World-class research to transform diabetes and insomnia management, establish Australia’s first fully integrated genome engineering facility and enhance mRNA therapies has been boosted by Federal Government funding.
The University of Western Australia-led projects received almost $14 million in grants from the Medical Research Future Fund National Critical Research Infrastructure program, established to create access to infrastructure of critical importance to health and medical research.
Professor Tim Jones, from UWA’s Medical School, will lead the national diabetes research platform RAPID-D (Research Accelerator Platform for Innovation & Discovery).
The project will address critical gaps in diabetes care where outcomes remain suboptimal and preventable complications drive more than $3 billion in annual healthcare costs.
“The platform will integrate previously siloed data to enable personalised intervention pathways through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to identify early warning signals, develop targeted therapies and reveal factors influencing outcomes,” Professor Jones said.
“Leveraging established systems, RAPID-D uses modular architecture to enable national uptake regardless of existing state capabilities to provide a framework for improving diabetes outcomes across Australia.”
Dr Cele Richardson, from UWA’s School of Psychological Science, will lead a project to develop a digital insomnia management system co-designed by consumers, primary care clinicians, experts and sleep and primary care organisations.
“Cognitive behavioural therapy is the recommended treatment for insomnia but is accessed by only one per cent of patients,” Dr Richardson said.
“Our project aims to develop a digital platform tailored to the Australian health system that will house insomnia education, screening, triaging and decision-support tools, and a digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia program that can be used in primary care. It will also support collaborative insomnia research.”
Professor Ryan Lister, from UWA’s School of Molecular Sciences and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, will lead the establishment of the WA Centre for Cell and Genome Engineering – Australia’s first fully integrated genome engineering facility.
“We will combine precision genome editing technology and next-generation stem cell reprogramming to accelerate variant validation, deepen our understanding of disease mechanisms and enable the development of accurate, patient-specific cell models,” Professor Lister said.
“Through strategic national partnerships, this integrated approach bridges discovery research and clinical application to deliver innovative solutions for rare, paediatric and complex diseases.”
Professor Archa Fox, from UWA’s School of Human Sciences and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, will lead ROBUST (RNA Optimisation for Biological Utility and STability) to enhance mRNA function by improving structure and stability.
“Messenger RNA (mRNA) as a drug is revolutionary but continues to face cost-effectiveness and efficacy challenges,” Professor Fox said.
“Our project will tackle these hurdles by leveraging expertise in a comprehensive national research and development program aimed at mRNA re-design.
“We will lead innovative therapies for the urgent and currently unmet needs of sarcoma, brain and liver cancer patients suffering from poor prognoses. At the same time, we will build the tools, platforms and expertise required to enable innovation in academic and biotech sectors.”