University of Sydney researchers have been granted more than $45 million over five years in the 2025 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants.
NHMRC Investigator Grants supports high-performing researchers at all career stages to pursue important research across the four pillars of health and medical research - biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research.
A total of 24 projects were awarded funding as part of the scheme, ranging from advancing image guided radiation therapy and cardiovascular disease prevention to future-proofing population breast cancer screening.
"I am delighted to see so many of our talented researchers recognised for the important contributions they are making to improve health outcomes for everyone," said Professor Julie Cairney, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research).
"These NHMRC Investigator Grants are highly sought after as they provide recipients with the flexibility required to pursue an ambitious research program across a five-year period.
"Our strong performance in this round reflects the University of Sydney’s outstanding capability to foster innovative and creative research that aims to support better health care for Australians and improvements to the economy."
Faculty of Medicine and Health grant recipients
- Professor Karen Canfell - The elimination of cervical cancer: Effective implementation and scale-up of the World Health Organization strategy in Australia, the Indo-Pacific and globally ($2 million)
- Professor Clara Chow - Innovation to impact in cardiovascular disease prevention and healthcare ($3.014 million)
- Associate Professor Michael Doyle - Drug and alcohol treatment in criminal justice system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ($1.6 million)
- Dr Rachel Grove - The freedom to live a flourishing life: Co-creating autistic wellbeing ($688,405)
- Dr Lucy Grummitt - Addressing childhood trauma to prevent substance use and mental disorders: Improving precision psychiatry and developing innovative interventions ($688,405)
- Professor Nehmat Houssami - Future-proofing population breast cancer screening: Generating and translating evidence to guide screening practice and improve health outcomes ($2.8 million)
- Dr Kylie Hunter - Advancing evidence synthesis methods to collaboratively improve child health outcomes ($688,405)
- Professor Paul Keall - Advancing image guided radiation therapy from discovery to clinical practice ($3.014 million)
- Dr Archita Mishra - Shaping early-life Immunity: The role of microbes in immune development from the womb to the world ($688,405)
- Dr Eli Muller - Towards innovative deep brain stimulation strategies: Exploiting the diffuse thalamus ($688,405)
- Dr Brandon Munn - Next-generation techniques to identify and model brain dysfunction in dementia ($688,405)
- Professor Mandana (Mandy) Nikpour - Improving cardiopulmonary outcomes in systemic sclerosis ($2.8 million)
- Associate Professor Jo-An Occhipinti (née Atkinson) - Generation mental wealth: A new paradigm for fostering youth mental health ($2.8 million)
- Professor Hilda Pickett - Telomere biology in human health and disease ($2.55 million)
- Dr Tess Reynolds - Unlocking the future of robotic imaging for surgical procedural navigation and verification ($1.6 million)
- Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis - Harnessing incidental physical activity and other 24-hour physical behaviour to prevent CVD and cancer ($3.014 million)
- Associate Professor Jenny Wang - Targeting malignant stem cells: the path towards a cure for deadly blood cancer ($2.95 million)
- Associate Professor Phoebe Williams - The neonatal microbiome and antibiotic resistance: Utilising metagenomics to reduce infant morbidity and mortality across Australia and Southeast Asia ($1.5 million)
- Professor Germaine Wong - Transforming lives: Transplant for all and one transplant for life ($2.38 million)
- Dr Melanie Wyld - Transforming living kidney donation in Australia: New approaches to increase donor rates, improve equity, and save lives ($469,202.50)
- Associate Professor Sarah Zaman - Women’s heart disease: Overcoming health disparities ($1.3 million)
Faculty of Science grant recipients
- Associate Professor Yu Heng Lau - Developing targeted therapies for gliomas by peptide-assisted fragment optimisation ($1.6 million)
- Professor Richard Payne - Development of novel anticoagulants with improved safety profiles for stroke therapy ($2.95 million)
- Professor Tony Weiss - Innovative approaches to repair soft-tissue damage in critical organs ($3.014 million)
