Australia commits $120.1m to 60 medical research projects

The funding spans four national health priorities.

Australia’s top health researchers will share more than $120m from the Medical Research Future Fund to deliver 60 projects focused on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, according to a press release.

The funding includes hospital-based initiatives where researchers and clinicians work together to integrate new approaches into routine care, including rehabilitation programmes that monitor patient activity during recovery.

One supported initiative is the University of South Australia’s Vital Steps project, which will launch Australia’s first large-scale trial using wearable activity trackers in rehabilitation services. Professor Carol Maher is leading the trial.

The project will deploy wearable trackers across seven rehabilitation sites in Southern Adelaide, with patient movement monitored as part of standard clinical practice, according to the project outline.

The $120.1m allocation covers four priority research areas, including chronic respiratory conditions, clinical trials addressing unmet needs, research into long COVID, and the use of patient insights to inform health technology decisions.