With the first stage of its new Frontiers program announced, the Medical Research Future Fund is shaping up as as a game changer for medical research in this country, due to its capacity to fund large and bold projects.
Of course, there are also critical voices, such as Dr Lesley Russell, who recently outlined an analysis in the online publication Croakey that suggests the MRFF has not delivered as promised on a number of indicators to date.
She points out that there is a lack of overall transparency in the administration of the program, which was set up with the often maligned 2014-15 federal budget. She also found that less funding has been disbursed than initially promised, while much of the future funding is already committed, with some allocated to priorities outside the Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities that are to guide it under the Medical Research Future Fund Act 2015.
However, the fund is creating impact in a way not conceivable with the limited scope of the National Health Medical Research Council, which previously accounted for almost all of the public medical research funding in Australia. There are now a number of ambitious research missions, such as the now started Million Minds Mission in the mental health space.
In addition, the MRFF’s $570 million Frontier Health and Medical Research Program may also open up new horizons for Australia's medical research.
This program was conceived with a two stage structure that in the first stage is supporting ten teams of researchers with up to $1 million each to develop a detailed plan for a major research program covering up to five years. In the second stage of the program these teams can then apply for grants worth up to $100 million or more (10 million to $20 million per year) to put their plan into reality.
The primary target is multidisciplinary research involving industry that aims to deliver new-to-the world applications. Think the Bionic eye project several times over, with a focus on delivering a product to market.
In mentioning the former Rudd Government’s pet project, the Bionic Eye initiative, it is noteworthy that the legacy of that targeted splurge now reverberates in a proposal selected for funding in the Frontier’s first stage: The Cortical Frontiers project headed by Professor Arthur Lowery.
Professor Lowery is director of the Monash Vision Group, which in 2009 was awarded $8 million under the $50 million ARC’s Research in Bionic Vision Science and Technology Initiative. The grant funded the development of a prosthesis that, when placed on the visual cortex of the brain, bypasses the retina in people who are blinded by severe retinal disease or damage to their optical nerve.
Professor Lowery's team, in collaboration with Dr Yan Wong and Professor Marcello Rosa from Monash’s Biomedicince Discovery Institute, developed a wireless-connected electronic device that, implanted onto a brain's surface, can act as brain-machine interface. While originally designed to restore vision, the device could potentially be repurposed to also help people to regain movement and other nerve functions.
Now funded under the Frontiers program with $924,100, the collaborative project by Monash University, Melbourne company Anatomics and the CSIRO will scope potential medical applications, such as the moderation of epilepsy and depression, brain-controlled prothetics, and the restoration of vital senses beyond vision.
According to Dr Wong, the new funding will make it possible to manufacture the devices in Australia, and “to delve deeper into this project, start two companies and really compete for the stage two funding.”
Other successful projects in the Frontier’s stage one are:
The Precision Medicine for Epilepsy project led by Professor Graeme Jackson from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health is the world first to combine next generation brain imaging technology and artificial intelligence for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Funded with $999,956, Professor Jackson and the Florey will collaborate with Australian and international experts to dramatically improve epilepsy care and patient experiences.
The Trace, Track and Tackle project led by Professor Steven Djordjevic from the University of Technology, Sydney will use sensor technologies, data, knowledge, and artificial intelligence to explore the development of a nationwide system, called OUTBREAK, that will help protect Australians from antimicrobial resistant infections.
The Innovative Public Health Program Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases headed by Professor Scott O’Neill from Monash University is researching the large-scale use of the bacterium Wolbachia to control outbreaks of Zika virus, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases. Professor O’Neill has pioneered the method which has been successfully tested in small field trials and a larger field site in Townsville in Queensland. The project is funded with $964,700.
The EVE-M - Enhancing the Vaginal Environment and Microbiome—Initiative led by Professor Gilda Tachedjian from the Burnet Institute aims to develop and commercialise a series of pioneering technologies to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health. Funded with $895,346, the multidisciplinary research will explore the use of innovative materials to harness beneficial genital microbiota to potentially deliver drugs, including contraceptives, that may help reduce the burden of bacterial vaginitis and other sexually transmitted diseases. Collaborating partners in the project are Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Deakin University and Family Planning NSW.
The Australian Lung Health Initiative will explore the use of new four-dimensional and low-dose diagnostic technology to accurately assess lung function in people across all ages. Funded with $960,000, the project builds on technology patented by Australian company 4Dx Limited, and will be led by its founder and chairman, Professor Andreas Fouras. Partners in the project include medical technology company Micro-X, the University of Adelaide, Monash University, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, and the Telethon Kids Institute.
The c-FIND: CRISPR Frontier Infection Diagnostics to Detect Infection project led by Professor Marc Pellegrini from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research aims to apply the latest (CRISPR) genome editing technology to rapidly detect and identify infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. Funded with $1 million, the c-FIND project has the potential to dramatically change the way infectious diseases are diagnosed, providing clinically relevant answers in real time, and speeding time to treatment.
The Therapeutic Ultrasound for the Treatment of Brain Disorders project led by Professor Juergen Goetz from the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Queensland Brain Institute will receive $1 million to explore the application of therapeutic ultrasound for the treatment of brain disorders, including dementia. The multidisciplinary therapeutic ultrasound program is a world first and will build on the UQ’s successful use of ultrasound to improve the effectiveness of drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
The Cerebral Palsy Treatment by Closed Loop Electrical Stimulation project will be led by Professor John Parker, who is chief executive officer of Saluda Medical Pty Ltd and adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales. Funded with $747,596, the project will explore the use of new biomedical technology developed by Saluda to deliver spinal cord stimulation as a treatment for cerebral palsy. At present there is no cure for the disease, but electrical stimulation of the spinal cord may have therapeutic benefits.
The multidisciplinary research alliance on pre-hospital care for stroke led by Professor Geoffrey Donnan from the University of Melbourne will receive $1 million to create a detailed research plan to develop new, lightweight brain imaging equipment to transform diagnosis and care for stroke victims in the so-called ‘golden hour’— the first hour after a stroke occurs. Coupled with real-time data transmission capability, this will allow images to be sent from specialised road and air ambulances to stroke specialists in major hospitals.
