VC'S DESK
Macquarie research successes accelerate
In the past few months, Macquarie University has enjoyed outstanding success in securing funding for projects with the potential for significant impact. Two illustrations of this from many recent notable examples include the accomplishments of Associate Professors Ian Blair and Phil Taylor, and their respective teams.
Associate Professor Ian Blair, his research team and his collaborators were recently awarded a $6.37 million grant from the NHMRC to fund research into the common biological origins of familial and sporadic frontotemporal dementia and motor neurone disease. Professor Blair’s investigation will contribute to the treatment of these diseases, predicted to affect more than one million Australians within the next 40 years.
Elsewhere on campus, Associate Professor Phil Taylor and his team received a landmark co-investment of $20.5 million, agreed between Macquarie University and Horticulture Innovation Australia. The team will focus on developing an effective program to curb the prevalence of fruit flies in Australia that presents a $9 billion biosecurity challenge to Australian horticulture.
These projects and many others like them reflect the significant research-intensive efforts of Macquarie staff that resulted in an 18 per cent increase in external research funding last year. But these financial successes are not the only signs of our accelerating accomplishments in the academic domain. For example, in late July this year our researchers, students and industry partners gathered for the official launch of the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Molecular Technology in the Food Industry, located here on campus; and our 16 finalists for the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are yet another endorsement of our growing reputation for excellence.
The confidence of funding bodies in our research potential is a crucial element for our continued success. The prowess of our staff and our growing reputation for impactful and innovative research encourages continued funding and presents us with new and exciting opportunities for continued, impactful success.
I am proud to lead this community, and to share with you the fruits of our labours. I hope that you, too, can be proud of your part in the great legacy that we continue to build together.
In other news, congratulations to Dr Denis Crowdy and his team on being awarded a research grant for their project “Music, Mobile Phones and Community Justice In Melanesia“.