NEW Clinical Trials Initiative provides grants up to $1,000,000

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is excited to announce a new initiative to support novel immunotherapy clinical trials.

CRI is seeking protocol concepts for phase I/II or II studies from clinicians and academic researchers with the goal of advancing immunotherapies that will provide the greatest impact on patient outcomes.

Funding of up to $1M per study is available. CRI will prioritize selection of trials that address areas of high unmet need in cancer and seek mechanistic insights using deep correlative studies. To mazimize the impact of each clinical trial it funds, CRI will advise on selected studies to coordinate and optimize trial design and translational studies.

The deadline to submit an Initial Protocol Concept is December 1, 2022.

Please contact Ryan Godfrey at grants@cancerresearch.org for submission requirements and instructions on how to apply.

NHMRC 2023 Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) Grants – Now Open

The NHMRC CRE Grants scheme is now open for applications in Sapphire.

The objectives of the CRE grant scheme is:

• to improve health outcomes and promote or improve translation of research outcomes into policy and/or practice.
• The CRE scheme will also support researchers in capacity building activities, including in specific areas of need identified by NHMRC.

The expected outcomes are to:

• support the conduct and development of innovative, high quality, collaborative research
• promote effective translation of research into health policy and/or practice
• foster and build capacity in the health and medical research workforce
• provide opportunities to expand and improve collaborations between research teams.

Grant Guidelines and Grant Proposal Documents  - Available on GrantConnect  

Grant Guidelines and the Grant Proposal template are available on GrantConnect (GO5794). You will need to login to access the documents. Peer Review Guidelines will not be available before the scheme close.

MRO Submission Process Document - HERE

Minimum Data

NHMRC CRE Grants have a minimum data requirement.  Minimum data must be entered into Sapphire  by 17:00 AEST 16 November 2022.   Applications that fail to satisfy this requirement will not be accepted.   Minimum data for CRE Grants is comprised of:

• Application title
• Administering institution
• CRE Stream
• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Research Focus (yes/no)
• Project synopsis
• NHMRC Privacy agreement (yes/no)
• Research Classification:
• Broad research area
• Field(s) of research
• Peer Review Areas
• Research keywords
• Chief Investigator A (CIA) (completed CIA Role, Name and Email)

The MRO will automatically begin checking applications to ensure they meet minimum data requirements in Sapphire from Wednesday 09 November 2022 and will contact you once this check has been completed. You do not need to contact us to request we check your minimum data.

 MRO Compliance & Eligibility Checking

 As required for submission, the MRO will be conducting eligibility and compliance checks of CRE Grant applications. The due date for a full draft to be provided to MRO (including Sapphire sections being completed with the Grant Proposal document) is 17 November 2022.  Only applications that meet the 17 November 2022 deadline will have a full check of the application.

 Key Dates

•  Applications open in Sapphire: 19 October 2022
•  Minimum data close: 17:00 AEDT 16 November 2022
•  MRO Compliance Check close: 17 November 2022* (for a full eligibility and compliance check)  
•  CI Certification of Finalised application: 10AM 28 November 2022
•  NHMRC external deadline: 17:00 AEDT 30 November 2022

Research Development Support

The Research Development Team may be available to review key sections of CRE grants, to provide a generalist review of the Knowledge Gain section (prioritising the first page and aspects of scheme fit), and to consider impact sections for key personnel. 

If you'd like to participate, please contact mro.researchdevelopment@monash.edu for a discussion ahead of the minimum data deadline.

 Please contact the MRO Applications team if you have any questions.

PhD scholarship opportunity: Development of a Revolutionary Heart Assist Device

A PhD position is available at Monash University in collaboration with QHeart Medical to work on an intra-aortic balloon heart assist device project. A fully funded scholarship is available for the successful applicant for this project running under a Cooperative Research Centres Project (CRC-P) between Monash University and QHeart Medical and other prestigious research centres.

QHeart Medical is developing an interventionally implanted intra-aortic balloon (IAB) device for the treatment of hypertension and hypertensive heart failure. The goal is to develop a medical device therapy to address the unmet clinical need for the management of drug resistant hypertension and moderate heart failure (HF) which has high incidence, declining health, poor quality of life, and high mortality, and have huge treatment costs.

There is opportunity for the PhD candidate to be involved in different aspects of the research and development of the device, from mechanical & electronic design, fabrication (including FEA and CFD analysis), advanced nano-biomaterials, bench and animal testing, and clinical testing procedures.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (i.e. medicine / science/ biomedical / mechanical / materials / mechatronics / chemical),
• A passion for biomedical devices and or new clinical therapy development,
• Completed research experience (through undergraduate thesis, placements, or research assistant position),
• Full English professional proficiency.

The project has excellent supervision and mentoring from Professor Julian Smith, Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Monash Health & Monash University, and Dr Peter Walsh, founder at QHeart Medical. Ideally the scholar will be based in Brisbane, Queensland, and enrolled through Monash University, however, alternative arrangements can be discussed.

• Check your eligibility for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Monash University
• Find out more