Tag: funding

East Metro Health Service Mental Health Research Fund now open!
The East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) has committed $1 million to fund research into improving the services provided to community members experiencing mental illness.

The EMHS Mental Health Research Fund will support research and evaluation projects which aim to generate innovative and ambitious solutions to service delivery challenges. The Fund will provide a maximum of $200,000 per project for periods up to 2 years. However, acknowledging the breadth of scope of projects envisaged, the total funding will be determined based on the needs of each project. Other factors, including the level of in-kind support or matched funding from partner organisations will be taken into account.

Funding is available to cover the direct costs of the project including:
- Project-specific salary support for research personnel e.g. project coordinator, research associate
- Materials and consumables
- Specialist equipment essential for the project (the equipment will remain the property of EMHS)
- Expert services e.g. biostatistical or health economist services
- Dissemination, engagement and translation activities (these are considered key aspects of projects to be funded)
Funds cannot be used for:
- Salary recovery for investigators already employed by EMHS or a partner
- Infrastructure costs – such as building, basic services and utilities – or the cost of large equipment
- Organisational overheads and indirect costs
- Travel and overseas allowances
- Non-research related activities
Eligibility Criteria:
- Projects must have the potential to be of value to EMHS and the broader health service and to be translated into meaningful and enduring improvements to mental health services within a 2 year time-frame (1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021)
- There must be a significant contribution to the project by EMHS employees, although the lead researcher can be from a partner organisation
- The work must be substantially undertaken within the EMHS i..e Royal Perth Hospital, Bentley Hospital, Armadale Health Service, Kalamunda Hospital, St John of God Midland Public Hospital, EMHS Population and Community Health Programs
- Collaboration between multiple EMHS hospitals, services and departments and partnerships with other health services, primary care networks and universities is strongly encourages
- It’s expected partner organisations will match the funding provided by EMHS with in-kind support and/or a monetary contribution
- Projects which incorporate a research capacity building component and provide a lasting legacy for the EMHS site(s) e.g. an ongoing academic partnership, new internal EMHS collaborations, up-skilled staff, research-specific equipment or infrastructure are highly desirable
Expressions of Interest Applications close 5pm, Friday 22 November, 2019. The EMHS Mental Health Research Fund site has applications forms and further information

Please note Applications will be assessed by a Review Panel using an Assessment Criteria. You can access the Assessment Criteria via the Mental Health Research Fund Prospectus

Contact Sharon Oddy with any questions
October 7, 2019

WAHTN awarded Federal Budget funds for the Rapid Applied Research Translation program

Today the Australian Government’s Minister for Health, Hon. Greg Hunt MP, has announced eight national translation research centres, including the Western Australian Health Translation Network (WAHTN), will receive more than $33 million for research into health care practices and interventions. The funding will focus on people with, or at risk of, developing chronic conditions.

The WAHTN has been awarded $4.14 million in the latest round of the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) as part of the Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) program. This round of RART grants was targeted to primary care research, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary care and public health interventions which address lifestyle factors which lead to chronic disease. This builds on $1.97 million previously awarded to WAHTN in 2018, totalling $6.1 million provided by the Australian Government over three years.

Commenting on the successful funding application, Executive Director of WAHTN, Professor Gary Geelhoed, said “The awarding of these funds to WAHTN and to similar bodies around Australia, comprising the Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA), confirms the ongoing commitment of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and MRFF to the importance of these entities in promoting medical research and its timely application.”

The grant will provide funding for 12 research projects from WAHTNs Health Service Translational Research Projects (HSTRP) initiative, three Targeted Translational Research (TTR) Fellowships and several National System Level Initiatives, which are projects carried out across the nine AHRA Centres throughout Australia.

The TTR Fellowships align with WAHTNs aim to support our emerging research talent. Along with building and strengthening the research workforce within WA and enhancing our capacity and capability to undertake high quality translational research. The Fellowships will be targeted to the research areas of:

Wound Care
Biostatistics

The HSTRP program attracted 68 applications from the public and private health sector, PathWest and the WA Primary Health Alliance. The large number of quality applications made the process highly competitive. It also provided an encouraging snapshot of the strength and breadth of translational health research occurring in WA hospital and primary health settings. The successful projects, listed in the table below, will be supported by $2.84 million in MRFF funding, with matched funding from the health services.

Read the Australian Government’s media release

The successful HSTRP recipients are:

Recipient	Project Title	Health Service
Dr Christopher Brennan-Jones	PCH Ear Portal: Improving access to specialist ENT and Audiology services in metropolitan Perth	Child and Adolescent Health Service
Dr André Schultz	Implementation of solutions to improve follow-up for Aboriginal children hospitalised with lower respiratory tract infections	Child and Adolescent Health Service
Prof Graham Hillis	Community based education and exercise training in heart failure: Harnessing an existing resource to bridge a gap	East Metropolitan Health Service
Prof Christobel Saunders	Measuring the cost of continuous improvement in care-cancer at Royal Perth Hospital – a ‘proof-of-concept’	East Metropolitan Health Service
Assoc Prof Paul Cohen	Getting the MOST out of follow-up: a randomised controlled trial to compare three-monthly nurse-led telephone follow-up, including monitoring serum CA125 and patient reported outcomes using the MOST (Measure of Ovarian Symptoms and Treatment concerns) with routine clinic-based follow-up, following completion of first-line chemotherapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer	North Metropolitan Health Service
Prof Michael Millward	Integrating Tumour Mutational Burden (TMB) testing for appropriate selection of immuno-oncology therapy in metastatic melanoma fit for the modern era	North Metropolitan Health Service
Prof Girish Dwivedi	High Performance Medicine through Artificial Intelligence in the Emergency Department	South Metropolitan Health Service
Assoc Prof Andrew Maiorana	Primary Care Adherence to Heart Failure guidelines IN Diagnosis, Evaluation and Routine management (PATHFINDER) Study	South Metropolitan Health Service
Dr Wei-Sen Lam	TeleTrials in WA: A feasibility study to develop and pilot a TeleTrials framework to bring clinical trials closer to home for country patients	WA Country Health Service
Ms Jo Moore	A community and health system partnership to prevent hospitalisation and improve outcomes through a Compassionate Communities Model of End of Life Care	WA Country Health Service
Prof Desiree Silva	Embedding E-Health (Pregnancy Lifestyle, Activity, Nutrition (PLAN)) into routine clinical practice pathways to provide a healthy start to life	Ramsay Health Care
Mr Richard Varhol	Unlocking the potential of health system integration through data linkage: Combining primary and secondary data across the continuum of care to support policy development and clinical management of chronic disease in WA	WA Primary Health Alliance

September 18, 2019

$21 million in funding for dementia research

WAHTN commends the Australian Government for setting aside an additional $21 million for dementia research. This is a significant area of research and the funds will help focus research on risk reduction, prevention and tracking of dementia – which is Australia’s second leading cause of death.

The need for investment in research to develop new treatments and to improve dementia care is evident. The $21 million is in addition to the $185 million Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care 10 year mission which is funded through the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

We congratulate the recipients of the 13 funded projects (listed below) who are all part of our Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA) partner organisations.

Funded Projects from Round 5 – Dementia Risk Reduction and Prevention:

Chief Investigator	Project Title	Organisation
Assoc Prof Lisbeth Evered	The PROJECT Trial: PeRiOperaTive Enhancement of Cognitive Trajectory	University of Melbourne
Prof Kaarin Anstey	Translating the evidence on dementia risk reduction to generate assessments, advice and training for health professionals, policy makers, patients and public	University of New South Wales
Prof Andrew Pipingas	Mediterranean diet and exercise to reduce cognitive decline and dementia risks in independent living older Australians: the MedWalk randomised controlled trial	Swinburne University of Technology
Dr Ashleigh Smith	Living your best day – Optimising activity and diet compositions for dementia prevention	University of South Australia
Prof Sharon Naismith	REducing Sleep Apnoea for the PrEvention of Dementia (REShAPED): a multi-site feasibility RCT	University of Sydney
Prof Katherine Samaras	Preventing cognitive decline with metformin: a randomised controlled trial	The Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Dr Paul Gardiner	Taking a whole of day approach to optimising activity to prevent dementia in people with type 2 diabetes	The University of Queensland
Dr Yen Ying Lim	BetterBrains: Person-Centred, Multi-Domain, Primary Prevention Strategies to Delay Memory Decline	University of Melbourne
Dr Johnson George	Holistic Approach in Primary care for Preventing Memory Impairment aNd Dementia (HAPPI MIND)	Monash University
Assoc Prof Amy Brodtmann	Cardiovascular exercise to prevent cognitive decline in high risk patient populations: a post-ischaemic stroke exercise intervention study	University of Melbourne
Assoc Prof Edward Strivens	Reducing dementia risk in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities	James Cook University

Funded Projects from Round 6 – Improving Dementia Data and Methods:

Chief Investigator	Project Title	Organisation
Prof Annette Dobson	Improving Australia’s Dementia Statistics	The University of Queensland
Prof Velandai Srikanth	Leveraging electronic medical records and routine administrative data towards a population approach for monitoring dementia frequency, risk factors and management	Monash University

July 29, 2019

Cancer Council WA funding
The Cancer Council WA have two funding opportunities now open for applications.

The opportunities are:
- Cancer Council WA Postdoctoral Fellowship – applications close Friday 19 August 2019
- Cancer Council WA Student Vacation Scholarships – applications close Tuesday 13 August 2019
The Postdoctoral Fellowship is open to biomedical and health researchers and is worth up to $75,000 each year for 3 years. With funding available from January 1, 2020. This funding will be awarded to an outstanding Early Career Researcher who will contribute to the field of cancer research in Western Australia (WA). Read the guidelines and application forms

The Student Vacation Scholarships aim to encourage promising students to develop and advance their cancer-related research skills during the 2019-2020 summer holiday period. The scholarships are available to students studying disciplines related to cancer control (including biological science, medicine, behavioural science or public health). Up to $3,000 is available for each scholarship. Read the guidelines and application form

For more information contact the Cancer Council WA Education & Research Office
July 4, 2019
Spinnaker Health Research Foundation grants

The Spinnaker Health Research Foundation 2020 Grants are opening for Expressions of Interest (EOI) on Monday 8 July 2019.

Spinnaker supports health research which responds to identified needs of the community of the south metropolitan area of Perth, and has potential for translation at a local, national and international level.

Early Career Research and See grants are available up to $15,000. Projects are required to demonstrate the capacity for translation into practice. The projects must also demonstrate the opportunities for sharing of knowledge for the betterment of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of disease or human health conditions.

Why not book a time with the Consumer and Community Health Research Network to review your application?

Read more about how to apply.

Deadline for Expression of Interest – 4pm, 9 August 2019

Information Session – 8am, 17 July 2019

Grant Writing Session – 12pm, 19 July 2019

Contact Dani Ryder to register for any of the above sessions

July 1, 2019
National Palliative Care Project Grant
The National Palliative Care Projects aim to improve the quality of palliative care service delivery in Australia.

The objectives of the grant are to support nationally focused projects for the target population groups which:
- Improve the quality of and access to palliative care service skill development for service providers
- Improve the quality of palliative care service delivery in community and acute care settings
- Strengthen understanding and increase uptake of advance care planning
- Improve knowledge and community awareness of palliative care and
- Improve the collation and dissemination of palliative care information across the sector
Successful projects could receive funding from $300,000. With the total amount available for the grant set at $12 million.

Applications close 12pm, Thursday 8 August 2019

Read more about the eligibility criteria of the National Palliative Care Project grant

The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) Outcomes and Bench-marking Conference is running in Sydney this November 2019.
June 17, 2019
NHMRC-NIHR Collaborative Research Grant Scheme funding in 2020
The National Health and Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research Collaborative Research (NIHR) Grant Scheme supports Australian participation and collaboration in leading international collaborative research through the United Kingdom’s NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. This round will focus on priorities for funding in 2020.

The HTA Programme funds independent research about the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of healthcare treatments and tests. Projects involving Australian researchers based in Australia which are chosen by the NIHR for funding maybe eligible for NHMRC support.

NHMRC is supporting Australian researchers for the following NIHR HTA research topics:
- Antipsychotics for anorexia nervosa
- Combination treatment for dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia
- Care planning intervention for people with dementia who do not have regular contact with an informal carer
- Vagus nerve stimulation for highly treatment-resistant depression
- Extended treatment in early intervention in psychosis services
Successful applicants will have grant funding for five years and a total of $3 million is available.

Applications close Friday 26 July 2019

Read more about the National Institute for Health Research Collaborative Research Grants 2020

Or visit the GrantConnect page
June 13, 2019
Research Translation Projects (RTP) Grant Opportunity now open
The Research Translation Projects (RTP) program is now open for its 13th round.

The RTP grant program seeks to support high quality research projects which have the potential to improve policy and/or practice in WA Health, and aim to investigate efficiencies which can be delivered while maintaining or improving patient outcomes. Projects may be awarded up to $270,000 and must be completed within 24 months.

To be considered applications must include:
- Addresses relevant contemporary challenges faced by WA health
- A solid economic analysis of the predicted benefits
- Demonstrate a commitment to the translation and implementation of research findings into health care policy and practice improvements in WA
Applications which feature projects for subsequent grant applications to external programs, such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) are encouraged. Applications from persons in the clinical service delivery environment with suitable multi-disciplinary and cross-institutional collaborations are also encouraged to apply.

The 2019 (Round 13) Guidelines for Applicants and the Application Form can be downloaded from the Research Development site.

Applications close: 1pm, Monday 24 June 2019

For queries or advice on submitting applications and accessing health economics expertise contact the Research Development Unit.
May 16, 2019
$52 million funding investment by WA State Government in long term Health and Medical Research

The McGowan government has announced the annual interest from the $1.3 billion WA Future Fund will be redirected to address the gap in current health and medical research investment.

The additional $52 million will ramp up health research investment over a three-year period (from 2020-2021 and 2022-2023). Which will increase the total research investment to $126.6 million over the next four years.

The funding boot is aimed at retaining our innovation and commercialisation opportunities stemming from local research discoveries and innovative practices. Allocations from the fund will be made through a robust governance structure.

Read more about the 2019-2020 State Budget health and medical investment

Read the full media statement

May 13, 2019
Apply now for the 2020 NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships

The NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships scheme funds successful applicants to attain a research based postgraduate degree (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Research Masters Degree).

The objective of the Postgraduate Scholarship scheme is to support outstanding graduates early in their careers so they can be trained to conduct health and medical research that is internationally competitive. The intended outcome of the Postgraduate Scholarship scheme is to build research capacity within Australia.

Applications close: 3pm, Wednesday 12 June 2019

Read more about the NHMRC Postgraduate scholarships

Register with GrantConnect to receive notifications on current Australian Government grant opportunities.

May 6, 2019