MNHS researchers awarded over $46 million in NHMRC Investigator Grants

Research projects to improve treatments in critical care medicine, drug-resistant epilepsy and sexually transmitted infections are among 26 projects awarded to Monash Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences researchers in the latest National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants funding, announced yesterday by Federal Minister for Health and Ageing The Hon Mark Butler MP.

The grants were among $411 million awarded to 229 researchers to investigate Australia’s greatest health challenges. The Investigator Grant scheme is the NHMRC’s largest funding scheme and is a major investment in Australia’s health and medical research workforce.  It provides Australia’s highest-performing researchers, across the spectrum of health research and at all career stages, with consolidated funding for their salary, if required, and a significant research support package for five years.

This year’s grants also included gender equity targets to address systemic disadvantage faced by female and non-binary applicants. For the second time in the history of the scheme, women researchers will receive more funding overall, including at the most senior levels of the scheme.

Professor Mike Ryan, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), said the grants were a recognition of the strength of health and medical research at Monash."These grants recognise the outstanding work of Monash University researchers in creating significant health outcomes and improvements for the community. It’s also fantastic to see the initiatives introduced by the NHMRC to address gender inequities have led to an equal number of women receiving Investigator Grants this year. Congratulations to all recipients.”

Professor James Whisstock, Deputy Dean Research, congratulated the recipients. “We’re delighted and proud that our researchers have been successful in receiving prestigious Investigator Grant funding,” he said.  “Health and medical research is fundamental to achieving high-quality and equitable clinical care outcomes in our hospitals and the wider community. This investment in our researchers will allow them to continue striving to solve the country’s most pressing health challenges,” he said.

Funding recipients include:

Category

Researcher

School/Institute

Project

Amount

Leadership 3

Professor Rinaldo Bellomo

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Research programs and pivotal trials to improve outcomes in critical care medicine

$2,981,630

Leadership 3

Professor Terence O'Brien

School of Translational Medicine

Applying innovative approaches to developing transformational treatments for people with drug-resistant epilepsy

$2,981,630

Leadership 2

Professor Ana Traven

Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

Harnessing disease tolerance and immune protection to treat fungal sepsis

$2,524,080

Leadership 2

Professor Carol Hodgson

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Improving the quality of survival after critical illness

$2,924,080

Leadership 2

Professor Claudia Nold

Hudson Institute of Medical Research, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health

Developing and Repurposing Therapies: Pioneering Interventional Immunology for Early Life Diseases & Beyond

$2,924,080

Leadership 2

Professor Catriona Bradshaw

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, School of Translational Medicine

Transforming the management of treatment-refractory sexually transmitted infections (STI) and STI syndromes with precision medicine and genomics

$2,924,080

Leadership 1

Professor Trisha Peel

School of Translational Medicine

Towards Elimination of Avoidable Infections in Surgery

$2,792,745

Leadership 1

Professor Eric Chow

Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, School of Translational Medicine

Optimising the use of antibiotics for sexually transmitted infections to improve antimicrobial stewardship

$2,792,745

Leadership 1

Professor Kim Good-Jacobson

Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

A molecular approach to unlocking B cell memory potential

$2,792,745

Leadership 1

Associate Professor Jessica Kasza

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Developing, translating and implementing biostatistical expertise in stepped wedge cluster randomised trials

$2,792,745

Leadership 1

Associate Professor Flora Wong

School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health

Personalising brain care in preterm babies

$2,396,372.50

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Matthew Page

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Novel approaches to enhance the quality of systematic reviews that underpin public health and policy decisions

$1,503,775

Emerging Leadership 2

Associate Professor Bei Bei

Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences

Healthy sleep: Advancing the treatment and prevention of insomnia

$1,403,775

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Miles Andrews

School of Translational Medicine

Androgen disruption as a novel treatment approach in hormone 'insensitive' cancers

$1,603,775

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Calum Roberts

School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health

Improving health outcomes for sick and premature infants

$1,362,265

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Ziad Nehme

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Advancing the evidence base in cardiac arrest and resuscitation

$1,483,020

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Anju Joham

Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI)

Improving understanding of natural history, refining diagnosis and optimising health outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome – a prevalent, yet underserved population

$1,362,265

Emerging Leadership 2

Associate Professor Victoria Mar

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Data-driven approaches to outsmart skin cancer

$1,362,265

Emerging Leadership 2

Dr Katherine Anders

School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Optimising the scale-up of evidence-based tools for control and local elimination of dengue

$1,603,775

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Evan Healy

Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

How does RNA regulate gene repression?

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Sarah Garnish

Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

Cell death at the host-pathogen interface

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Jeggan Tiego

Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences

Understanding the structure and genetic and neurobiological mechanisms of adult psychopathology

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr James Pang

Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences

Next-generation techniques for mapping and modelling brain changes in clinical disorders

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Iain Abbott 

School of Translational Medicine

Innovating diagnostics, antibiotic treatment, and prevention strategies for urinary tract infections

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Lee Fletcher

 

Spatiotemporal patterning of dendritic computations and learning by cholinergic inputs in the neocortex

$674,400

Emerging Leadership 1

Dr Jane Hawkey

School of Translational Medicine

Advancing diagnosis, management & prevention of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections with genomics

$674,400

For a full list of recipients, please visit the  National Health and Medical Research Council


About Monash University

Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.

With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.

As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.

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