University of Melbourne welcomes NHMRC Investigator and Ideas Grants

Biomedical precinct University of Melbourne — The funding will support projects across the University and its partners aimed at addressing key health challenges.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and partner institutes have attracted more than $108 million in funding from the latest National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants and Ideas Grants funding rounds, announced today by Federal Minister for Health Mark Butler.

A total of 71 projects led by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and two projects from the Faculty of Science will help address a range of health challenges, including mental health, infectious diseases, cancer, Indigenous health, chronic disease, perinatal care, and newborn health.

Over $78 million was awarded to 45 projects as part of the Investigator Grants scheme, which supports researchers at all stages of their careers to pursue important new research directions.

The funding will support research both at the University and our partners including Austin Health, the Baker Institute, the Doherty Institute, the Florey Institute, Mercy Health, Orygen, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women’s Hospital and Western Health.

Investigator Grant-funded projects include:

Professor Kim-Anh Le Cao, School of Mathematics and Statistics, New data integration methods to unlock the potential of clinical omics data.
Professor Catherine Chamberlain, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Strengthening foundations for closing the gap.
Dr Natalie Fini, Department of Physiotherapy, Tailoring physical activity interventions after stroke to promote lifelong adherence.
Dr Peter Georgeson, Department of Clinical Pathology, Clinical application of tumour mutational signatures for precision prevention of colorectal cancer.
Professor Sharon Lewin AO, Department of Infectious Diseases and the Doherty Institute, Novel interventions to treat and cure acute and chronic viral infections.
Professor Patrick McGorry AO, Centre for Youth Mental Health and Orygen, Precision psychiatry: Working backwards to move forwards: Personalising prognosis and treatment from the earliest stages of psychotic illness.
Dr Adam Wheatley, Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Doherty Institute, Rational improvement of vaccines and therapeutics for pandemic threats.

Over $30 million was awarded to 28 projects as part of the Ideas Grant scheme, which supports innovative and creative research that aims to address specific topics or questions.

Research will be undertaken at the University and our partners including the Doherty Institute, the Florey Institute, Mercy Health, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Projects being supported by the scheme include:

Dr Georgia Deliyannis, Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Doherty Institute, Halting transmission of respiratory viral infections using intranasally administered vaccines.
Dr Dale Garsed, The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Harnessing the immune response in exceptionally long-term survivors of ovarian cancer to develop novel therapeutics.
Professor Natalie Hannan, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health and Mercy Health, A mother’s risk of future cardiovascular disease following preeclampsia: is early detection and prevention possible?
Associate Professor Jess Nithianantharajah, Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health and the Florey Institute, Neural underpinnings of maladaptive decision making in mental disorders.

Professor Mark Hargreaves, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), welcomed the latest funding announcement.

“The number and breadth of projects awarded funding by the NHMRC position the University and our partners as leaders in producing research that is targeted at finding solutions to the complex health challenges faced by the community,” he said.

“The range of disciplines represented in these outcomes speaks to the importance of approaching these challenges collaboratively, and from new perspectives.”

“I congratulate everyone who has helped to realise this success and thank them for their important contributions in advancing health and medical research.”

Professor Jane Gunn AO, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, believes these projects will help to improve the lives of everyone in the community.

“I am delighted with this outcome that will enable our researchers to continue their important world-class research, which will deliver benefits to the community via new or improved treatments, and a more advanced understanding of key health challenges,” she said.

You can learn more about the Investigator Grant and Ideas Grant outcomes on the NHMRC website.