Latest news and stories
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.
CEO Statement: New Grant Program
NHMRC’s New Grant Program commenced on 5 December 2018 with the opening of the Investigator Grant scheme.
Statement from NHMRC CEO
I refer to the article published in Business Insider on 9 July 2019 including suggestions from Professor Nikolai Petrovsky about where NHMRC directs its funding.
$5.6 million for research into healthy ageing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
The Australian Government is investing more than $5.6 million in medical research focusing on healthy ageing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Healthcare key to bridging determinants of health
“Capacity development is something I’m really passionate about and there is definitely a need for it” - Dr Odette Pearson.
Successful implementation of quit smoking programs
Behavioural scientist, Professor Billie Bonevski, made a career in research as she saw how many more people she could impact.
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.
Emerging female leader in cancer research
To celebrate International Women’s Day, NHMRC would like to acknowledge leading female researchers who are working to make a real difference to the health of all Australians.
Goal to obliterate kidney disease
Compared to other Australians, Indigenous Australians are more likely to require dialysis support for severe end stage kidney failure, including at a younger age, and disproportionately affecting women.
Supporting women who supports us
In 2011-2012, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were nearly ten times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children. Many placements are with grandparents.1
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 disease1
Additional funding will boost Australia’s top female researchers
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding will again boost Australia’s top female researchers through an initiative first introduced in 2017.
Research provides further understanding into mosquito-borne viruses
Novel research could lead to drug and vaccine treatment of human diseases caused by mosquito-borne viruses.
More than $500 million research boost to improve lives
The Australian Government will invest more than half a billion dollars in world-leading health and medical research that aims to improve the lives of all Australians.
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.
How can we better prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes?
Most people around the world with high blood pressure still go undiagnosed and untreated.
Dying cell links to autoimmunity
Professor Benjamin Kile has turned his attention to looking at the link between dying cells, the inflammatory response and autoimmunity.
Drug testing for better bowel cancer outcomes
Associate Professor Oliver Sieber is looking to improve outcomes for patients with bowel cancer.
Findings uncover exciting new intervention opportunities aimed at reducing the risk of dementia
By simply moving your body, your brain has the ability to change and re-organise its connections and potentially produce protective properties against many incurable diseases and conditions, including dementia.
How the internet can help prevent dementia
Maintain Your Brain is a randomised controlled trial of multiple online interventions designed to target modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
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 program helping older Australians navigate a car-free life
The CarFreeMe program and resources aims to involve families and carers in the intervention process of driving cessation of people with dementia.
Psychology in cancer patients
Professor Penny Schofield is a behavioural psychologist who has specialised in helping cancer patients.
It’s a clinicians duty
Respiratory failure due to chronic infection is an important health issue for people with cystic fibrosis.
Supporting women to breastfeed
Breastfeeding infants exclusively to around six months, and continuing up to 12 months and beyond as solids foods are introduced, provides clear benefits for both the infant and the mother. Supporting women to continue to breastfeed is key to improving rates of breastfeeding.
How our genes work in different cells
‘There are three billion base pairs of DNA in each cell. If you were to pull it out end to end, it would equal two metres of DNA, which has to fit inside the 3D nucleus of every cell in our body.’
New Focus on First People’s Renal, Emotional Health, Cancer
The Australian Government has committed $23.2 million through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to 28 new projects, and has launched a NHMRC Road Map 3 to help chart the direction for Indigenous health and medical research investment over the next ten years.
Strengthening skills in the Torres Strait
Dr Felecia Watkin Lui is a Torres Strait Islander researcher working to strengthen skills in and understanding of knowledge translation. This will ensure that research is more accessible, relevant and has greater benefit to communities.
Bridging the divide in research
Dr Misty Jenkins can be found in the lab, looking down a microscope at immune T cells. As a young Indigenous woman she was inspired by her role models to pursue a career in research.
Health care to health research to inspire
As a nurse and midwife, Heather didn’t know much about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in Australia until she transitioned from working in health services to working in research 15 years ago.
Hints to reduce rates of diabetes
With increasing rates of diabetes in Australia, Professor Chris Nolan is trying to understand why the cells that secrete insulin malfunction and how they are affected by environmental stresses. Hints so far are these cells are hyper responsive to the stresses of poor lifestyle.
Bringing cultural security into focus
Always trying to find innovative ways of doing things, Professor Juli Coffin was able to test her model around cultural security for an effective and sustainable healthcare through an NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) grant.
Thanks to Australian families who participate in research
Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby has dedicated her life to understanding how the environment can influence the risk of developing a range of disorders at the population level.
Understanding the immune system leads to award
Dr Daniel Pellicci’s ultimate goal is to prevent human diseases. Using his research into how immune T cells recognise certain molecules, Dr Pellicci will provide new insight into how to harness therapeutic properties and produce desired immune responses. He has just been recognised for this work through the 2018 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research.
Leader in research
Working with communities is how Dr Mick Adams became a leader in his research to improve the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.
Excellence in improving cancer outcomes
“Over the last 18 years cancer mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has increased by 21 per cent. This figure is especially stark when the rest of the population has actually seen a 13 per cent fall in cancer mortality rates”
Parkinson's disease – putting the pieces together
Parkinson's disease is the second-most common degenerative brain disease, primarily caused by the death of certain brain cells. The majority of degeneration happens in a small region of the brain responsible for reward pathways and motor control.1
Paving a clearer path for the future
Dr Kalinda Griffiths’ children are her inspiration and what motivated her to go back to university. She was first exposed to research after being dragged into a traineeship in the Menzies School of Health Research labs.
Captivated to uncover the secrets of malaria
Since 2008 NHMRC has spent over $183 million on research into malaria 1
Closing the gap for STIs
Disproportionate rates of STI diagnosis (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, infectious syphilis and hepatitis B) occur among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly in remote and very remote communities.
Excellence in ear and hearing health for Indigenous children
Less than ten per cent of Indigenous children have normal healthy ears 1 2 3
Leading the way for female researchers
Professor Sharon Lewin is a clinician researcher working to find a cure for HIV. Having women in leadership roles is really important—it brings diversity to leadership teams for better outcomes, and encourages young women through aspiring role models.
Clinician researcher key to cure for HIV
"In Australia, life expectancy is returned by using life-long drugs but there is still no cure."
Life's work lead to new vaccine
“Pneumococcus is the biggest bacterial killer on the planet. It’s the most common cause of pneumonia, which is responsible for about 20 per cent of deaths from all causes in children under 5 years. Globally, pneumococcus accounts for about 2 million deaths a year.”
Targeted Calls for Research into mental health of older Australians
NHMRC has opened two Targeted Calls for Research (TCRs) to address important aspects of mental health in older Australians.
Understanding the complexity of cancer
Each year, more than 1,000 Australians are diagnosed with the blood cancer acute myeloid leukaemia and more than 70 per cent will die within five years.
Uncovering the secrets of Endometriosis
Endometriosis affects one in ten women worldwide.
Grand designs make way for career in health research
Nursing and research wasn’t what Associate Professor Dan McAullay had in mind when he first began university but it was exactly where he was meant to end up.