Scientists from four universities working as part of the Imaging CoE have won over $12 million in funding from the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

The Universities of Melbourne, New South Wales, Queensland and Monash University – all Imaging CoE collaborators – will collectively receive grants for 19 basic science projects, which aim to pioneer the use of molecular imaging to further understand the immune system and ultimately improve human health.

Announcing the outcome of NHMRC’s 2016 funding round, the Hon. Greg Hunt, Australian Minister for Health, said the Government was supporting world-leading medical researchers to make the next major medical breakthroughs. The funding also demonstrates the Council’s commitment to basic science.

Professor James Whisstock, Imaging CoE Director and NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, said: “In awarding 19 grants to researchers within the Imaging CoE, the NHMRC has recognised the significance of the work undertaken here. Our scientists are dedicated to advancing, and applying, imaging techniques able to investigate the function of immune systems at the molecular level.”

Whisstock’s team won funding for its research on the activation and inhibition of the plasminogen/plasmin system. Overall, Imaging CoE researchers at Monash University will receive five project grants and one Early Career Fellowship, totalling around $4 million, for their pioneering work in biochemistry and cell biology.

The University of Melbourne has been awarded four NHMRC project grants and one Research Fellowship, worth over $3 million, for innovative research spanning cellular and humoral immunology and immunochemistry.

Three project grants and one Career Development Fellowship, amounting to almost $2 million, go to the University of New South Wales for novel work in the fields of biochemistry, cell biology and medical physiology.

A further three project grants and one Research Fellowship, worth around $3 million, has been awarded to University of Queensland scientists, who are spearheading research in medicinal and biomolecular chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology and immunology.