University of Sydney researchers have been awarded more than $38.9 million in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grants funding to support a diverse range of health and medical research projects, from cancer and gene therapies to antimicrobial resistance and mental health.
The NHMRC Ideas Grants scheme supports researchers at all career stages to pursue innovative and creative research projects in any area of health and medical research from discovery to implementation.
A total of 29 NHMRC Ideas Grants projects were awarded this round to researchers spanning the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Health and Faculty of Science.
Professor Julie Cairney, interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney, congratulated all Sydney researchers who have received funding and looks forward to seeing the impact of these projects in the years ahead.
“I congratulate all our researchers on their respective success in the highly competitive NHMRC Ideas Grants 2025 round,” said Professor Cairney.
“Of particular note, Professor Carlo Pulitano has secured two NHMRC Ideas Grants to undertake research in organ preservation and liver transplantation.
“This strong result reflects the University’s enduring leadership in health and medical research, and I look forward to seeing how these innovative projects will take shape and make a meaningful impact on the lives of people in Australia and beyond.”
Faculty of Engineering
Associate Professor Aaron Schindeler (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Westmead Institute for Medical Research) has received $1,542,616 for the project ‘Gene therapy to correct achondroplasia (dwarfism)’.
Dr. Chia Lun (Mike) Wu (School of Biomedical Engineering; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,855,406 for the project ‘Beyond White Clots: Decoding RBC Mechanosensing in Carotid Web Thrombosis for Innovative Stroke Prediction and Prevention’.
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Professor Allison Abendroth (School of Medical Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,740,497.20 for the project ‘Defining the tug-of-war between herpesviruses and innate-like unconventional T cells’.
Dr Charles Bailey (School of Medical Sciences; Centenary Institute) has received $1,944,020.40 for the project ‘Improving the accessibility of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy’.
Associate Professor Patrick Bertolino (School of Medical Sciences; Centenary Institute) has received $1,356,004 for the project ‘Leveraging hepatic portal tract immunity for therapeutic innovations in liver diseases’.
Professor Jennifer Byrne (School of Medical Sciences) has received $540,325.25 for the project ‘Unknown and possibly non-existent human cell lines in cancer research publications’.
Professor Anthony Cesare (School of Medical Sciences; Children's Medical Research Institute) has received $1,360,178 for the project ‘How DNA repair guides cell death and growth arrest’.
Professor Carl Feng (School of Medical Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,180,488 for the project ‘Unravelling stromal-immune cell crosstalk in chronically inflamed lymph nodes’.
Professor Wendy Gold (School of Medical Sciences) has received $1,714,121.95 for the project ‘Splicing hope into neurodevelopmental disorders: A novel multi-isoform gene therapy approach’.
Dr Kristi Griffiths (Brain and Mind Centre; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,105,550.40 for the project ‘"Why don't you just eat?": Fear, Reward and Self-Starvation in Anorexia Nervosa’.
Professor Vanessa Hayes (School of Medical Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre; Sydney Southeast Asia Centre) has received $1,284,568.05 for the project ‘Revealing prostate tumour mutational and epigenetic signatures of heavy metal exposure’.
Dr Nicholas Hindley (Sydney School of Health Sciences) has received $657,798.50 for the project ‘Less toxicity, fewer hospital visits and improved clinician confidence: The future of liver cancer treatment with motion-adaptive radiation therapy’.
Professor Lisa Horvath (Sydney Medical School, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse) has received $939,411.60 for the project ‘Targeting metastatic prostate cancer by exploiting vulnerabilities in lipid metabolism’.
Dr Muhammad Kamruzzaman (Westmead Institute for Medical Research) has received $1,398,453 for the project ‘Novel probiotic plasmids to protect microbiota from invasion by antimicrobial resistance’.
Associate Professor Melkam Kebede (School of Medical Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $750,239.26 for the project ‘Preserving the beta-cell’s insulin secretory granules to treat Type 2 Diabetes’.
Professor Eddy Kizana (Sydney Medical School) has received $1,558,213.50 for the project ‘Definitive and Personalised Therapy for Genetic Heart Disease’.
Associate Professor Grant Logan (School of Medical Sciences; Children's Medical Research Institute) has received $1,501,207.50 for the project ‘Overcoming anti-AAV IgA antibodies: a barrier for gene therapy hiding in plain sight’.
Dr Rebecca Poulos (School of Medical Sciences; Children's Medical Research Institute) has received $576,600.80 for the project ‘Personalised Proteomic Reports for Precision Cancer Care’.
Professor Carlo Pulitano (Sydney Medical School) has received $1,607,337.72 for the project ‘Organ Preservation Without Time Constraint via an Innovative AI-driven Autoregulated Organ Perfusion Platform’ and $1,996,304.30 for the project ‘Revolutionising Liver Transplantation: Growing Full-Size Grafts Ex-Situ Using a Novel Regenerative Perfusion Platform’.
Professor Roger Reddel (Children's Medical Research Institute) has received $1,219,407.50 for the project ‘Stratifying immunotherapy using integrated proteomics and digital pathology: a novel cost-effective multimodal approach’.
Dr Chandrima Sengupta (Sydney School of Health Sciences) has received $1,259,220 for the project ‘Tracking the beating heart: Enabling safe and effective radiotherapy for cardiac arrhythmia’.
Professor Margaret Sunde (School of Medical Sciences; Sydney Nano) has received $1,171,062 for the project ‘From Impact to Impairment: detecting the unique signature of chronic traumatic encephalopathy’.
Associate Professor Matthew Sunderland (Sydney School of Health Sciences) has received $1,207,560.20 for the project ‘New models and new measures for mental health: Developing more meaningful assessment and diagnostic tools’.
Professor Adam Walker (Sydney Pharmacy School; Brain and Mind Centre; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,076,521.25 for the project ‘Protection against neurodegeneration by protein sequestration’.
Faculty of Science
Dr Sandro Fernandes Ataide (School of Life and Environmental Sciences) has received $1,248,914 for the project ‘Exploiting the seekRNA gene insertion capability to improve gene therapy in liver diseases’.
Professor David James (School of Life and Environmental Sciences; School of Medical Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre) has received $1,760,872 for the project ‘Genetic Analysis of Metabolic-Associated Liver Disease to Reveal Novel Therapeutic Targets’.
Sydney Horizon Fellow Dr Morgan James (School of Psychology; Brain and Mind Centre) has received $1,868,954.81 for the project ‘Rethinking the Treatment of Binge Eating Disorder: Sleep as a Novel, Modifiable Target’.
Dr Lipin Loo (School of Life and Environmental Sciences; Charles Perkins Centre; Sydney Nano) has received $1,191,814 for the project ‘Data Driven Development of mRNA Analgesics’.