Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences awarded more than $1.5m in ARC funding

2 November 2023

Associate Professor Michelle Halls, Professor Martin Scanlon, Professor Simon Bell, Dr Daniel Priebbenow

L-R: Associate Professor Michelle Halls, Professor Martin Scanlon, Professor Simon Bell, Dr Daniel Priebbenow.

This week the Federal Government’s Australian Research Council (ARC) announced the latest projects to be awarded funding through the ARC Discovery Projects scheme.

Among the successful recipients were three projects either led by or involving researchers from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), including a project led by Associate Professor Michelle Halls and Professor Martin Scanlon and another led by Dr Daniel Priebbenow.

Professor Simon Bell, Director of the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety within MIPS, is also a Chief Investigator on one of the successful projects being led by Monash’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

Director of MIPS Professor Chris Porter said that supporting basic and applied research is critical to the growth of Australia’s research and innovation capabilities.

“An investment in research projects which aim to address key gaps in fundamental understanding is essential and ultimately a long-term investment in Australia’s ability to develop new homegrown innovations, products and jobs” said Professor Porter.

“My sincere congratulations to this round of successful ARC Discovery Project recipients.”

Summary of MIPS ARC Discovery Projects:

Associate Professor Michelle Halls and Professor Martin Scanlon were awarded $720,000 to explore how a family of lipid binding proteins control organ specific activation of nuclear receptors – receptors that play a key role in generating energy and are critical for life.

Dr Daniel Priebbenow from MIPS and Dr David Leitch from the University of Victoria in Canada were awarded $460,000 to discover new catalytic strategies for the synthesis of valuable nitrogen-containing molecules.

Professor Simon Bell is part of a group awarded $460,000 to investigate resident and family engagement in communicating about medicines that affect the mind, emotions and behaviour, by developing and testing creative strategies in aged care facilities. The project is being led by Professor Elizabeth Manias from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

51 Monash University research projects have been awarded a combined total of more than $25 million in the latest ARC Discovery Projects scheme.

Among the Group of Eight institutions, Monash has topped Australia with the highest number of applications awarded and ranked second in the total amount of funding.

For a full list of funded Discovery Projects for 2024, including a snapshot of funding by state and territory, please view the ARC announcement kit here.

ENDS