Australia invests $9.71m in healthcare research projects

It is funded through the 2020 Primary Healthcare Research Data Infrastructure grants.

The Australian government is investing $9.71m (A$12.9m) in seven new research projects around the country to use data that aims to improve health outcomes for Australian patients, a media release revealed.

Funded through the 2020 Primary Healthcare Research Data Infrastructure grants, a number of research institutions will receive funding for projects that use new and existing data sets to improve access, quality, and safety of the country’s primary health care system.

As part of the program, the South Australian Health Medical Research Institute will receive around $1.51m (A$2m) for its Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) project, which aims to expand the existing platform to understand emerging issues and continue research on key, and currently unknown, residential aged care impacts.

The research will use new data gathered on immunisation, rehabilitation and social welfare to further research and embed ROSA as the only national data solution for policy and practice change in residential aged care.

The University of Adelaide will also receive around $1.51m (A$2m) for their Imagendo project, which is expected to benefit the estimated one in nine Australian women and girls who suffer from endometriosis. The Imagendo project will use imaging and artificial intelligence to aid in a better, quicker, and more cost-effective diagnosis of endometriosis.

The Primary Healthcare Research Data Infrastructure grants are targeted towards projects which will improve residential aged care, urban and rural general practitioner-led practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and other health professionals such as nurses, midwives, allied health, pharmacists, and dentists.

These grants are part of the government’s $15.05b ($20b) Medical Research Future, which is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system.