TTRA News: MRFF funding boost targets First Nations health and wellbeing
27 October 2023
MTPConnect, the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Hon. Mark Butler MP, and the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, Senator the Hon. Malarndirri McCarthy, today announced $6 million in funding for new diabetes and cardiovascular disease research projects that address the unmet health and medical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in rural, remote, regional and urban centres.
The funding comes from the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, a Medical Research Future Fund initiative delivered by MTPConnect, and will support six projects in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are disproportionately affected by diabetes and cardiovascular disease at up to four times the rate of Australia’s wider population and MTPConnect CEO, Stuart Dignam, says this funding was specifically designed to focus on addressing these stark health inequities.
“In designing and delivering this funding, we centred and elevated First Nations voices at every stage of the process; from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led priority setting to co-design and deployment of the funding opportunity,” Mr Dignam said.
“To achieve this, we partnered with the Lowitja Institute, Australia’s National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, and their leadership and commitment has helped ensured the success of this funding round.
“The six successful projects all prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, embed community engagement and privilege First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing, and will deliver benefits for people living with diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.”
TTRA Research Projects Round 3 Funding Awarded to:
- The Australian National University, ACT/SA, $998,685 award: Aboriginal women working to reduce risk of diabetes and cardiovascular complications in pregnancy
- Menzies School of Health Research, NT, $995,325 award: ‘Doing it together’ – innovative peer-support and peer-led education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth living with type 2 diabetes
- Nunyara Aboriginal Health Service Inc, SA, $999,600 award: The Nunyara cardiometabolic screening and complication model: a three-pronged community-led strategy to achieving comprehensive Aboriginal primary preventative care
- The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, VIC/NT, $999,670 award: Marrtjin Limurr Rrambaŋin (Walking Together) to reduce blood sugar and other cardiometabolic risk in remote Indigenous communities, using co-designed, innovative, culturally appropriate methods
- The University of Queensland, School of Public Health, QLD/NSW, $999,874 award: The Diabetes Using Our Strengths Service (DUOSS)
- Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc, VIC, $994,790 award: Chronic Disease Prevention through the Culture+Kinship Model: A strength-based prevention approach based on Aboriginal Culture, Kinship, Community, and Country
These new projects have attracted $2.2 million in co-contributions, injecting a total of $8.2 million into the sector to tackle some of the leading causes of death and disability for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities in Australia.
A distinctive feature of the TTRA program is the emphasis on translation, with our program partners – ANDHealth, Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation, Lowitja Institute, Medical Device Partnering Program and UniQuest – providing mentoring and implementation and commercialisation advice to applicants and those receiving funding.
The Lowitja Institute will lead these activities for Round 3 with Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation, and support from the other TTRA partners.
This ‘translation’ approach has been employed by MTPConnect since 2019, resulting in demonstrated value-add for the projects funded – through advice, support, mentorship and opening and expanding national and international networks and opportunities.
About Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program funding:
Round 1 TTRA Research Projects were announced in September 2021.
The TTRA Research Centres, Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovation (ACADI) and the Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA), were announced in January 2022.
Round 2 TTRA Research Projects were announced in October 2022.