MNHS researchers awarded over $57 million in NHMRC Investigator Grants
Research projects that will improve outcomes for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, develop long-acting therapies to treat hypertension and organ injury, and create pathways to vision for people with primary visual cortex lesions are among 31 projects awarded over $57 million in funding to Monash Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences researchers in the latest National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants, announced today by Federal Minister for Health and Ageing The Hon Mark Butler MP.
The grants were among $422 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.
Professor Jayashri Kulkarni from the School of Translational Medicine and HER Centre Australia also received $2.8 million for new hormone treatments for women with depression across the lifecycle.
“New investment in women’s mental health to develop new treatments, new approaches, new services and new education is a great step forward for the whole community," Professor Kulkarni said. "This research is an innovative development in expanding our understanding of the role of hormones in both the development and the treatment of depression in women at all stages of the life cycle, and particularly for conditions such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder and menopausal depression.
“There is still much more work that needs to be done in addressing women’s mental health, and we’re excited to continue our work at the forefront of advocating for all women – because women’s mental health is everybody’s business.”
Congratulations to all our recipients, including:
Category | Researcher | School/Institute | Project | Amount |
Leadership 3 | Professor Rachelle Buchbinder | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | A more integrated, responsive and sustainable learning musculoskeletal health system | $3,014,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Kate Denton | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | Long-acting therapies to treat hypertension and organ injury | $3,014,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Jayashri Kulkarni | School of Translational Medicine | New Hormone Treatments for Women with Depression Across the Life Cycle | $2,811,220 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Ben W. Mol | School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health | Enhancing Reproductive Health by New Evidence-synthesis Methods based on Trustworthiness Assessment | $3,014,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Eric Morand | Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Improving outcomes for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus | $2,000,000 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Marcello Rosa | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | Pathways to vision following lesions of the primary visual cortex | $3,014,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor David Tarlinton | School of Translational Medicine | What determines the longevity of antibody production after infection or vaccination? | $2,414,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor Steve Webb | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Adaptive Platform Trials: Expanding Impact | $3,014,025 |
Leadership 3 | Professor James Whisstock | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | In situ studies of the immune synapse | $2,000,000 |
Leadership 2 | Professor Anne Holland | School of Translational Medicine | Advancing non-drug treatments to improve lung health | $2,954,575 |
Leadership 2 | Professor Karin Leder | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Evidence to Impact: Solutions for Climate-Sensitive Health Challenges | $2,954,575 |
Leadership 2 | Professor Seth Masters | Hudson Institue of Medical Research, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine Hudson |
| $2,954,575 |
Leadership 2 | Professor Erica Wood | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Transforming transfusion research to deliver better outcomes for patients and the community | $2,954,575 |
Leadership 1 | Associate Professor Lisa Moran | Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Prevention of cardiometabolic-related disease in women of reproductive age and beyond – risk prediction, screening and precision lifestyle approaches | $2,818,905 |
Leadership 1 | Professor Jason Ong | Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, School of Translational Medicine | Going the last mile to end HIV transmission in Australia: ensuring no one is left behind | $2,818,905 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Jessica Botfield | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Improving access to postpartum contraception through a midwifery model of care | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Nicole Campbell | Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Development of a novel cancer immunotherapy | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Emma Foster | School of Translational Medicine | Transforming Epilepsy Management through Evidence-Driven Approaches | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Dr Bradley Gardiner | School of Translational Medicine | Harnessing Precision Medicine to Combat Infections in Transplant Recipients | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Claire Kelly | School of Psychological Sciences | Antecedents and lifelong consequences of perinatal brain injuries | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Andrew Freeman | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | Unlocking the therapeutic potential of anti-inflammatory mesenchymal stromal cells through a refined mode of action | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Andrew Lin | Victorian Heart Institute, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Artificial intelligence-enabled quantitative atherosclerosis imaging by computed tomography to guide personalised management of coronary artery disease: a randomised clinical trial | $513,043 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Sue Chin Nang | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | Innovating bacteriophage diagnostics and therapy to combat antimicrobial resistance: A cell-free synthetic biology approach | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Praveena Thirunavukkarasu | Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute | Natural Killer T cells to treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Rongbin Xu | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Climate change, bushfire smoke, and human health: multi-country and multi-omics approach | $656,215 |
Emerging Leadership 1 | Dr Chu Yao | School of Translational Medicine | Targeting the bi-directional relationship between diet and microbes to optimise pouch health | $688,405 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Dr Briony Hill | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Guiding and delivering maternity healthcare that is free of weight stigma | $1,623,700 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Dr Courtney McDonald | Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Cell therapies for the injured perinatal brain | $1,623,700 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Associate Professor Emma Ridley | School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine | Improving the quality of evidence in nutrition during recovery from critical illness | $1,623,700 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Dr Joshua Wiley | School of Psychological Sciences | Sleep after Cancer: Scalable, Precision, and Personalised Treatment of Insomnia | $1,623,700 |
Emerging Leadership 2 | Dr Jun Yang | Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Sub-Faculty of Clinical & Molecular Medicine | Advancing the diagnosis and management of primary aldosteronism, a common but neglected cause of hypertension | $1,623,700 |
For more information, 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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