Latest news and stories
Tracker - 18 October 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
Science to art: Research behind the science behind the image
Professor Frédéric (Fred) Hollande is Deputy Head at the Department of Clinical Pathology, University of Melbourne, and a group leader at the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research. He’s also behind the image recognised in the Science to Art NHMRC Biennial Award.
Game-changer for cancer research and therapeutic development
2021 ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology
Research on a potential biomarker for fatal influenza
Developing an early warning system to predict fatal respiratory viral infection outcomes.
Tracker - 5 October 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
Tracker - 20 September 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
Expertise and transparency underpin review of Australian Dietary Guidelines
Experts to review the Australian Dietary Guidelines
$472 million investment in Australia’s health and medical research future
Almost half a billion dollars in funding for health and medical research.
Tracker - 6 September 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
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.
Tracker - 23 August 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
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.
Tracker - 8 August 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
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.
Gain of Function Research Review
Terms of Reference
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.
NHMRC Research Excellence Awards and Biennial Awards
The 2020 NHMRC Research Excellence Awards and 2021 NHMRC Biennial Awards were announced on 16 June 2021. Below is an extract of CEO Professor Anne Kelso's opening remarks before announcing the awards.
NHMRC statement on iBlastoids
Nature paper: Modelling human blastocysts by reprogramming fibroblasts into iBlastoids
$74 million investment in Australian-led clinical trials
A study involving 15,000 Australians which aims to develop a next-generation, standardised diagnosis for melanoma is one of 30 clinical trials and cohort studies to be funded through the Government’s $74 million investment to find better ways to prevent, detect and treat disease.
$5.9 million for Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
The Australian Government will invest $5.9 million on cancer prevention among women in vulnerable communities across the world through the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD).
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.
NHMRC awards recognise Australia’s outstanding health and medical research
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has celebrated outstanding research and researchers with its annual Research Excellence Awards and its Biennial Awards, announced in Canberra last night.
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.
Mapping the trajectory of depression in primary care to improve treatment
The Diamond cohort study — Better management of those at risk of persistent and disabling depression.
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.
NHMRC national network for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers
A National Health and Medical Research Council-funded national network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers has been established that will bring together unique skills across culture, knowledge and health research to address the health priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
$1.8 million to support Australia-UK health and medical research
More than $1.8 million has been awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to support collaborative health and medical research between Australia and the United Kingdom.
Budget 2021-22
Support for excellent health and medical research in Australia continues in the 2021-22 Budget handed down on 11 May 2021.
Breathing easy — Improving access to respiratory disease rehabilitation
The average adult takes up to 20 breaths every minute, something most people give little thought. However, breathing can be a daily struggle for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), an umbrella term for a group of lung conditions that includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma.
Australia’s investment in eradicating malaria
Over the last 10 years NHMRC has invested more than $191 million in research on malaria1
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.
Tracker - 6 April 2021
Welcome to Tracker, NHMRC’s fortnightly newsletter with the latest information on major activities and funding opportunities.
$27 million for next-generation medical research
Ten new medical research projects, including an education program to improve health literacy for socio-economically and culturally diverse new parents will be funded, thanks to the Morrison Government and the Australian medical community.
Supporting collaboration in health and medical research with European Union
Research to develop an intelligent total body scanner capable of taking images of skin lesions in minutes for early detection of melanoma is one of five projects funded through a joint National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and European Union (EU) collaborative research grant scheme announced today.
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.
Addressing the neglected global burden of child and drug-resistant tuberculosis
Ever since completing his PhD whilst working as a young paediatrician in South Africa, Professor Ben Marais from the University of Sydney has been on a mission to raise awareness of childhood tuberculosis (TB) and the transmissibility of drug-resistant TB — having seen first-hand the deadly impacts when this disease is left undiagnosed and untreated.
$10 million for National Mental Health Research Centre
A national network of leading mental health researchers will work with more than 2000 people living with mental illness to deliver better models of mental health care across Australia, thanks to the Morrison Government.
Measuring the effectiveness of cancer interventions
Economic evaluation is a tool used to decide which medical services and pharmaceuticals should be publicly funded. Professor Madeleine King, Director of the University of Sydney’s Quality of Life Office, has developed ways to measure quality of life for use in economic evaluation of cancer interventions in Australia and across the world.
Peer review for Ideas Grants in 2021
CEO Communique, February 2021
Adding new cells to the mature central nervous system - Investigating their normal function and potential for repair
For people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), the myelin that covers nerve fibres in the central nervous system (brain, optic nerves and spinal cord) is damaged, leading to impairment of cognitive, motor and sometimes sensory functions.
How our immune cells kill cancer
With her team, she discovered that, when target cells do not die quickly, it can cause inflammation, which hampers the body’s immune response.
COVID-3D: A small leap to scale up to COVID-19
Early in 2020, the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 team was working on protein modelling to better understand antimicrobial resistance for improved drug development. In March they turned their attention to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which had already undergone many mutations. In September, the team’s work was published in Nature Genetics.
Using digital innovations to address depression and binge drinking in young Australians
Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin is a psychologist and leads an international team at the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health at the University of Newcastle. Her research focuses on the development and translation of evidence-based treatments for comorbid mental disorders for young Australians.
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.