University of Melbourne researchers have been awarded $9 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for transformative research into cancer, chronic disease and Indigenous welfare.
Three new NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence – tackling rising rates of early onset colorectal cancer in young people, eliminating serious viral infections in Indigenous communities, and reducing out-of-home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children – have each been awarded $3 million.
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mark Cassidy AM said these initiatives demonstrate the impact that research investment and collaboration can have in delivering meaningful benefits for communities across the country.
“These new Centres of Research Excellence will address some of Australia’s most significant health and social challenges, including understanding why early-onset colorectal cancer is rapidly rising in Australians under 50, and finding new detection and treatment tools to improve outcomes for those affected,” Professor Cassidy said.
“Our University is committed to supporting the Government’s Close the Gap initiative, and two of the Centres will make important contributions to this initiative, by partnering with Indigenous communities to combat problems that disproportionately impact these communities,” he said.
NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence support researchers to pursue 5-year collaborative projects, aiming to improve health outcomes and improve translation of research into policy and practice.
The University of Melbourne-led centres are part of a nation-wide investment by the Australian Government of $66 million for 22 new Centres of Research Excellence.
The three new centres will be led out of the University’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.
The Centre of Research Excellence investigating the Aetiology, Risk factors, Tumourigenesis, Exposures, Microbiome, and Immune Susceptibilities underlying Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (ARTEMIS) led by Associate Professor Daniel Buchanan will tackle the rising rates of bowel cancer in young Australians.
The project, funded by the NHMRC and Bowel Cancer Australia, will train the next generation of researchers to be research leaders and build a national datahub to help prevent, detect and treat early-onset colorectal cancer earlier, leading to better outcomes for young people. Partnering in the centre is the University of Melbourne, Adelaide University, University of the Sunshine Coast, University of Sydney, La Trobe University and Flinders Medical Centre
The Centre of Research Excellence in Closing the Gap on Hepatitis B Virus and HTLV-1 cure (CLoVer) led by Professor Peter Revill will advance gene editing strategies towards curing these two chronic viral diseases, which disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This will be achieved in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander investigators and educators, using the combined expertise in molecular virology, immunology and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health of the University of Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Menzies School of Health Research, Monash University, WEHI, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.
The Centre for research excellence in Aboriginal Child Removals led by Professor Sandra Eades brings together researchers, communities and service providers to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, which is increasing rather than decreasing.
The team from the University of Melbourne, Curtin University, Adelaide University, Monash University and University of New South Wales will work with communities to develop capacity and produce evidence to address this important national issue.
