$7 million in new NHMRC funding to improve health outcomes for Australians

nhmrc-grants-sept-2021_web

Macquarie University researchers have been awarded a total of $7.07 million in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding.

The Minister for Health and Aged Care, The Hon Greg Hunt MP, announced the latest round of Investigator Grants and Partnerships Grant funding today, Tuesday 14 September.

Six Macquarie projects receive a total of $4.6 million in Investigator Grant funding, with another two projects led by researchers in the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences receiving $2.47 million in Partnership Project funding.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sakkie Pretorius says it is very pleasing to see the groundbreaking work of Macquarie University researchers being recognised with Federal Government investment.

“This funding provides a major boost for our Healthy People future-shaping research priority, allowing us to pioneer further knowledge and innovation in healthcare, particularly in aged care and wellness – an area of increasing importance as our population ages.

“I congratulate our grant recipients on their success and am proud that Macquarie University is improving the lives of so many Australians through our research and clinical excellence.”

Congratulations to all our NHMRC grant recipients.


Dr Kate Churruca of the AIHI receives $650,740 for a research program to identify how the culture of aged care facilities affects residents’ safety and quality of care, and create strategies to improve this and resident outcomes.

Professor Enrico Coiera of the AIHI is awarded $1.5 million for a research program to bring artificial intelligence into the real world of healthcare, looking at issues including safety and testing of claims of benefit.

Dr Carly Johnco from the School of Psychological Sciences is awarded $650,740 to examine ways of treating late-life anxiety, particularly in people with age-related changes in cognition, based on significant advances in understanding of how to reduce fears in younger adults using experimental neuroscience research.

Dr Jenny Lee from the Macquarie Medical School receives $530,518 to investigate treatment for people with advanced head and neck cancer, using material from patients’ own tumours to test responses to new drugs and select the most suitable therapy for each individual.

Dr Mitchell Sarkies of the AIHI is awarded $617,582.88 to develop an evidence-based management model to improve the care provided following hip fractures. It aims to assist in reducing surgery wait times, improving recovery rates, and alleviate pain and suffering.

Dr Yan (Anne) Zou from the Macquarie Medical School receives $650,740 to develop a way of safely and effectively treating brain tumours by delivering cutting-edge gene therapies directly into the brain. Until now, options for applying gene therapies to the brain have been limited.

A joint project led by Professor Andrew Georgiou of the AIHI receives more than $1 million from the NHMRC to improve the quality of patient diagnostic tools, including ensuring the right pathology tests are ordered, measuring the quality of diagnosis, and assessing the appropriateness of treatment.

A joint project led by Professor Johanna Westbrook of the AIHI, and steered by a new National Aged Care Medication Roundtable, receives more than $1.4m from the NHMRC to devise innovative and practical IT-based solutions to address poor medication management in residential aged care, initially focusing on the overuse of antibiotics and antipsychotics.

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