National alliance to boost disease research

21 August 2008

Monash University will collaborate with eight of Australia's leading scientific research institutions in a new partnership aimed at boosting Australia's research capacity for tackling major health problems including cancer, diabetes, deafness, infertility, autoimmune disease and arthritis.

The research institutions new partnership, called the Australian Phenomics Network (APN) is providing Australian and international researchers with the latest infrastructure for the study of human disease. The alliance brings together facilities, equipment and expertise to accelerate progress in the provision of biological models for medical research. This facilitates Australia making genuine inroads against all kinds of diseases.

APN Convenor Associate Professor Moira O'Bryan from Monash University said the project was about combining efforts and supporting all Australian researchers.

"Australia has a wealth of talent in medical research, spread across a number of institutions. Each organisation has its own strengths in different areas," Professor O'Bryan said.

"The APN will allow our resources to be combined and greatly enhanceAustralia's research capacity."

The APN is funded by the Australian Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), contributions from state governments, and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

"This is incredibly exciting science - frontier science - and it's great to see Australian researchers leading the way," said Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

The network combines the resources of Monash University, Australian National University, , the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, the University of Melbourne, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology, Menzies Research Institute and the Animal Resource Centre.

The APN's expertise is complemented by national and international partnerships with the Garvan Institute, the Institute of Molecular Bioscience, the National Institutes of Health (USA), the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the University of Manitoba (Canada).