UQ Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences researchers have secured almost $18 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to support collaborative research and improve health outcomes.
The 11 Faculty led projects include research to prevent healthcare harm for hospitalised infants, implement integrated psychological and physical care for Australians after road traffic injury, and reduce hospital re-admissions for high-risk cardiology patients.
The largest grant from the MRFF to UQ was led by Dr Yaqoot Fatima from UQ’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health (valued at $4.1 million) to improve the diagnosis and management of sleep apnoea amongst Indigenous peoples.
In total UQ received almost $31 million from the MRFF for 21 UQ projects.
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences Associate Dean (Research) Professor Greg Monteith congratulated lead and co-investigator researchers on these grants.
“We also have many researchers contributing to projects led by other UQ faculties and institutes and universities that received funding,” Professor Monteith said.
“The research projects awarded MRFF funding showcase the span of health areas our researchers are working on to address health challenges in Australia.”
MRFF Grant Scheme lead recipients and projects
2022 Clinician Researchers: Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health
- Professor Amanda Ullman – Building capacity to prevent healthcare harm for hospitalised infants (Type 1 hybrid randomised controlled trial)
- Professor Michele Sterling – Implementing integrated psychological and physical care for Australians after road traffic injury
2021 Maternal Health and Healthy Lifestyles
- Associate Professor Federica Barzi – Closing the gaps in maternal and infant health: the Deadly Fit Mums program
2021 Consumer-Led Research
- Dr Sarah Wallace - Bridging the digital divide: building health self-efficacy through communication-accessible online environments
2021 Early to Mid-Career Researchers
- Dr Yaqoot Fatima – Obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosis and management in First Nations communities: community co-design, local capacity building and place-based models for sustainable success
2021 Clinical Trials Activity
- Professor Michele Sterling –Preventing chronic pain after whiplash road traffic injury
2022 Effective Treatments and Therapies
- Professor Stewart Trost – Implementation and scale-up of a consumer co-designed physical activity program for people with moderate-to-profound disabilities
2022 Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care
- Professor Piers Dawes – Home hearing and vision care to improve quality of life for people with dementia and carers
- Professor Loc Do – Addressing oral health inequity and unmet dental care needs in vulnerable populations
2022 Quality, Safety and Effectiveness of Medicine Use and Medicine Intervention by Pharmacists
- Dr Laetitia Hattingh – Optimising medicine information handover during transitions of care
- Associate Professor Michael Barras – Reducing hospital re-admission for high-risk cardiology patients
The full list of funding outcomes is available on the MRFF website.