Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund
Launched by the Victorian Government in 2017, the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund provides annual funding support to accelerate health and medical research and fast-track innovative projects from research to real-world impact.
A total of 122 projects have now received funding through the program, contributing over $22 million to the Victorian health and medical research sector.
Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund Round 7
Round 7 of the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund was run with two tiers of funding:
- Tier 1: Funding of up to $100,000 to support early-stage innovative research proposals for projects that demonstrate potential for translation at a later stage
- Tier 2: Funding of up to $500,000 to fast-track translation of research to products or practices into clinical or health practice.
10 projects were supported under Round 7 of the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund across the two tiers of funding.
Round 7 funded projects
Institute | Project title |
|---|---|
Swinburne University of Technology | Developing virtual sailing as a new intervention for people with major depressive disorder. |
Western Health | ASAPP: Azithromycin for Short cervix and Amniotic fluid sludge (AFS) for the Prevention of Preterm birth - A pilot randomised controlled trial testing the efficacy of this antibiotic in treating AFS. |
La Trobe University | Using Intelligent Analytics and Spatial Genomics to Improve Immunotherapy Treatment Outcomes in Breast Cancer Patients. |
Bionics Institute | Abdominal vagus nerve stimulation as a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. |
Melbourne Health | Preparations for the National Lung Screening Program; Developing a comprehensive local support and referral network for lung nodules and associated findings in Melbourne’s Northwest. |
Monash University | Advancing an Adaptive Platform for Perioperative Infection Trials. |
Monash University | Evaluating a new model of care to accelerate the provision of definitive care for patients with chest pain (ACCELERATE-CP). |
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | A specialised integrated paediatric concussion clinic for children and youths: Evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness and commercial viability of the HeadCheck Concussion Clinic. |
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | Long Read Sequencing to Shorten the Diagnostic Odyssey. |
Northern Health | Adoption and scale-up of Volunteer Peer Health Navigators to support patients and reduce access barriers in cancer. |
Outcomes of previous rounds
Institute | Project title |
|---|---|
Bionics Institute | An optical-electrical nerve cuff for localised and selective modulation of neural activity: a drug-free solution for chronic pain. |
Bionics Institute | Novel technology to fast tracking early intervention for infants with hearing loss. |
BreastScreen Victoria Inc. | Artificial Intelligence in BreastScreen Victoria Mammogram Reading: Saving more lives and reducing costs. |
Burnet Institute | Accelerating preclinical development of a novel bioactive to optimise the vaginal microbiome. |
Eastern Health | A pilot trial of Modify: A novel, smartphone-delivered brain-training intervention to reduce smoking in Victorians. |
Hudson Institute | Fast-tracking the clinical development of novel host-derived compounds for severe lung infections. |
Hudson Institute | Advancing Female Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery Outcomes using Nanotechnology. |
Monash University | Pathway to scale up Inhaled Oxytocin for the treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. |
Monash University | A digital solution to empower patients and caregivers to report clinical deterioration: keeping patients safe in hospital. |
Monash University | Establishing non-invasive screening for early detection of silicosis. |
Peninsula Health | Staying Active with Multimorbidity In Acute hospital (STAMInA Trial): a randomised controlled trial investigating the feasibility of allied health assistant delivered rehabilitation of people with multimorbidity in an acute hospital setting. |
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Characterising the melanoma tumour microenvironment using novel omic technologies. |
The Royal Women's Hospital | Early Feasibility Study and Development of an Airway Pressure Monitoring Device for Neonates and Infants on Non-invasive Respiratory Support. |
The University of Melbourne | Evaluation of novel coagulation and endothelial biomarkers in individualised cardiovascular disease risk assessment. |
Victoria University | Exercise to counteract the negative effects of sleep loss on glycaemic control in women. |
Institute | Project title |
|---|---|
Austin Medical Research Foundation | Evaluating the efficacy of a Bone-Health Nutrition Training Program for food service staff in aged care: a food-based approach to fracture risk reduction. |
Melbourne Health | Linking to hepatitis care through linking existing data for Victorians living with viral hepatitis: The LINK-2-HepCare Project. |
Monash Health | Piloting the role of a Cultural Liaison Officer in following up notifiable communicable diseases at a Local Public Health Unit. |
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | A mental health literacy program for teachers and schools: Evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of Decode Mental Health & Wellbeing. |
Institute | Project Title |
|---|---|
Alfred Health | In vivo mapping of neuroprotective neuroinflammation using a novel PET radiotracer. |
Avipep Pty Ltd | A novel antibody-based therapy for multiple myeloma; an incurable cancer killing over 1000 Australians annually and 200,000 worldwide, within 5years of diagnosis. |
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | A novel surface engineering approach to prevent in-stent complications in Diabetic patients after stent surgery. |
Burnet Institute | A rapid point of care test (POCT) for liver health monitoring to enable community-based screening and timely clinical intervention for people with liver damage. |
Deakin University | EndoCannED – Medicinal Cannabis for the reduction in emergency department presentations in people with endometriosis: a randomised, controlled feasibility study‘. |
La Trobe University | A therapy that controls metastatic breast cancer by preventing repair of DNA damage. |
La Trobe University | NanoMslide: innovation assessment of intraoperative cancer diagnostic. |
Melbourne Health | The Poly-omic Drivers of Brain Metastases. |
Monash University | Employing artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the rate of drug development: Identifying inhibitors of fatty-acid binding protein FABP4. |
Monash University | Better biomarkers for dementia diagnosis: Increasing equity and efficiency in dementia care. |
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | A Pilot Study of Medicinal Cannabis in Paediatric Patients undergoing Palliative Care for Non-oncological Conditions. |
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Empowering treatment options with targeted PET imaging of breast cancer - interrogating HER2. Beyond the yellow bucket. |
Royal Melbourne Hospital | Establishment of tissue culture methods for SARS-CoV-2 propagation that ensure working stocks reflect the pathogenicity and genetic composition of circulating global clades. |
Royal Women's Hospital | Safer care for critically ill newborns: validation of a new medical device for placement and monitoring of neonatal central venous catheters by ultrasound. |
Royal Women's Hospital | Improving Obstetric Outcomes Following IVF Treatment. |
University of Melbourne | ID-Predict (Tuberculosis): Predicting recent Tuberculosis infection and future disease risk in Victorian TB contacts. |
University of Melbourne | EyeCP: Measuring Intracranial Pressure in the intensive care without brain surgery. |
University of Melbourne | Breaking bacterial antibiotic resistance to frontline therapeutics. |
Victoria University | Examining the effects of gender affirming hormone therapies on fitness and muscle health in transgender Australians: The GAME Study. |
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Accelerating translational outcomes based on super-responders from the SOLACE2 trial of immunotherapy priming in ovarian cancer. |
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | CRISPR point-of-care diagnostics to dramatically improve management of STIs, mitigate outbreaks and combat antimicrobial resistance. |
Western Health | Genomically informed active surveillance in intermediate risk prostate cancer GenI-AIRSPACE. |
Page last updated: 28 June 2024