National Health and Medical Research Council Grants

Today I announce National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants totalling over $48 million.

These funds will continue to support the next generation of health and medical researchers, through Postdoctoral Training Fellowships, Postgraduate Scholarship Awards and the NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Health Research Grants Scheme.

The recipients of these awards are the future of health and medical research in Australia.

Australian researchers have been responsible for significant advances and discoveries in the fields of health and medical research and these awards encourage the next generation to continue on their quest to improve the health and well being of people around the world.

NHMRC Postdoctoral Training Fellowships

The Rudd Government will provide total funding of $36.9 million for 132 NHMRC Postdoctoral Training Fellowships.

Recipients include:

Ms Sanchia Shibasaki, from Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, who has been awarded $279,000 to enhance quality in primary health care services for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people;
Dr Bryony Coleman, from the University of Melbourne, who has been awarded $279,000 to explore the possibilities of the use of stem cells to restore hearing; and
Dr Hannah Keage, from the University of New South Wales, who has been awarded $306,547 to improve methods for diagnosing dementia.

NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship Awards

The Rudd Government will provide total funding of $9.4 million for 139 NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship Awards.

Recipients include:

Dr Sotoodeh Abhary, from Flinders University in Adelaide, who has been awarded $31,422 to conduct a genetic study of diabetic eye disease in people with type I diabetes;
Ms Karen Block, from the University of Melbourne, who has been awarded $82,689 to study social inclusion and the health of refugee youth; and
Mr Matthew Wigan, from the University of Queensland, who has been awarded $21,866 to identify new therapeutic targets in the development and treatment of melanoma.

NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Health Research Grants Scheme

The Rudd Government has awarded grants totalling over $1.5 million to two Australian researchers under the NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Health Research Grants Scheme:

Professor Graham Giles, from the Cancer Council of Victoria, will receive $996,294 over five years to research the genetic variants that underlie susceptibility to prostate, breast and ovarian cancers, and assess the genetic and environmental factors involved; and
Professor Malcolm Sim, from Monash University, will receive $693,550 over five years to investigate the risk of brain cancer from mobile phone use during childhood and adolescence.

The NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Health Research Grants Scheme supports Australian participation in international research projects.

It enables Australian researchers to strengthen their individual efforts and collaborate with European and other international pioneering health and medical researchers.

This is a strategic investment to ensure that Australian health research remains at the forefront of international advances, particularly in the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Further information can be found on the NHMRC's website at www.nhmrc.gov.au.

BRISBANE
13 January 2009