Eleven Australian health and medical researchers will receive a share in over $45 million to undertake ground-breaking collaborative research through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project scheme.
As announced today by the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney MP, the Australian Government is investing $15.8 million to support these projects, of which have also attracted an additional leveraged investment of $29.4 million committed by funding partners, bringing the total to $45.1 million.
NHMRC’s Partnership Project scheme funds researchers and partner agencies to work together to collaboratively define research questions, undertake research, interpret the findings and translate them into health policies and healthcare practices.
Health and medical researchers from across Australia are aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of women, children, and families by providing more suitable treatments and services where there are known gaps.
University of Queensland researcher, Professor Carlos Salomon, and his team, have developed a new test (OCRF-7) for the early detection of ovarian cancer. Their study will evaluate the specificity and feasibility of OCRF-7 in identifying women with ovarian cancer versus other types of cancer, progressing towards making the new test available for clinical use.
Associate Professor Christina Aggar of Southern Cross University is aiming to focus on the nurse-family carer partnership, supported by a Prevention and Early Delerium Identification Carer Toolkit (PREDICT), to prevent delirium and reduce its incidence and associated hospital costs to ultimately drive systemic change in delirium management.
Professor Lara Farrell, from Griffith University, is aiming to bridge the science-to-service gap for Australian children and young people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, ultimately transforming community mental health service delivery and policy.
Partnership Projects answer a specific research question that has the potential to influence health and wellbeing through changes in the delivery, organisation, funding and access to health services.
The projects announced today will receive funding for a period of up to 5 years.
A full list of funding outcomes for the 2023 Partnership Projects Peer Review Cycle 2 round is available to download on NHMRC's Outcomes of funding rounds webpage.
Quotes attributable to NHMRC CEO, Professor Steve Wesselingh:
- “NHMRC’s Partnership Project scheme supports the translation of research through effective integration of findings into health policy and service delivery.
- “Projects that take an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach help us address the many intricacies associated with some of Australia’s greatest health challenges.
- “Our invested commitment to our researchers, as well as the valued backing of our partnership organisations will result in new discoveries, evidence, and ideas for future partnerships.”