Increased funding for Australian health and medical research

More than $124 million will be invested by the Australian Government in new medical and health research projects.

The funding will focus on improving preventative health services and chronic disease management through targeted research, delivering better health outcomes for Australians and their families.

This increase comes on top of the comprehensive education initiatives recently outlined by the Prime Minister to invest $370 million in Australia's universities, double the number of undergraduate and post-graduate scholarships and introduce 1000 mid-career research fellowships to help keep academics in Australia.

The funding, provided and administered through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), includes:

• $74.8 million for 133 fellowships, 171 scholarships and 75 career-development and training awards to help Australian researchers further their careers;
• $48.4 million for four program grants, allowing leading Australian researchers to pursue collaborative work into cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C and contribute at an international level;
• $0.83 million to facilitate international collaboration with research institutions and researchers in the European Union, France and China.