Australia's biggest clinical trial part of A$483 million health research grants

5 December 2016

The largest clinical trial ever undertaken in Australia is among A$483 million ($360 million) in grants for health and medical research funding announced today by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Sussan Ley.

More than 1,900 researchers will share in the A$483 million for a wide range of projects. This new funding will support 601 grants across four National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant schemes.

Professor John McNeil of Monash University was awarded A$4,796,724 for the biggest clinical trial ever conducted in Australia, which will determine if a daily low dose of aspirin prevents disease in healthy older Australians. This will bring the total investment in this clinical trial to over A$10 million.

The ASPREE trial is a joint Australia/US collaboration involving 16,700 Australians aged 70 and over and more than 2,000 Australian general practitioner collaborators. Another 2,500 participants are in the USA. There are 6,000 participants from regional areas of Australia.

Ms Ley said the Turnbull government is committed to continuing medical research investment. “We know that every dollar invested in medical research returns on average more than A$2 in benefits through reducing the burden of disease and driving productivity. This A$483 million investment allows our researchers to continue with their world-class and internationally-renowned research. Over the next year the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) will distribute an additional $61 million into new research, over and above NHMRC grant funding,” she explained.

Other projects funded include:

Predicting the progressive phase of multiple sclerosis
Understanding the association between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease
Footwear for self-managing knee osteoarthritis symptoms
Understanding the health impacts of sleep apnoea in Australian men
Implementing population-based genetic testing for high-risk breast and ovarian cancer predisposition genes
Understanding the early disease mechanisms of motor neurone disease
Completing the largest clinical trial ever conducted in Australia to determine whether daily low dose aspirin prevents disease in healthy older people.

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