The NSW Government has committed an additional $70 million over the next four years to medical research and development in response to the NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review 2012 released by NSW Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research,  Jillian Skinner.

 

The Health and Medical Research Strategic Taskforce, chaired by Mr Peter Wills, developed two strategies and associated recommendations aimed at fostering translation and innovation from research and building globally relevant research capacity. 


 

The State Government announced its 'enthusiastic endorsement' of the Wills recommendations, and outlined a  10-year Health and Medical Research Strategic Plan for NSW to implement them. 

 

The government’s response included the following initiatives:

 

  • Changes to the Medical Research Support Program (MRSP) to drive collaboration and promote scale and sustainability:  Providing an extra $5 million to the base funding, in addition to the $5 million provided in 2011-12, to  bring the total commitment to $37.3 million per year. This program provides infrastructure funding to independent medical research institutes, based on merit and research excellence. It will have a 4 year funding cycle and tiered funding structure.
  • Establishment of the Medical Devices Seeding Fund with $5 million per annum, to support researchers and encourage further investment in new medical devices that can contribute to the discovery and application of new treatments and diagnostic techniques to improve patient outcomes.
  • $1 million to establish the Research Capacity Building Programto retain and attract new leading researchers to NSW.
  • Support for Research Hubs of $800,000 annually to provide administrative support and assist incoordination of hub activities to enhance collaboration and facilitate the efficient sharing of expensive equipment, accommodation and support services.
  • Establishment of Office for Health and Medical Research, to be responsible for implementing NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review and ensuring a high level of engagement with all parts of the health and medical research sector.  The Office will develop a biobanking framework that will improve and enhance investment in this research infrastructure, will be provided with $800,000 to support clinical research networks  and will establish a clinical trials support team.

 

For more information visit the NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review 2012 and the NSW Government Response to the Review.