NSW research review team named

The NSW government has named a team responsible for reviewing the state's overall medical and health research program.

Frank Sartor, the state's science and medical research minister, said the review was an important step in the further development of NSW medical research effort, and noted it was one aspect of NSW's commitment to fostering cutting-edge research.

The three-person panel includes Greg Wood, former diplomat and member of the NSW department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr George Morstyn, who is a former head of the clinical research program at the Ludwig Institute and head of global development at US biotech Amgen, and Prof Judith Whitworth, director of medical research at ANU.

"We all want to unlock the secrets of disease... but we must not be afraid to examine ourselves and see how we can do better," Sartor said.

None of the board members is from NSW. "The minister definitely wanted to get some opinions from outside NSW on this panel. He wanted people who would be able to take what he described 'a helicopter view' of research in the state. He wanted an overview of the research scene," said Ben Wilson, a spokesperson for the minister's office.

The panel will have a broad mandate to enquire into the NSW medical research effort and make recommendations on NSW government research spending, capitalising on research strengths and improving areas of weakness, optimising research investment and future medical research directions.

"The review will specifically target all existing NSW government-funded medical and health research programs and identify strategic priorities," said Sartor. "The team we've picked has been given broad terms of reference to investigate our approach to medical research in NSW, to look at what we do well and what we can do better," he added.

Wood indicated the state could not sit on its laurels within the research field. "Medical research is a competitive and collaborative process. NSW needs policies that generate success, world-class research and the ability to interact successfully with other. The panel's job will be to make recommendations to achieve those goals," said Wood.

The panel will meet this week, and has been charged with presenting results by the end of November.