What is the Frontier Health and Medical Research Program?
The MRFF Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative is a grant opportunity which enables researcher collaborations to explore bold and innovative ideas and/or make discoveries of great potential and global impact, through research relevant to any area of health and medical service delivery.
Background
The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) 2021 Frontier Health and Medical Research Grant Opportunity opened as the MRFF 2019 Frontier Health and Medical Research (Stage One) Grant Opportunity. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opportunity was deferred.
The MRFF 2021 Frontier Health and Medical Research Grant Opportunity now incorporates the entire Frontier process. It now includes both Stage One and Stage Two into a single grant opportunity.
If you submitted an application under the original MRFF 2019 Frontier Health and Medical Research (Stage One) Round, your application will be re-set back to draft in the portal. You must update your application dates and budget to the new requirements.
Frontier Health and Medical Research Grant Opportunity Phases
The MRFF 2021 Frontier Health and Medical Research Grant Opportunity comprises three phases:
- Application
- Research planning
- Research implementation
Objectives
The objectives of the Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative are to:
- identify and support ground-breaking and innovative research projects that have the potential to extend existing knowledge and transform health care in Australia and globally
- stimulate the creation of novel research programs and industries
- deliver new health care methods that will impact on an area, or areas, of the health care continuum (prevention to clinical management)
- accelerate new technological advances in health care
- promote multi-disciplinary partnerships and approaches that enable transformative research and innovation.
Funding
A total of $110 million is available for this Grant Opportunity.
- Between $250,000 and $1 million to develop a research plan.
- Up to $50 million over 5 years to implement your research plan.
Eligible Projects
To be eligible for the Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative your project must:
- be aimed at the objectives
- have at least $250,000 in eligible expenditure
- include one or more of the following eligible activities:
- development/installation of research equipment
- employment of personnel and/or
- other direct research costs.
Eligible Applicants
To be eligible for the Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative you must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be incorporated in Australia
and in accordance with s20 and s24 of the MRFF Act 20152, be one of the following entities:
- a medical research institute
- a university
- a corporate Commonwealth entity
- a corporation (including businesses and not for profits)
- a state or territory government
- a state or territory government entity.
Joint applications are encouraged, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply.
Timing
Applications close 11 December 2020.
How to get the Frontier Health and Medical Research funding?
Who are the competitors?
- harnessing next-generation brain imaging technology to diagnose and treat epilepsy ($1 million)
- developing a new interface between the brain and a machine, to help people regain eyesight, movement or other nerve functions ($0.9 million)
- developing a national database of antibiotic resistance, to allow resistant strains to be traced, isolated and treated ($1 million)
- investigating large-scale use of an Australian method for controlling the spread of Zika virus, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases ($1 million)
- developing new technologies to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health ($0.9 million)
- using 4D diagnostic technology to accurately assess lung function in people of all ages, including the very young and old ($1 million)
- using the latest genome editing technology to rapidly detect and identify infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance ($1 million)
- using therapeutic ultrasound to treat brain disorders, including dementia ($1 million)
- testing a new technology that stimulates the spinal cord to treat cerebral palsy ($0.7 million)
- developing new technologies to care for people who have had a stroke before they reach hospital ($1 million)
How to win the Frontier Health and Medical Research funding?
How the Government score your application?
- Assessment criterion 1: Project Impact (34% weighting).
- Assessment criterion 2: Project methodology (33% weighting).
- Assessment criterion 3: Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (33% weighting).
- Assessment criterion 4: Overall Value and Risk of the Project (non-weighted).
Everyone is good at research….
- cutting edge ideas and research technology
- capacity and capability for translational research
- team’s track record undertaking translationally focussed research
- a sound project plan including your governance structure
- etc
Where should you be spending your time?
- Who are the commercialisation partners? – that the project will be entering the commercialisation stage and will not be dependent on further Commonwealth funding by the end of Stage Two
- What is the annual cost of the problem? – a defined health and medical research problem
- How does it get to market? – credible pathway to impact after five years of funding
We dont care about the research!
More Information
- Source
- Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative 2021 Guidelines
- Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative 2021 Factsheet
- Frontier Health and Medical Research Initiative 2021 FAQs
Round 1 Recipients
The program awarded the following stage 1 grants under the Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative, as at 30 September 2019.
| Funded Institution | Project Name | Chief Investigator | Total Funding |
| Australian Lung Health Initiative Pty Ltd | 4D Functional diagnosis: a new frontier in lung health for children | Prof Andreas Fouras | $960,000 |
| Burnet Institute | EVE-M (Enhancing the Vaginal Environment and Microbiome) Initiative | Prof Gilda Tachedjian | $895,346 |
| Florey Institute of Neuro-science and Mental Health | Precision Medicine in Epilepsy | Prof Graeme Jackson | $999,956 |
| Monash University | An Innovative Public Health Program Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases | Prof Scott O’Neill | $964,700 |
| Monash University | Cortical Frontiers: Commercialising Brain Machine Interfaces | Prof Arthur Lowery | $924,100 |
| Saluda Medical Pty Limited | Cerebral palsy treatment by closed loop electrical stimulation | Prof John Parker | $747,596 |
| The University of Queensland | Therapeutic Ultrasound for the Treatment of Brain Disorders | Prof Juergen Goetz | $1,000,000 |
| University of Melbourne | Using disruptive technologies to transform prehospital care for stroke | Prof Geoffrey Donnan | $1,000,000 |
| University of Technology Sydney | Disruptive technologies to trace, track & tackle antibiotic resistance | Prof Steven Djordjevic | $998,731 |
| Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | c-FIND: CRISPR Frontier Infection Diagnostics to Detect Infection | Prof Marc Pellegrini | $1,000,000 |
| Total | $9,490,429 | ||
