On behalf of the Board, our team, and all people with lung disease or lung cancer, we congratulate the researchers who were awarded grants by the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). A total of nearly $50 million were awarded in this round which is incredibly exciting.
In particular we acknowledge two very exciting projects the Centre of Research Excellence in Interstitial Lung Disease with whom Lung Foundation Australia is partnering via the Hope Research Fund to invest a $1.1 million over the next five years, and the Centre of Research Excellence in Air Quality.
We know that investment in rare lung diseases such as ILD and pulmonary fibrosis is a huge victory for our community, and we offer our sincere congratulations to A/Prof Tamera Corte and her co-investigators on the new CRE-ILD. Its research platforms going forward are game changers for patients and we are incredibly proud to have played a major part in this new research program both as Associate Investigators and co-funders. Congratulations also to Prof Fay Johnston and the CRE in Air Quality.
Breathlessness is a very misunderstood concept affecting several lung diseases including asthma and COPD. We offer our congratulations to Prof Christine Jenkins AM, current Board Member and former Lung Foundation Australia Chairperson, and her team at The George Institute who have received a $2 million five-year grant to trial an electronic Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breathlessness. More: https://lnkd.in/gy46ExHB.
We are also pleased to see an investment in several new projects in infant lung health, recognising the first 1000 days of life as influential in determining future lung disease and lung health. Congratulations Dr Kathryn Ramsey, A/Prof Louise Owen, Prof Peter Le Souef, A/Prof Catherine Satzke, and A/Prof Adrian Lowe.
Australia has been a world leader in tobacco harm minimisation and reduction, and it is really pleasing to see the Government and NHMRC recognise the ongoing burden of disease and make further investments in high priority populations
Congratulations A/Prof Coral Gartner, Prof Emily Banks, Dr Ryan Courtney, Prof Robyn Richmond, and Ms Georgia Cartensen.
Well done to the remaining lung health researchers who also received funding, many of whom are Lung Foundation Research Alumni. These include Prof Raina MacIntyre, Prof Yuming Guo, A/Prof Jane Bourke, Prof Y C Gary Lee, Dr Anna Singleton, Dr David Waddington, Prof Guy Marks, Prof Stuart Mazzone, A/Prof Connie Wong, Prof Nicodemus Tedla, Prof David Fairlie, Dr Danielle Wurzel, Dr Narelle Cox, and A/Prof Margaret Hibbs.