Menzies welcomes new medical research fund
Menzies welcomes new medical research fund
The Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania, Professor Tom Marwick, has welcomed today's passing of legislation to establish a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania, Professor Tom Marwick, has welcomed today's passing of legislation to establish a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Professor Marwick said the Institute now looked forward to the fund becoming operational and ready to distribute its first tranche of funding in the near future.
"Our research at Menzies is firmly grounded in the illnesses that are having the most impact on the Australian population. This greater investment in medical research will allow researchers to accelerate the gains that we are making in prevention and management of chronic disease," Professor Marwick said.
"At Menzies this includes areas such as heart disease prevention, blood pressure management, treatment for arthritis, mental health, dementia and understanding familial cancers. A boost to funding can help us respond to the needs of the ageing population here in Tasmania."
The work of Australian medical researchers has provided vast returns to the community, with every dollar invested in health and medical research generating more than two dollars in health and productivity gains, Professor Marwick said. Despite these gains, each year it has become harder to win competitive funding, with only about 14% of all medical research grant applications approved in 2014.
The MRFF will deliver more than $400 million in disbursements to researchers over the next four years, building to $1 billion per year within the decade. This funding is in addition to that allocated to the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Information released by:
Miranda Harman
Marketing and Communications Manager
Menzies Institute for Medical Research
University of Tasmania
Phone: 61 3 6226-7751
61 427 199 562
Email: miranda.harman@utas.edu.au
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