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Discover the stories behind Australia’s leading health and medical research in our InFocus articles.
Through compelling stories, we highlight the achievements of researchers driving innovation and improving health outcomes. InFocus celebrates excellence and impact across diverse fields of science and medicine.
Explore the stories from the search below. See more news, articles and updates from our News centre.
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. 'It's really promising research and NHMRC has been able to fund this. This is something that's capable of having a big impact'. Watch her story in the video below.
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 NHMRC 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 National Health and Medical Research Council (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. Professor Clara Chow shares her research on 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. David’s lab also focuses on identifying therapeutic targets that may promote the repair of the nervous system in autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
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.' Professor Sudha Rao discusses her research into how T cells (or immune cells) regulate themselves when looking at breast cancer.
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. Associate Professor Quinn is trying to understand how brain cancer develops by using a genetic model through a fly. She hopes to use this information to develop new treatments.
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. 'Funding for this research from the very early days has become very critical and NHMRC has provided much of that critical funding through the course of this project'. Listen to Professor Bines' story below.
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. Professor Ross Hannan is a great detective of cancer research—finding and developing new cancer treatments for patients. Watch his story in the video below.
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.
Kidney disease - reporting the right outcomes
An estimated 1 in 10 Australian adults (10%) – about 1.7 million people in 2011–12 – had biomedical signs of chronic kidney disease.1
What is actually contained in our foods?
Dietary change is a significant lifestyle factor in managing the epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Uncovering the details of effective dietary change requires accurate user friendly dietary assessment and advice tools.
Music provides strong connections for people with dementia
Doctor Tamplim is using therapeutic singing groups to support people living with dementia. Music is the glue that brings people together and it’s cementing and supporting existing relationships.
New technology to spot skin cancer sooner
‘Melanoma is the most common cancer for 15–39 year old Australians – with the highest ‘years of life lost’ of any cancer’1
Bringing innovative research into clinical practice
Now an ear, nose and throat surgeon, Associate Professor Kelvin Kong was destined for health care. Growing up Kelvin and his sisters were always keen to help his mother, a Registered Nurse, whenever she had a one of their mob come around to remove a suture, tend to a cut or get a vaccination.
Starving bacteria—beating antibiotic resistance
Motivated by a desire to understand the molecular basis of key biological processes, Professor Abell saw an opportunity to use small molecules that selectively bind to bacterial proteins, as a potential mechanism for limiting bacterial survival.
Zinc on the brain for healthy aging
‘In Australia, 15 per cent of the population are aged 65+, estimated to grow to 21 per cent (8.4 million) by 2050.’1
Australia leading the way on Alzheimer’s treatment
By 2036, the total cost of dementia is predicted to increase by 81 per cent to $25.8 billion in Australia.1
Protecting premature babies from kidney disease
‘18 per cent of all Indigenous Australian adults have chronic kidney disease – two times as likely as non-Indigenous Australians.’
Forty years of mental health research
‘One in every ten mothers experience repeated episodes of major depression over their life course – on average, experiencing depression one in every six days of their lives.'
Saving lives – one vaccine at a time
‘There has been a 73 per cent reduction in children hospitalised from severe chicken pox infection since the introduction of the (varicella) vaccine to the National Immunisation Program in Australia in 2005.'1
Guiding children through traumatic brain injuries
Professor Morgan is Lead of the Neuroscience of Speech research group at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) and Head of Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne. She is also one of the guideline developers for MCRI’s first Clinical practice guideline for the management of communication and swallowing disorders following paediatric traumatic brain injury for children 0 to 18 years of age (communication and swallowing guideline).
Sanguine advances In detecting colorectal cancer
Associate Professor Leah Cosgrove and her team have developed a simple blood test to diagnose colorectal cancer. A reliable, non-invasive blood test could augment the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, either as an adjunct primary screen for those unable to do the stool test, or in triaging positive subjects to colonoscopy. This could help drive a significant reduction in colorectal cancer deaths in Australia.
Gluten for punishment: challenging non-coeliac gluten sensitivity
Professor Peter Gibson and his team set out to determine whether gluten causes problems in people who do not suffer from coeliac disease. The team found that short-chain carbohydrates called FODMAPs, not gluten, might be triggering symptoms such as bloating and stomach pain. The results have put some scientifically valid findings in this controversial area.
Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment: A Safer Way
Professor Stephen Tong and the team of investigators are revolutionising the treatment of ectopic pregnancy, meaning most women presenting with the condition could be treated medically, rather than surgically. Not only will this make treating ectopic pregnancies safer, easier and more effective, but it may save many lives across the developing world where surgery is not possible.