A new partnership is set to see the UK and Australia join forces for a research call focusing on areas of unmet need, with more than £15m of funding set to support innovative platform trials.
The UK and Australian Government will make up equal amounts of the £15.5m investment, with the research lasting over five years.
Research innovation
Applications of all kinds are being welcomed (as long as they meet the funding criteria) although the topics below are of particular interest:
- Childhood, brain and prostate cancers
- Stroke and traumatic brain injuries
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Cardiometabolic conditions including obesity
Baroness Gillian Merron, life sciences and innovation minister, said: “This partnership will harness the power of innovation in the fight against devastating diseases like cancer – ensuring patients are offered the highest-quality treatments and ultimately saving lives.”
The innovation will come in the form of platform trials, which enable multiple interventions to be evaluated at once – something which was particularly impactful during Covid-19 studies.
Commonwealth collaboration
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is leading the collaboration for the British side of the partnership, while the Medical Research Futures Fund and the National Health and Medical Research Council will do so on the Australian side.
Professor Steve Wesselingh, CEO at the NHMRC, commented: “International collaborations such as this joint call allow us to explore untapped global talent, and it is exciting to think that the outcomes of these platform trials, where multiple treatments are evaluated simultaneously, could help combat many areas of health and medical research where there is an unmet clinical need.”
The NIHR’s CEO, Professor Lucy Chappell, added: “Working with our partners in Australia will allow us to maximise our talent, resources and capacity in order to encourage, fund and support life-changing research for the benefit of people across the UK and Australia who face complex health and social care challenges.”
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