$3 million awarded to budding health researchers in NSW

The NSW Government has awarded $3 million to six promising researchers to build health and medical research talent in NSW.

The NSW Health Early-Mid Career Researcher Grant program supports outstanding researchers in the early stages of their careers to further strengthen their research and development.

Minister for Medical Research David Harris said the funding will help build an advanced therapeutics research workforce, supporting the emergence of NSW as a global centre of excellence.

“We want to keep the best and the brightest here to ensure we have the most innovative and solution-focused health care system in the world,” Mr Harris said.

“The research undertaken by this talented cohort will improve community health and well-being, making a real difference to people’s lives.”

This year’s grants have been funded in the fast-growing field of microbiomics, which involves the investigation of a group of microorganisms together, such as in the mouth or gut, and how changes to them impact on our health. This focus on microbiomics builds on existing NSW leadership in genomics and proteomics.

The six career researchers are conducting studies in a range of areas including the gut microbiome, faecal microbiota transplantation, childhood cancer, and early identification of infectious diseases in children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Adjunct Professor Jean-Frédéric Levesque, Deputy Secretary, Clinical Innovation and Research, said the grant funding will support the development of a pipeline of researchers ready to fill the jobs of the future in this fast-growing field.

“The Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants reinforce NSW’s commitment to supporting the best researchers so that they can concentrate on excelling in their research field. We want to ensure NSW is a place where innovation and medical research can fuse together to firmly place NSW as a leader in research,” Adj. Prof. Levesque said.

NSW researchers awarded Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants includes:

• Dr Guy Cameron, University of Newcastle
• Dr Caitlin Cowan, University of New South Wales
• Dr Craig Haifer, St Vincent’s Hospital
• Dr Emily Hoedt, University of Newcastle
• Dr Xiaotao Jiang, University of New South Wales
• Dr Erin Shanahan, University of Sydney

The $3 million grant forms part of the $10 million over four years towards building health and medical research talent by supporting outstanding researchers in the early stages of their careers.

Further information on all recipients’ and their research projects is available in the Project Directory.