National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

NHMRC:

• supports international participation in its funded projects across the full breadth of health and medical research
• supports Australian researchers to undertake research at institutions in other countries (including Europe through an Implementing Arrangement with the European Research Council)
• engages in international research partnerships through bilateral and multilateral arrangements, such as the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases and the e-ASIA Joint Research Program
• participates in international networks such as GloPID-R.

Membership of GloPID-R has provided NHMRC-funded researchers with valuable opportunities to collaborate and share information before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

NHMRC invested more than AU$23 million between 2000 and 2020 in research on pandemic preparedness.

Some projects looked to the lessons of history:

• applying modern mathematics, epidemiology and modelling to what we know about the 1918–19 influenza pandemic
• analysing 20 years of notification data on infectious diseases to improve future detection of outbreaks.

Some projects tackled vector-borne diseases such as dengue and Zika virus, while others investigated how society would need to respond to a pandemic:

• assessing how social distancing, school closures, quarantine and other measures would affect the spread of influenza.
• refining business planning and continuity: experience with SARS showed that health officials were overwhelmed with businesses seeking information on how they could operate safely; researchers worked with business owners to discover what would enable them to undertake their own planning.
• evaluating fever screening at airports
• planning the role and likely responses of paramedics and other emergency workers in a mass-outbreak scenario.

When a novel H1N1 influenza virus spread around the world in 2009, NHMRC initiated a suite of rapid response projects, including research on early warning systems, mapping, sharing data, and managing the disease in prisons.

Rapid response research for the current pandemic was undertaken through Medical Research Future Fund grant calls which NHMRC administers on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health.

We also invested in novel leaps forward that might transform our response to future pandemics:

• investigating the performance of anti-influenza drugs and drug resistance
• applying molecular clamp technology to generate candidate vaccines for Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Nipah virus and Lassa fever
• using genomics to detect outbreaks and track transmission of diseases, including whooping cough and foodborne infections.

NHMRC supports a wide range of research on infectious diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential through its major grant schemes. NHMRC also provided grant holders with the flexibility to redirect their research to COVID-19. Some relevant activities are noted below.

Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE)

APPRISE was established by NHMRC in 2016 as a multidisciplinary national network to undertake research to inform Australia’s emergency response to infectious diseases. It has played a critical role in Australia’s COVID-19 research response.

REMAP-CAP

With international partners, NHMRC supported the development of REMAP-CAP – Randomised, Embedded, Multifactorial, Adaptive, Platform Trial of Community Acquired Pneumonia – built to deliver fast results in a pandemic. REMAP-CAP was quickly adapted to trial treatments for critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Coordinating research advice in a pandemic

NHMRC supported the National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee established to provide rapid, evidence-based advice to the Australian Government’s Chief Medical Officer.

NHMRC also coordinated national COVID-19 vaccine forums to share information and enable discussion among government officials, clinicians and researchers on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and associated developments.

PRISM

In 2014, NHMRC supported the establishment of PRISM, the Centre for Research Excellence in Policy Relevant Infectious Diseases Simulation and Mathematical Modelling. PRISM brings together experts in infectious diseases epidemiology, public health and modelling to solve issues in applied infectious diseases research and develop new methods to study of disease distribution and transmission.

NHMRC engages in a range of funding calls and other activities, such as scientific meetings and training programs, with other members of GloPID-R.

One pathway is through our membership of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases and the e-ASIA Joint Research Program. Another is through our continuing relationship with the European Commission through the NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Research Grant Scheme.

NHMRC is also a member of the Human Frontier Science Program Organization and the Global Biodata Coalition.

In addition, NHMRC sometimes develops bilateral funding calls with international partners in areas of common strategic interest such as dementia research and urban environments and health.

• ASRT is committed to supporting collaborative research in Africa and the Mediterranean area. Our specialized award program recognizes scientific excellence in Africa by awarding annual prizes to eminent African researchers.
• ASRT acts as the main technical branch of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank which is the world’s largest digital library and online repository. The Bank provides massive scientific resources exclusively to Egyptians while promoting open science and research integrity.
• ASRT is a main publisher in the region and coordinates a large number of journals and local periodicals including the Egyptian Journal of Microbiology, Egyptian Journal of Chemistry, Middle East Journal of Therapeutic Nutrition and Complementary Medicine, Egyptian Journal of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, and the Egyptian Journal of Radiation Sciences and Applications.

• Responding rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, ASRT published a strategic study entitled ‘COVID and Post-COVID Priorities and Preparedness of Science, Technology and Innovation in Egypt’. One of the main recommendations of this study was the need to establish an Egyptian Reference Genome to continue advancing knowledge in personalized and precision medicine. Sound knowledge of the Egyptian genome and related diseases is essential to direct effective preventive, diagnostic and counselling services for prevalent genetic diseases in Egypt.

  Following a competitive call from ASRT for the ‘Egypt Genome project’, a consortium, headed by the Egypt Center for Research and Regenerative Medicine (ECRRM), was awarded the grant. The national project for Egyptian reference genome was launched in 2021 with the support of ASRT and total Egyptian governmental funding of $62 million for the first 5 year phase.

  The aim of the project is to establish a benchmark genome centre, create a map of the Egyptian human genome, and thereby discover and accurately determine the genetic characteristics of various diseases. The project’s scope covers three categories: the population genome, the genome of ancient Egyptians, and diseased genome.

  By advancing the practice of medical genetics and genomics across the country through this large-scale project, ASRT is shifting the approach from ‘one-size-fits-all’ to more personalized healthcare.

ASRT has participated in several co-funded programs including EuroNanoMed and EraPerMED and key initiatives such as Africa-PerMed. ASRT is a member of JPIAMR and the new ERA4HEALTH.