Monash University gets $53M through MRFF for medical and health research
The Australian Government has awarded more than $53M through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to 21 Monash researchers for research into cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, dementia, cancer, primary health care, nutrition and more.
The MRFF supports researchers with conducting ground-breaking medical research discoveries to help improve diagnosis, treatment and care for people with various health conditions.
Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences include Professor Carol Hodgson whose research considers how the safety and efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be improved in patients with severe cardiac and respiratory failure; and Professor John Carroll who received $15M to lead MitoHOPE, a pilot program into mitochondrial donation to support families with certain forms of mitochondrial disease.
Professor Colin Pouton from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences also received $5M into the establishment of a pipeline of mRNA products for clinical development.
In addition, four Early to Mid Career Researcher (EMCR) grants were awarded to Monash researchers as part of a new competitive MRFF scheme: Professor Andrew Udy, Dr Courtney McDonald, Professor Amy Brodtmann and Dr Prerna Varma.
Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said the remarkable funding outcomes recognise Monash researchers’ commitment to purpose-driven research excellence.
“At Monash our researchers are committed to delivering excellence and innovation for the betterment of our communities. This funding across health and medical research will enable them to continue their ground-breaking work to make a real difference in the health and wellbeing of people in Australia and around the world.”
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Senior Vice-President Professor Rebekah Brown said the MRFF grants were a testament to the strength and impact of Monash research.
“The MRFF grants recognise the commitment of Monash researchers and their dedication to solving some of the world’s most pressing health and medical problems.”
“Congratulations to our incredibly talented researchers, especially our early and mid-career researchers who won awards in the competitive new category. Thank you to the Medical Research Future Fund and the Australian Government for its continued support of research.”
The 21 funded projects are among a total of 193 projects announced by Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler MP.
Research projects include:
|
Project lead |
Faculty |
Project title |
Awarded |
|
Associate Professor Natasha Smallwood |
MNHS |
Primary Breathe AUS: A primary care technology-enabled intervention to improve symptom self-management for people with chronic respiratory illness |
$1,977,834.10 |
|
Professor Terence O’Brien |
MNHS |
A Phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sodium selenate as a disease modifying treatment for chronic drug resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (SELECT Trial) |
$2,961,326.74 |
|
Associate Professor Rishi Kotecha |
Hudson Institute |
Interfant-21: A new international clinical trial for infants diagnosed with KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukaemia |
$718,933.55 |
|
Dr Jun Yang |
MNHS |
The CONSEP trial: Implementing screening for a hidden cause of hypertension |
$2,299,203.19 |
|
Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton |
MNHS |
Just Say No to the Just in Case Cannula: An Implementation Science Trial with Roadmap for National Roll Out |
$2,890,283.87 |
|
Professor Carol Hodgson |
MNHS |
Generating new evidence to reduce complications and improve the safety and efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with severe cardiac and respiratory failure: THE RECOMMEND Platform Trial |
$2,985,992.73 |
|
Dr Susan Cartledge |
MNHS |
HeartPath+: Targeting self-efficacy and health literacy through patient education to prevent recurrent heart events in Australians with heart disease |
$598,381.24 |
|
Professor Helena Teede |
MNHS |
Consumer and Community Involvement; Implementation Research for Impact (CCIRI) |
$999,128.90 |
|
Professor Andrew Udy |
MNHS |
A national critical care research platform to ensure high-quality sepsis care in Australian ICU’s |
$4,899,778.81 |
|
Dr Courtney McDonald |
MNHS |
Expanded umbilical cord blood cells for neuroprotection in extremely preterm infants |
$590,143.71 |
|
Professor Amy Brodtmann |
MNHS |
Better biomarkers for dementia diagnosis: NfL and Voice Acoustic analysis In Dementia Diagnosis (NAVAIDD) |
$1,589,171.41 |
|
Dr Prerna Varma |
MNHS |
Zest A personalised, digital intervention for sleep and wellbeing in Australian shift workers |
$805,255.87 |
|
Professor Colin Pouton |
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences |
Establishment of a pipeline of mRNA products for clinical development |
$5,000,000.00 |
|
Dr Marie Yap |
MNHS |
Co-designing and evaluating the effectiveness of a digital parenting intervention with peer-coaching for parents of adolescents with emerging mental health problems |
$1,599,056.00 |
|
Professor Terence O’Brien |
MNHS |
Intracerebral delivery of Neuropeptide Y through human induced pluripotent stem cell (NPY-hiPSC-NPs) for treatment of epilepsy |
$679,315.42 |
|
Professor Rebecca Ritchie |
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences |
Advancing preclinical development of novel GPCR-targeted therapeutics for heart failure |
$1,496,862.61 |
|
Dr Emma Ridley |
MNHS |
A national platform for improving quality of nutrition care for critically ill adults and children |
$1,494,950.90 |
|
Dr Yen Ying Lim |
MNHS |
An Integrated Method for the Assessment and Monitoring of Dementia and Cognitive Impairment: The Cognition – Optimised, Digitised, And Harmonised (C-ODH) platform |
$1,997,763.20 |
|
Professor John Carroll |
MNHS |
Mitochondrial Donation: Healthy Outcomes Pilot and Evaluation (MitoHOPE) |
$15,000,000.00 |
|
Dr Dan Croagh |
MNHS |
Supplemental Jejunal feeding to Improve Quality of Life (SuperQoL) |
$1,668,079.00 |
|
Professor Simon Bell |
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences |
Maximising Embedded pharmacists in Aged Care Medication Advisory Committees |
$1,499,612.00 |