 NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Award at NHMRC’s Research Excellence Awards ceremony in March 2020. Kidney disease is a significant health priority among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The cohort study being led by A/Professor Hughes will describe the long-term changes in kidney function over 10 years. This will provide critical data to inform regional and national policy on identification and care of people with kidney disease.
Unravelling the pathobiology of non-Alzheimer dementias and degenerative motor syndromes
Professor Glenda Halliday from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health and the Brain and Mind Centre received NHMRC’s Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award at this year’s NHMRC Research Excellence Awards. Her research aims to identify and understand the pathobiology of non-Alzheimer dementias and degenerative motor syndromes. These syndromes are currently under-recognised, mainly affect people in their prime, can kill rapidly, and have no mechanistic therapies.
Using big data to improve people's health
Professor Louisa Jorm is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at UNSW Sydney.
Blue sky impacts for human health
Professor Carola Vinuesa is a Professor of Immunology at the Australian National University and Head of the Pathogens and Immunity Department. She discusses Cellular Immunology and how blue sky research impacts human health.
Vaccine development and prevention strategies for Hepatitis C
NHMRC caught up with Professor Andrew Lloyd from The University of New South Wales who develops vaccines for Hepatitis C, which effects 750,000 Australians.
Aboriginal mental health research and the importance of resilience
Developing better understanding of effective therapeutic practices with Aboriginal clients, in Aboriginal community settings, and with Aboriginal practitioners, across the spectrum of mental health and social and emotional wellbeing outcomes is the goal of Dr Graham Gee.
Peoples lives transformed through bionics
Professor David Grayden is in the department of biomedical engineering at the University of Melbourne.
Fellowship contributing to Australian health
Prof Si Ming Man from The Australian National University and his team investigates the role of innate immunity in infectious diseases and cancer. Professor Ming Man received the NHMRC Research Excellence Award for the highest-ranked Early Career Fellowship (2015) and an NHMRC Research Excellence Award for the highest-ranked Career Development Fellowship Biomedical Level 1 (2019). He also received the 2019 Commonwealth Health Minister's Medal for Excellence in Health and Medical Research and the 2021 CSL Centenary Fellowship.
Boosting study in auto immune disease
Professor Joanne Reed from the Garvan Institute's research focuses on autoimmune diseases, particularly the origin and role of autoantibodies.
Could an antiseptic mouthwash reduce sexually transmitted infections and improve the sex life of Australians?
The 2020 Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research has been awarded to Associate Professor Eric Chow of Monash University. The award has been presented each year since 2000 and recognises the top-ranked recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant in the Emerging Leadership Level 2 category from the previous year’s application round.
Focus on cardiovascular disease prevention
Dr. Clara Chow is Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Academic Director of the Westmead Applied Research Centre and Academic Co-Director of CPC Westmead. She is a NHMRC Investigator Grant Leadership awardee and with this leads a research program focused on innovation for health service provision and clinical management of cardiovascular disease prevention.
Motivated to repair insulating system of the brain
Dr David Gonsalvez heads up a laboratory focused on how glia, the non-neuronal cells in the brain and spinal cord, develop, contribute to neuronal plasticity and respond following injury.
Talented women can keep pursuing their research
“What I really like about the NHMRC system is that it is a fantastic scheme for women in science.”
Using a fly to understand cancer genetics and biology
In 2016 Associate Professor Leonie Quinn relocated to The John Curtin School of Medical Research (ANU, Canberra) to establish the Quinn Group - Cancer Models in the ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics.
Game changer through a new vaccine for Rotavirus
Professor Julie Bines from Murdoch Children's Research Institute is doing some inspiring work, developing the RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine.
Almost $400 million in world-leading health and medical research projects to improve the lives of all Australians.
The Investigator Grant scheme is NHMRC’s flagship scheme, developed as part of a major reform of NHMRC’s grant program. This is the second round of Investigator Grants to be awarded. A total of 237 leading researchers across all career stages will receive five-year Investigator Grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Which treatments will save lives in ICU?
Over 275 intensive care units in 15 countries are trialling more than 33 pneumonia treatments to save the lives of critically ill COVID-19 patients. The trial, REMAP-CAP, is an adaptive clinical trial built to deliver fast results in a pandemic and is now one of three key national trials identified by the UK government.
Professor Ross Hannan: Detective in cancer research
Professor Hannan from the John Curtin School of Medical Research is an internationally recognised laboratory scientist, whose work on ribosome biogenesis has led to new treatment paradigms in cancer, centred on drugs that activate nucleolar stress.
Difference in research through prevention with Professor Emily Banks
Professor Emily Banks is focused on those unanswered questions around prevention to really make a difference.
Leveraging gluten challenge in coeliac disease to improve its diagnosis
Coeliac disease is a common autoimmune-like illness caused by gluten. The condition affects over 350,000 Australians, causing substantial morbidity, impaired quality of life and increased health care costs.
Research aims to make glaucoma treatment easier and more effective
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, with an estimated 80 million people predicted to be affected by 2020.
Delivering safe and effective medication management technology
Medication errors are widely recognised as a major cause of preventable harm and death worldwide, annually costing some $42B globally and $1.28B in Australia.
Research to overcome treatment resistance in cancer patients
Study aims to understand why resistance occurs to Venetoclax when treating blood cancers
Improving stroke care in regional and rural Australia
In Australia, there is an excess burden of stroke in regional and rural areas and patients do not have the same access to specialised care as in metropolitan areas.
Connecting kids: Harnessing interpersonal connectedness to reduce suicide risk in youth
Youth suicide is a growing problem in Australia that has far-reaching effects on family, friends and the community.
Making the maternal health system better for all women
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal health, and rural and remote services are two key areas of research for Professor Caroline Homer.
Detective work in cancer research
Professor Ross Hannan is a great detective of cancer research—finding and developing new cancer treatments for patients at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Keeping women in health and medical research
Today is International Women’s Day. NHMRC’s Women in Health Science Committee member, Professor Caroline Homer, discusses the importance of having more women involved in leadership, research, and education.