National Health and Medical Research Council grants to assist research on older Australians

Older Australians are among the main winners in the latest round of research grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Nine capacity building grants totalling $18.2 million have been awarded to university research teams across Australia. These grants will support work in population health and health services – the implementation of health research and studies into effective and efficient health care services, including those addressing the mental health of Australia’s ageing population

The projects, funded for five years, include:

• Prevention and management of mental disorders in older Australians: Professor Perminder Sachdev, University of New South Wales, has been awarded $2.4 million to develop young researchers to translate knowledge of the major neuropsychiatric problems that Australia’s ageing population will face in the next 50 years – dementia, mild cognitive impairment and depression – into better health outcomes for older Australians; and

• Using health economics to strengthen ties between evidence, policy and practice in chronic disease: Associate Professor Stephen Jan, University of Sydney, will receive $1.8m to develop a team of health economists to research the costs and benefits to individuals, their family and the economy of different treatment strategies for chronic disease and how to sustain these in the real world.