33 researchers from across UNSW Sydney receive funding for health and medical research.
Developing nanoscale ‘robots’ to target the deadliest form of breast cancer, exploring the potential of GLP-1 drugs to treat methamphetamine addiction and uncovering links between the menstrual cycle and mental health are among the UNSW projects funded through the 2026 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants .
A total of 33 projects from the faculties of Medicine & Health, Science, Engineering and Arts, Design & Architecture were awarded more than $61 million over five years as part of the scheme.
NHMRC Investigator Grants support high-performing researchers at all career stages to pursue important research across the four pillars of health and medical research – biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research.
Professor Bronwyn Fox, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise at UNSW, said this year’s Investigator Grant recipients reflect the strength of the University’s research capability.
“From developing nanotechnology targeting aggressive cancers to advancing women’s mental health research, UNSW researchers are tackling some of the most pressing health challenges we face. Five years of funding through the NHMRC Investigator scheme creates the conditions for deep, sustained research that can deliver real impact for patients and communities,” Prof. Fox said.
“Congratulations to all our researchers on this outstanding achievement – we’re incredibly proud of their work and the difference it will make.”
Five years of funding through the NHMRC Investigator scheme creates the conditions for deep, sustained research that can deliver real impact for patients and communities.
Scientia Professor Greg Dore from the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney was awarded $3,035,320 for a project aimed at developing new treatments for people who use drugs.
The research will develop new interventions to simplify and enhance the delivery of treatment for Hepatitis C among people who inject drugs. This includes a randomised trial comparing a four-week treatment regimen using three classes of drugs with the current standard eight- to 12-week regimens using two drug classes.
The project will also evaluate the potential of the GLP-1 receptor semaglutide as a treatment for methamphetamine use disorder, following encouraging data in other areas of drug and alcohol dependence. More broadly, the research will establish comprehensive approaches to monitoring the health burden experienced by this population.
“We have an opportunity to build upon our international leadership in the hepatitis C response for people who inject drugs to ensure a cure for all, and to bring innovation and community partnership to other areas of drug user health,” Prof. Dore said.
Professor Bronwyn Graham from UNSW Science was awarded $2,836,000 to investigate how menstrual cycle hormones affect women’s mental health and develop more effective treatments for women dealing with mood and anxiety disorders.
Mental illness, including depression and anxiety disorders, is more common in women than in men. However, most mental health research ignores sex differences, underrepresents women in clinical trials and in preclinical research, and often only studies males. This has made it much harder to develop mental health treatments for women.
Although clinicians have long recognised a link between menstrual cycle hormones and women’s mental health, we still don’t fully understand how these hormonal changes have their effects, Prof. Graham said.
“Two-thirds of people with mood and anxiety disorders are women, yet we are still in the dark ages when it comes to understanding how these disorders are impacted by female-specific hormonal changes across the lifespan,” she said. “I hope that my research will deliver health practitioners tailored, evidence-based guidelines to improve the clinical care of women.”
Prof. Graham’s research program will identify the biological and psychological mechanisms underlying conditions, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which affects up to 8% of menstruating people, and menstrual cycle exacerbation of mental illness, which occurs in around 60% of females with mental illness.
“I will assess how these conditions change over the life course, particularly following pregnancy, and I will test the potential of new psychological treatments to relieve these conditions using non-invasive approaches,” she said.
Professor Kang Liang from UNSW Engineering was awarded $2,781,000 to develop next-generation nanotherapeutics for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the deadliest form of breast cancer. TNBC is notoriously difficult to treat due to its lack of hormone receptors, high metastatic potential and diverse tumour environment.
The project, led by Prof. Liang, focuses on creating tiny, self-propelled “nanoswimmer” robotic devices that can travel directly to tumours, penetrate deep into tissues and deliver targeted combination therapies. By combining machine learning, advanced materials and computational design, the team aims to overcome the barriers that limit current treatments, offering new hope for patients with this aggressive disease.
“The funding from the NHMRC will allow my team to develop smart nanorobots that can actively find and treat tumours, rather than relying on passive delivery. This approach has the potential to significantly improve treatment effectiveness and patient outcomes in one of the most challenging forms of breast cancer,” Prof. Liang said.
Dr Sarah Clifford from UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture was awarded $697,000 to develop a model of care which keeps people at high risk of alcohol-related harm safe.
Harm reduction strategies for alcohol are not well developed or widely recognised, particularly for people who often end up in emergency departments, withdrawal services or police custody.
“This project aims to design better ways to keep people safe when they drink alcohol, particularly people who drink heavily and experience frequent alcohol-related harm,” Dr Clifford from the Drug Policy Modelling Program at UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre said.
“This funding from NHMRC will help us develop practical, policy-ready models for intoxication management. The models will outline different levels of support, cost and expected outcomes so decision-makers can choose responses that match local needs and resources.”
The other UNSW Investigator Grant recipients
Professor Christopher Goodnow, Executive Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, received $3,035,320 for his project Curing autoimmune disease by re-setting the mutated B cell repertoire.
Conjoint Professor Daniel MacArthur from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research received $3,035,320 for his project Genomic medicine resources representing Australia’s unique diversity.
Professor Sallie-Anne Pearson from UNSW Medicine & Health received $3,035,320 for her project Harnessing real-world data to improve quality use of medicines and reduce medicine-related harm.
Professor David Thomas from UNSW Medicine & Health received $3,035,320 for his project Precision oncology: germline risk management.
Professor Susan Ramus from UNSW Medicine & Health received $3,035,320 for her project Advancing the classification of ovarian cancer patients to enable personalised treatment.
Conjoint Professor John Myburgh from The George Institute for Global Health received $3,035,320 for his project The impact of preventive antimicrobial strategies to improve outcomes in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients.
Conjoint Professor Sally Dunwoodie from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute received $3,035,320 for her project Mechanistic understanding of congenital heart disease and embryo loss.
Scientia Professor Rebecca Guy from the Kirby Institute received $2,974,620 for her project Point-of-care testing to accelerate the treatment of priority infectious diseases in remote Australian communities.
Associate Professor Emily Wong from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute received $2,836,100 for her project Leveraging deep learning and single cell biology to understand human enhancer diversity.
Scientia Professor Kaarin Anstey, Director of the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, received $2,828,256 for her project Preventing dementia through individual and population level risk reduction.
Scientia Professor Justin Gooding from UNSW Science received $2,312,014 for his project 3D Bioprinted breast cancer organoids for cancer therapy and treatment monitoring.
Conjoint Associate Professor Julieann Coombes from The George Institute for Global Health received $1,647,800 for her project From Harm to Healing: A First Nations Approach to Systemic Change and Policy Transformation.
Dr Rachel Sutherland from UNSW’s National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre received $1,636,800 for her project Uncovering Hidden Harms: Strengthening Drug Monitoring and Co-Designing Tools for Community Implementation.
Dr Abu Sina from UNSW Science received $1,636,800 for his project NanoGlycoRNA Scan: Novel GlycoRNA biomarker discovery and nanobiosensing program for early cancer detection from liquid biopsy.
Conjoint Associate Professor Xia Wang from The George Institute for Global Health received $1,636,800 for her project Transforming Stroke Outcomes Through Blood Pressure Optimisation and Surgical Innovation.
Associate Professor Louise Causer from the Kirby Institute received $1,636,800 for her project Achieving equitable access to diagnosis and cure for sexually transmitted infections in remote Australia.
Dr Scott Berry from UNSW Medicine & Health received $1,636,800 for his project Understanding epigenetic homeostasis networks for improved cancer therapies.
Conjoint Associate Professor Alexandra Jones from The George Institute for Global Health received $1,636,800 for her project Food regulation for a healthier future: generating evidence to address current and emerging challenges.
Dr Hasindu Gamaarachchi from UNSW Engineering received $1,536,800 for his project A Holistic Computational Framework for Long-Read Genomics Data Analysis.
Conjoint Associate Professor Naomi Hammond from The George Institute for Global Health received $1,509,440 for her project Building a National Framework for Critical Illness Survivorship: Data, Trials, and Translation.
Dr Si Liu from UNSW Engineering received $697,615 for her project Intelligent Reticular Chemistry for Tumour-Targeted Therapy and Real-Time Therapeutic Monitoring.
Dr Zijing Zhou from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute received $697,615 for his project A novel PIEZO subunit potentially involved in pain and blood pressure sensation.
Dr Azeb Gebresilassie Tesema from UNSW Medicine & Health received $697,615 for her project Building resilient community health systems to strengthen primary health care in the Pacific Island countries.
Alicia Byrne from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research received $697,615 for her project Realising the potential of genomic medicine through improved data sharing and refined variant classification.
Dr Arindam Ghosh from UNSW Medicine & Health received $697,615 for his project Decoding Immunotherapies at the Nanoscale.
Dr Luh Putu Lila Wulandari from the Kirby Institute received $637,769 for her project Generating new evidence to inform the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis in Indonesia.
Conjoint Professor Louise Emmett from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research received $567,220 for her project Optimising PSMA targeted radionuclide therapy in metastatic prostate cancer.
Dr Angela Xun-Nan Chen from The George Institute for Global Health received $473,807 for her project Developing an evidence-based approach to long-term glucacon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use in people with overweight and obesity, once target weight has been achieved.
Adjunct Associate Professor Craig Haifer received $209,284 for his project Integrating Microbiome Therapeutics into Clinical Practice: Advancing Faecal Microbiota Transplantation Toward Next-Generation Interventions.
