Research into improving care for chronic breathlessness, inequities in cancer care and developing a faster gonorrhoea test are among the projects awarded funding.
UNSW Sydney researchers have secured more than $9 million through the federal government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Early to Mid-Career Researchers initiative , supporting projects addressing some of Australia's most pressing medical and public health challenges.
The funded projects span mental health and addiction treatment, regional healthcare access, cancer equity, ageing and HIV and rapid infectious disease diagnostics, reflecting the breadth of UNSW's research expertise and commitment to translating discovery into real-world impact.
Professor Bronwyn Fox, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Enterprise at UNSW, congratulated the researchers on securing nationally competitive funding to advance innovative health research.
"These grants recognise the outstanding calibre of UNSW's early and mid-career researchers and the important contributions they are making to addressing complex health challenges," Prof. Fox said.
"This funding will support UNSW researchers developing practical solutions to major health challenges, including improving rural healthcare access, advancing cancer equity and creating faster diagnostic technologies."
Investigating new treatment options for methamphetamine dependence
Professor Jonathan Brett from UNSW Medicine & Health received $2,808,000 to investigate whether psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy could help treat methamphetamine dependence.
Methamphetamine dependence remains a major public health challenge in Australia, with many people experiencing significant impacts on their mental and physical health, relationships and quality of life. There are currently no approved medications available to treat methamphetamine dependence.
The project will evaluate whether psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy can help people reduce or stop methamphetamine use. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring compound that has shown promise in carefully controlled clinical settings for conditions including depression, anxiety and addiction.
Participants in the trial will receive structured psychotherapy together with higher or lower dose psilocybin, with researchers assessing changes in methamphetamine use, mental health and wellbeing over time.
"Methamphetamine dependence can have devastating consequences for individuals, families and communities, yet treatment options remain very limited," Prof. Brett said.
"This study will rigorously evaluate whether psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy could offer a new treatment pathway for people who have often not responded to existing approaches. We're hopeful this research will contribute important evidence toward developing more effective and compassionate treatments for addiction."
Improving access to care for people experiencing homelessness
Professor Jane Currie, Discipline Lead Nursing in the School of Population Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, has received $3,694,000 to lead the Healthy & HomED study, which aims to improve how emergency departments identify and support people experiencing homelessness.
People experiencing homelessness often face serious physical and mental health challenges and are more likely to delay seeking care, leading to poorer health outcomes. While emergency departments are frequently a point of contact with the health system, homelessness is not routinely identified, and clinicians may lack the tools and pathways needed to respond effectively.
The project will implement and evaluate the Healthy & HomED model of care, an evidence-based, patient-centred approach designed to improve the identification of homelessness, assess unmet needs and connect people with appropriate hospital and community services.
The model will be trialled in six emergency departments across New South Wales and Queensland to assess its impact on patient care and access to services.
"While Australia has a universal health system, we haven't achieved a state of universal access. It is often the people who need healthcare the most that struggle to access health care. One of the biggest challenges facing modern health care is ensuring equitable access for all," Prof. Currie said.
"For many reasons, people experiencing homelessness are less likely than people living in stable housing to access primary care. Instead, they tend to access emergency department care, often at a late stage of ill health, and those systems are not necessarily set up to respond to their needs.
"The Healthy & HomED model of care provides an evidence-based and lived experience-informed approach to identifying, screening and linking people to existing services to optimise access and emergency departments' capacity to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness."
The project will culminate in a co-designed Healthy & HomED blueprint to support implementation across emergency departments nationally. The project brings together lived experience researchers and a multidisciplinary team from the School of Population Health, UNSW Medicine and Health; University of Technology Sydney; Queensland University of Technology; Griffith University; Queensland Institute of Medical Research; Australian Catholic University and St Vincent's Hospital Sydney; Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Monash University; Agency for Clinical Innovation; and the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness.
Creating faster, more accessible gonorrhoea testing
Dr Fei Deng from UNSW Engineering received $476,200 for a project that will develop a rapid point-of-care detection test for gonorrhoea. The project aims to deliver test results in about 15 minutes using a simple urine sample. Designed to be low-cost and easy to use, the test could support diagnosis in clinics, remote locations and potentially even at home.
"Our goal is to make sexually transmitted infections testing as simple and accessible as a rapid COVID test. By delivering results in minutes and identifying antibiotic resistance at the point of care, this technology has the potential to transform how infections like gonorrhoea are diagnosed and managed," Dr Deng said.
Current tests for gonorrhoea are highly accurate but often rely on specialised laboratory equipment and can take time to return results. Crucially, they do not indicate whether the infection is resistant to antibiotics. Testing for resistance is even slower, typically requiring bacterial culture, and is rarely available outside major centres. Existing rapid molecular tests are also expensive and not well suited to clinics or remote settings.
The project will evaluate the test in clinical settings. By enabling same-day diagnosis and more targeted treatment, the test could reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, improve patient outcomes and expand access to testing for underserved communities.
Research into ageing-related conditions in people living with HIV
Dr Nila Dharan from The Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney received $979,300 for research that will improve the identification and management of two diseases of ageing - neurocognitive impairment and frailty - in older people living with HIV.
Dr Dharan's research will study clonal haematopoiesis - a blood marker that indicates medical conditions and mortality associated with ageing - in older adults with and without HIV to elicit insights into its relationship with gut health. It will also evaluate the use of clonal haematopoiesis as a blood marker of frailty and neurocognitive impairment.
"People with HIV have accelerated biological ageing and are more likely to experience ageing-related medical conditions such as frailty and neurocognitive impairment, which reduce the quality of life of people living with HIV compared with the general population," Dr Dharan said.
The study will leverage two ongoing clinical cohort studies: the ARCHIVE study, a longitudinal cohort of older people with and without HIV in Australia which is evaluating ageing biomarkers and clinical outcomes across HIV status; and HAILO, an older cohort of people with HIV in the United States which is evaluating the development of ageing outcomes, including neurocognitive impairment and frailty, over time.
"Through this research, we hope to improve our ability to use these biomarkers of ageing for early identification of these two conditions and increase our understanding of what drives accelerated ageing in people with HIV," says Dr Dharan.
"The results of this work will inform future research for targeted, early interventions to prevent the development or progression of neurocognitive impairment and frailty, ultimately improving the health and quality of life of people as they age."
Improving diagnosis and care for chronic breathlessness
Dr Anthony Sunjaya from the School of Population Health, UNSW Medicine & Health and The George Institute for Global Health, has received $890,000 to lead the BREATHE Dx study, which aims to improve how chronic breathlessness is assessed and managed with a special focus on regional and rural Australia. The project will focus on helping GPs diagnose patients earlier and more accurately, particularly in areas where access to specialist testing can be limited.
The study will run a clinical trial to test new point-of-care diagnostic tools for heart and lung disease in general practice settings. These tools will be supported by artificial intelligence (AI) decision support systems designed to help GPs identify the causes of breathlessness and guide patient care more effectively.
By giving GP clinics direct access to these technologies, patients in regional and remote communities may be able to receive important diagnostic tests sooner, reducing delays in treatment and management. Some devices, including Forced Oscillometry Technique (FOT) technology, will be trialled in Australian GP practices for the first time and will form part of only a small number of similar studies worldwide.
"Breathlessness is one of the most common reasons people visit a GP, but diagnosing the underlying cause can be difficult because symptoms are often linked to multiple conditions, including heart disease, lung disease, obesity and anxiety," Dr Sunjaya said.
"GPs want and can do more to help those with breathlessness. This study will provide them with the point-of-care diagnostic tools and AI decision support needed for them to do more to improve outcomes for their patients."
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team from the School of Population Health, UNSW Medicine and Health; The George Institute for Global Health and partner institutions including UNSW Rural Clinical School, University of Notre Dame, University of Sydney, International Center for Future Health Systems, Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Lung Foundation Australia (LFA), Asthma Australia (AA), National Asthma Council (NAC), Western NSW Primary Health Network, Astra Zeneca Global, Lothar Medtec GmbH and the General Practitioners Research Institute (GPRI), Netherlands.
Addressing inequities in cancer care
Associate Professor Mei Ling Yap from The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW Medicine & Health and the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, received $978,300 for a project tackling cancer outcome disparities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. The work will be co-led by A/Prof. Julieann Coombes, Program Lead, Indigenous Methodologies and Systems Change, Guunu-Maana Program.
The two-year program will develop a nationally relevant, standardised framework to improve the collection of cultural and ethnicity data in cancer care, supporting more culturally safe and evidence-based treatment. Shaped through extensive community consultation and co-designed with First Nations and CALD partners, the initiative aims to drive equity-focused data reform into national practice and policy.
"For too long, cancer data has been fragmented and inaccurate, resulting in many priority populations being effectively invisible in our data systems," Prof. Yap said.
"This program of work will allow for the identification of cancer care gaps in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and minoritised ethnic populations, informing targeted solutions and strengthening linkage to culturally appropriate care.
"We are excited to be able to pilot this program in South-Western Sydney Local Health District, where I have been privileged to have worked for more than 15 years with diverse populations of people diagnosed with cancer and their families."
