Professor Warwick Anderson AM, CEO of the National Health and Medical Research Council, recently addressed a CIPHER forum to share how the NHMRC was testing ways to better match research funding with policy needs. CIPHER, the Centre for Informing Policy in Health with Evidence from Research, is an Australian collaborative research centre managed by the Sax Institute, that is investigating the tools, skills and systems that might contribute to an increased use of research evidence in policy. For more information visit www.saxinstitute.org.au.

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Research Funding Perspectives
Professor Warwick Anderson AM
NHMRC CEO
19 February 2014
Health & Medical Research – benefiting Australia
Prevention
Treatments,
policies
Innovative
industries

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NHMRC Priority Actions (Strategic Plan)
• “Accelerate translation”
Funding Schemes
– Partnerships for Better Health – Partnership Projects
– Partnerships for Better Health – Centres of Excellence (“Cognitive
Decline”, “Systems Approach to Prevention”.
– Development Grants (“proof of principle” commercialisation)
– Centres of Research Excellence (e.g. in Health Services Research)
Other
– NHMRC Research Translation Faculty
– Advanced Health Research Centres

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NHMRC Partnership Projects initiative aims:
1. meet the need for a more effective integration of
research evidence into health policy and service
delivery;
2. create partnerships among policy makers,
managers, service providers and researchers; and
3. provide answers to the often complex and difficult
questions that policy makers, managers and
service providers face when making decisions that
affect Australians’ health and health care.
Projects must be proposed by alliances between
researchers and policy and/or practice partner
organisations.
This initiative aims to increase the opportunities for
the transfer and exchange of research evidence
(knowledge), which could result in a greater uptake of
research evidence into health policy and health
practice and, consequently, an improvement in
Australian health and health care.

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Partners include organisations :
• working in federal, state, territory or local
government - in the health portfolio or in other
areas affecting health, such as economic policy,
urban planning, education or transport;
• working in the private sector, such as employers,
private health insurance providers or private
hospitals;
• major non-government organizations and charities;
• community organizations such as consumer groups;
and
• provider and professional groups.
Partnerships for Better Health - Partnership
Projects
Round Closed
Funding
Starting
# Apps # Grants
Round
funding
$M
Funded
Rate
(%)
Cumulative
funding
$M
Round 1 Dec-08 2010 113 27 $20.672 23.89 $20.672
Round 2 May-10 2011 52 16 $14.282 30.77 $34.954
Round 3 Apr-11 2012 36 13 $9.861 36.11 $44.815
Round 4 first call
for 2012 Jun-12 2012 15 7 $3.722 46.67 $48.537
Round 5 second
call for 2012 Sep-12 2013 19 11 $7.890 57.89 $56.427
Round 6 third
call for 2012 Jan-13 2013 21 9 $5.845 42.86 $62.271
Round 7 first call
2013 Apr-13 2013 18 6 $4.517 33.33 $66.788

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Statistics on leverage -
Partnerships for Better Health – Partnership Projects
Round
Total Partner
Contribution $M
Approved NHMRC
Budget $M
Leverage
Round 1 $25.440 $20.678 1.23
Round 2 $21.139 $14.282 1.48
Round 3 $18.721 $9.861 1.90
Round 4 first call 2012 $3.950 $3.722 1.06
Round 5 second call 2012 $9.712 $7.890 1.23
Round 6 third call 2012 $7.748 $5.845 1.33
Round 7 first call 2013 $4.768 $4.517 1.05
Total $91.478 $66.788 1.33
Policy/Practice for Partnership Projects grants
• Vision Australia
• Audiological Society of Australia
• Bupa Health Foundation
(Formerly MBF)
• beyondblue
• Ambulance Research Institute
• Guide Dogs (NSW/ACT)
• The Greater Metropolitan Clinical
Taskforce (NSW)
• Sydney South West Area Health
Service
• Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners
• National Stroke Foundation
• The Spinal Cord Injury Network
• The MBF Foundation
• National Heart Foundation
• State Health Departments
• Commonwealth Health
Department
• Diabetes Aust Victoria
• General Practice Victoria
• QLD Aboriginal & Torres Strait
Islander Health Council
• Prostate Cancer Foundation of
Australia
• SA Dental Service
• Australian Red Cross
• National Prescribing Service Ltd
• National Stroke Foundation

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FUNDING TYPE # of Apps # Funded Funded Rate
Capacity Building Grants 42 5 12%
Career Development Fellowships 72 5 7%
Centres for Research Excellence 69 12 17%
Early Career Fellowships (Australia) 76 26 34%
Early Career Fellowships (Overseas) 14 6 43%
Established Career Fellowships 42 11 26%
International Collaborations 6 4 67%
International Exchange Early Career Fellowships 1 0 0%
NHMRC Development Grants 26 2 8%
NHMRC Enabling Grants 0 0 N/A
NHMRC Partnership Projects 127 42 33%
NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships 58 29 50%
NHMRC Project Grants 654 120 18%
NHMRC Strategic Awards 27 4 15%
Programs 5 3 60%
TRIP Fellowship 26 5 19%
2008-2012 Health Services Research
Challenges
• keep in mind who should benefit
• changing policy landscape - Health reform, National Health and
Hospitals Reform Commission, National Audit Commission, McKeon,
(NHMRC Submissions)
• developing coherence from fragmentation
• the ecosystem from discovery to implementation and monitoring
(including Guidelines / Standards / Protocols).
• leadership in a decentralised system
So,
• test innovative models
• embed research in the ecosystem (incentivise demand and supply;
“culture”)
• ?learn from the private sector approach to R&D

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www.nhmrc.gov.au
ceo@nhmrc.gov.au