Health Minister Sussan Ley has highlighted ten Australian research grants that led to medical discoveries and important changes to health care in this year’s Ten of the Best Research Projects.
Ms Ley said the stories were further evidence of Australia’s world-leading standing in medical research.
“These research stories give us a glimpse into the next generation of treatments and medical devices that will make a difference to people’s lives,” Ms Ley said. “It is exciting, pioneering work and this publication serves to highlight only a few of the many innovative discoveries being made by Australian researchers.”
The stories include the development of a new technique to train the immune system to identify and attack cancer cells, a new device that can detect and stop epileptic seizures as they happen and the development of a new naturally-occurring acid to suppress appetite.
“Importantly, many of these projects are now in clinical trials or in the process of being commercialised. They offer hope not only for better health for Australians, but new jobs and new industries for our country.
“For all these reasons, the Australian Government is very proud to support our talented and hard-working researchers, who are among the best in the world, and why we have committed to the establishment of the Medical Research Future Fund.”
The spotlighted National Health and Medical Research Committee research was chosen for its innovativeness and potential to make a difference to the lives of Australians and people worldwide.
The projects can be viewed at the NHMRC website.