The George Institute for Global Health is thrilled to congratulate six researchers who have been awarded prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants for 2026.
The five-year grants support outstanding researchers at various career stages to pursue transformative health research across critical illness survivorship, antimicrobial strategies, food regulation, stroke care, weight management, and First Nations health equity.
Dr Xia Wang is transforming stroke outcomes through blood pressure optimisation and surgical innovation
Stroke is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide and rates are rising due to population ageing and lifestyle changes. Hypertension is the most important controllable risk factor for both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, but effective ways to manage blood pressure following an event have not been established.
Dr Wang will lead an integrated research program aimed at optimising blood pressure control in acute stroke by developing simple, scalable, and cost-effective strategies that will ultimately improve stroke outcomes globally.
Associate Professor Naomi Hammond is building a national framework for critical illness survivorship
Critical illness places a major burden on Australia, with more than 200,000 ICU admissions annually. While more than 90% survive, many are left with lifelong severe physical, cognitive, and mental health disability.
A/Prof Hammond will generate new knowledge to improve critical care survivorship, test new treatments, and ensure translation of new evidence into policy, guidelines, and clinical practice.
Associate Professor Julieann Coombes is leading First Nations approaches to systemic change and healing
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who make up 3.8% of the population, demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of cardiovascular disease (CVD), despite experiencing rates more than twice those of non-Indigenous Australians and a threefold higher risk of CVD-related mortality. Access to culturally safe prevention, secondary care, and rehabilitation services, particularly in rural and remote areas, remains an area for growth, with community-led solutions offering the greatest potential for lasting impact.
Building on long-standing partnerships with Aboriginal communities and guided by culturally embedded governance, A/Prof Coombes' research will highlight the strengths, knowledge, and leadership of Aboriginal peoples in navigating health systems. By exploring how systemic and institutional barriers intersect with social and cultural determinants of health, the project will co-design with communities, health workers, and Aboriginal services to embed a healing-informed, culturally safe model of care that amplifies community expertise within mainstream CVD care systems.
Associate Professor Alexandra Jones is using food regulation to address obesity and diet-related disease
Poor diets now cause one in five deaths worldwide, and in Australia unhealthy weight has overtaken smoking as our biggest preventable health risk. Yet governments still rely heavily on voluntary policy responses that evidence shows are not working.
A/Prof Jones' project will combine insights from the George Institute's FoodSwitch dataset with legal and policy analysis to show how Australia can create a healthier food environment. Working with policymakers, public health experts and consumer groups, she will help drive practical reforms-strengthening and mandating Health Star Rating labels, improving laws to tackle long‑term diet‑related harm, and developing new ways to regulate ultra‑processed foods.
Professor John Myburgh is investigating preventive antimicrobial strategies to improve outcomes in mechanically ventilated patients
Critically ill patients on life support are susceptible to hospital-acquired infections, with ventilator-associated pneumonia being one of the most common. Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract (SDD) is a preventive antibiotic strategy which reduces infection and mortality in patients on ventilators, saving 1 life for every 50 treated.
Prof Myburgh's program will implement SDD in mechanically ventilated patients and assess the impact on ventilator-associated pneumonia in those with acute brain injuries. It will also help fast-track a commercial grade, cost effective SDD drug preparation to be part of routine clinical practice over the next 5 years.
Dr Angela Chen is developing evidence-based approaches for long-term GLP-1 RA use
Despite rapid growth in the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medications for the treatment of overweight and obesity, there is currently no evidence to guide the withdrawal of treatment once target weight loss is achieved.
Dr Chen's project aims to understand current patterns of GLP-1 RA prescribing in Australia and to develop and evaluate different approaches to tapering people off treatment while minimising long term risk of weight regain.
