Some of Western Australia’s leading researchers will share in $10 million dollars to kickstart health and medical breakthroughs, with 51 projects awarded grant funding through the Research Excellence Awards 2022.
The Research Excellence Awards 2022 grants recognise and support high-performing WA health and medical researchers. Fifty-one researchers have been acknowledged, representing WA’s top 21, early and mid-career researchers and 30 established researchers.
The areas of research cover a broad scope of health issues in children and adults in WA, including:
- population monitoring of heart disease and stroke;
- dementia;
- lung health in young children
- childhood allergies; and
- reducing the burden of infectious disease in Aboriginal children.
Recipients have been awarded grants between $110,000 and $340,000 to use over a two-year period. They must submit a proposal outlining how the funds will be spent to support their research.
Recipients can use the funding strategically to find opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their projects, provide stability for research support staff and increase their success in national grant applications.
The Research Excellence Awards is an initiative of the McGowan Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund, which is a secure funding source to drive health and medical research and help develop innovation and commercialisation in WA.
More information about the Research Excellence Awards 2022 recipients can be found here.
As stated by Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson:
“Western Australia has some of the most dedicated researchers in the world; they are leading health and medical breakthroughs and we as a Government are proud to support and accelerate their progress.
“It’s tremendous to see continued funding for WA researchers through the McGowan Government’s flagship initiative to support health and medical research and innovation.
“These awards are a chance to recognise outstanding WA researchers by providing funding for further growth in research opportunities.
“I’d like to congratulate all 51 grant recipients and wish each recipient further success in their future endeavours.”
As stated by Lions Eye Institute Professor David Mackey:
“The Research Excellence Awards 2022 are a fantastic initiative of the FHRI Fund. This funding will help support and retain Western Australia’s current top medical researchers and allow researchers to develop pilot data for applications to national research funding bodies such as the NHMRC and the MRFF.
“Myopia, nearsightedness, is increasing in the younger generation in many higher income countries. Our team at the Lions Eye Institute, in collaboration with the Raine Study and the Busselton Healthy Aging Study, has found that spending more time outdoors decreases the risk of developing myopia.
“However, we need to find the sweet spot of decreasing the risk of myopia without increasing the risk of skin cancer. The Research Excellence Awards will allow us to conduct pilot studies in school-aged children to prepare for future nationally funded intervention studies.”
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