MRFF – Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research Initiative – 2024 Infertility, Pregnancy Loss and Menopause Grant Opportunity

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) – 2024 Infertility, Pregnancy Loss and Menopause Grant Opportunity will provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:  

  • Stream 1 (Targeted Call for Research): identify and/or evaluate the physical, emotional and/or psychological impacts of fertility treatment and its outcomes on prospective parents.
  • Stream 2 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct a large-scale multidisciplinary project, co-designed with consumers, to identify the barriers and enablers to, and impact of, evidence-based help-seeking behaviour among parents when concerned during pregnancy.  
  • Stream 3 (Targeted Call for Research): identify and/or validate new predictive markers of pregnancy loss risk and/or adverse outcomes across the pregnancy continuum.
  • Stream 4 (Targeted Call for Research): conduct a large-scale multidisciplinary project, co-designed with consumers, to identify and evaluate the impacts of perimenopause and menopause on health and wellbeing. Applications are required to:  
    • investigate menopause symptoms that impact on physical health, mental health and wellbeing, including psychosocial factors
    • investigate impacts on workforce engagement and retention, including on paid and unpaid employment
    • include research participants from metropolitan areas (MM1) and regional, rural and/or remote locations (MM2-7), according to the Modified Monash Model  
    • consider diverse populations (e.g. individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse communities).
  • Stream 5 (Targeted Call for Research): investigate the biological mechanisms or risk factors that underpin:  
    • Topic A: unexplained female infertility
    • Topic B: pregnancy loss and/or neonatal death
    • Topic C: early or medically induced menopause.

The anticipated outcomes of the research is to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians by:  

  • Stream 1: generating evidence to inform strategies to improve health outcomes for individuals undergoing fertility treatment
  • Stream 2: identifying approaches to support help-seeking behaviour in prospective parents to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes
  • Stream 3: enhancing risk prediction to support effective interventions to improve pregnancy outcomes
  • Stream 4: informing effective strategies, policies or programs to improve health outcomes for individuals experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
  • Stream 5: generating evidence to inform prevention or management approaches for infertility, pregnancy loss, neonatal death, or early or medically induced menopause. 

This grant opportunity is being administered by NHMRC on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Further information on the MRFF is available from the Department of Health and Aged Care.

Link to GrantConnect