The WAHTN Consumer and Community Health Research Network is pleased to welcome Consumer Advocates: Tanya Jones, Briony Williams and Ben Horgan to their team.
Our new Consumer Advocates (left to right) Ben Horgan, Briony Williams and Tanya Jones
The Advocates are currently undertaking induction and training for their new roles and will commence working at UWA, Telethon Kids Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, Harry Perkins Institute, Curtin University and Edith Cowan University over the next few weeks.
As it is now grant writing time and many researchers are preparing applications, there are funding bodies that require researchers to address specific questions about involving consumers and / or community members in their research applications. The WAHTN’s Consumer and Community Health Research Network is here to provide advice and support to researchers to consider ways to address these questions in developing planned and budgeted strategies for involvement activities.
If you would like assistance or support with grant writing and consumer and community involvement you can contact us on ipir@telethonkids.org.au or through the contact us section on our website http://www.involvingpeopleinresearch.org.au/home/contact-us
Innovative SMEs and startups in the digital health space are invited to apply for the Texas Medical Centre Accelerator (TMCx) online here by 23 December 2017. This is a unique opportunity, with TMC accepting up to 4 Australian firms, at no charge, to be part of their Accelerator program, commencing 13 February 2017.
The 4 month program will be offered on a competitive basis to Australian companies by the TMC. Participating companies will be responsible for funding their own travel, accommodation and other expenses while in Houston.
HISA (Health Informatics Society of Australia) has formed an alliance with the Texas Medical Centre to drive the BioBridge initiative in Australia.
This initiative is supported by Austrade.
The Department of Health in conjunction with the Channel 7 Telethon Trust is pleased to announce the fifth round of the Telethon-Perth Children’s Hospital Research Fund 2016 (TPCHRF) is now open for applications (funding available in 2017) with the Department of Health’s closing date being 1:00pm, Monday 3 April 2017.
The TPCHRF was jointly established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust to fund health and medical research that focuses on the health of children and adolescents in WA.
Applications are invited for two funding streams.
Stream 1: Short-term Research Projects – to be completed within 2 years with up to $250,000 available per project; and
Stream 2: Strategic Research Initiatives – to be completed within 3 years with up to $500,000 available per project.
This year special initiative funding is available for health service-led research projects under Stream 1.
Further information along with the Guidelines for Applicants and Application Forms can be found at: http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/S_T/Telethon-Perth-Childrens-Hospital-Research-Fund
Information sessions can be arranged to assist researchers with applying for this round, please email CMOResearchDevelopmentUnit@health.wa.gov.au if you wish to organise a session for your institution.
Please see the attached Information flyer for more information.
FutureHealth WA (FHWA) is a State government initiative which is providing an additional $30 million over four years, from 2013-14 to 2016-17 to develop and promote health and medical researchin Western Australia and through this, provide new opportunities to enhance the health of Western Australians.
Through FHWA the Department of Health WA is offering in-principle funding and in-kind support for applications made by WA researchers to major national and international health and medical research funding bodies.
Support from the Department of Health is expected to boost WA researchers’ competitiveness and to leverage significant additional funding for WA.
Applicants may be awarded up to $250,000, with funding being conditional upon the success of the external competitive grant application.
Funded research may run for up to 5 years, as determined by the partnership grant program’s funding rules, and may involve multiple partners.
Although this scheme is predominantly aimed at 2016 NHMRC Partnership Projects that are being submitted to the NHMRC Peer Review Cycle 1 or 2, other equivalent partnership-type grant applications, with a closing date prior to 30 June 2016 will also be considered.
Further Information:
The announcement can be found at: https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Barnett/2015/12/1-million-injection-for-health-research.aspx and the guidelines at: http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/FutureHealth-WA-Major-Research-Grant-Support-2015-16.
Other Western Australian Government funding opportunities aimed at supporting health and medical research can be found at: http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Health-for/Researchers-and-educators/Research-development.
Applications should be submitted via this office, two weeks prior to the external closing date, with a UWA Application Cover Sheet (http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/staff/forms/funding). The external closing date for this scheme is 10 February 2016.
The Application Pack and Application Form can be accessed online at the Research Development website.
Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the Research Development Unit to discuss their planned project. The Research Development Unit can be contacted via email to CMOResearchDevelopment@health.wa.gov.au or telephone to (08) 9222 4053.
St Catherine’s College (UWA) is home to 120 postgraduates who participate in a tailored program at the College. The postgraduate program offers full accommodation and meals but importantly, also offers a wrap-around intellectual and social program for young postgraduates.
Please see the attached flyer for more information
The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced almost $2.2m in funding to establish the new Australian Metabolic Phenotyping Centre (AMPC) at Murdoch University. Metabolic phenotyping is a powerful tool for wide ranging biological studies, offering a greatly enhanced range of metabolic analysis.
WAHTN is delighted to be part of this exciting new research centre. The funding is the result of a consortium of all five Western Australian (WA) universities: Murdoch University; Curtin University; the University of Western Australia (UWA); Edith Cowan University (ECU) and The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA). Partners also include the Telethon Kids Institute, the Harry Perkins Medical Research Institute, the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Perth, and the EPICentre at the University of New South Wales.
Associate Professor Robert Trengove, from Murdoch University’s Separation Science Laboratory, is Chief Investigator on the project. He said: “This is a game changing development and will allow Australian scientists to be part of the initiative for many of today’s global challenges in human and animal health, crop production and the environment.
Please see the attached media release for further details
Congratulations to WAHTN Executive Board member, Prof Peter Klinken who has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy for 2016 of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
ATSE is an independent body of more than 800 Australian scientists and engineers seeking to enhance Australia’s prosperity through technological innovation.
Peter Klinken was acknowledged as an outstanding medical scientist with many publications in leading international journals. His work has led to the granting of several current patents relating to tumour suppression, sumoylation control, transcription modulation and hormone disorders. He has led the establishment of the Western Australian Medical Research Institute. In 2008 he named WA Citizen of the Year and in 2014 he was appointed Chief Scientist for Western Australia where he has displayed great leadership in developing science policy.
The Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, has announced seed funding from the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre Project Fund Program for an exciting new Australia-wide consortium that promises to bring new treatments closer.
The consortium is focused on collaboration to develop a culture of innovation that supports the progression of Australian medical research through to real world outcomes, through the provision of a mentoring network and training programmes adapted from global best practice in innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Consortium partners at inception are the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI), The University of Western Australia, Monash University, University of Sydney, SPARK Co-Lab Ltd, University of Technology Sydney, Proteomics International Limited, Orthocell Ltd, St John of God Healthcare, Avita Medical, University of Adelaide, Murdoch University, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Telethon Kids Institute, Lion’s Eye Institute, Ear Science Institute Australia and the WA Neuroscience Research Institute.
Chair of the Consortium Steering Committee, Associate Professor Kevin Pfleger said, “We owe it to the community to translate research as effectively as possible and this Australia-wide collaboration between industry, healthcare providers and academia will take an important step towards that goal.”
The Consortium would like to thank MTPConnect for their support of this initiative through their competitive matched funding program that aims to invest in big, bold ideas to boost the innovation, productivity and competitiveness of Australia’s MTP sector. The Consortium’s funding is part of the $7.4m going to 14 projects over two years through the Project Fund Program.
Sue MacLeman, CEO of MTPConnect said, “We are very excited to be supporting this impressive national consortium led by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation. Development of this project will ensure that it is set to drive change through collaboration and innovation, two important pillars of the MTPConnect Sector Competitiveness Plan. Translational research and training is essential for the future growth and competitiveness of the medtech and pharmaceuticals sector in Australia, to ensure that we can flourish on both a local and global scale.”
For additional information please contact:
Sarah-Jane Aston – Media and Communications Officer
Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation
0400 466 485
MTPConnect – the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre announced it will provide $7.4 million of funding over two years for 14 national projects in the medtech, biotech and pharmaceutical (MTP) sector.
Please go to http://www.mtpconnect.org.au/Story?Action=View&Story_id=19 for more information.
Projects are listed on http://www.mtpconnect.org.au/Category?Action=View&Category_id=101