The University of Notre Dame was thrilled to host the latest Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund Open Day as part of the West Tech Fest, Australia's longest running tech and innovation festival.
Co-hosted by the WA Department of Health's Office of Medical Research and Innovation (OMRI) in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Australia, the Open Day was held at the University's Fremantle Campus under the theme 'Health Technology for the Future'. The University welcomed Minister for Medical Research, The Hon Stephen Dawson MLC, who presented the event opening and announced that $50 million was being made available through the State Government's Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund in support of nine key funding programs, including a new program called the Innovative Solutions - Precision Health program.
The event featured presentations from FHRI Fund recipients at the forefront of innovative health technologies and representatives of WA's leading med-tech startups who are making strides towards commercialisation.
Speakers included prominent identities in the WA health and medical innovation space, including CEO and managing director of ANDHealth Bronwyn Le Grice. A highlight of the event was the announcement of recently awarded FHRI Fund grant recipients, including a Cancer Council WA Cancer Research Project Grant for a team of researchers co-led by Dr Matthew Tuson, Dr Jocelyn Tan and Professor Lisa Wood from the Institute for Health Research within University of Notre Dame Australia. This research aims to make the impacts of cancer on people experiencing homelessness less invisible and identify ways to reduce barriers to cancer prevention, screening, timely treatment and health journey support for this vulnerable population to improve healthcare access and prevent early deaths from cancer.
Congratulations to the team on this grant. The University looks forward to following the developments of this important research.