Bond University awarded $2.5 million grant for antibiotic resistance research

Bond University’s Professor Chris Del Mar from the Faculty of Health Sciences has been awarded a prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant worth $2.5million over five years the Federal Minister for Health announced yesterday.

Professor Del Mar will lead an international collaboration with Oxford University, Cardiff University and other Australian universities and organisations including National Prescribing Service (NPS) and Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), to establish the ‘Centre for Research Excellence in Minimising Antibiotic Resistance for Acute Respiratory Infections’.

The NHMRC is Australia’s premier research grants body in the fields of medicine and health and Bond University was one of only four Centres nationally to have received funding.

This research promises to have significant benefits for Australians said Professor Del Mar.

“Antibiotic resistance is a threat to international health, too often people think they need antibiotics when in fact they don’t. I am delighted to have the opportunity to help guide Australians to better health through this research,” he said.

The Centre will conduct research on the major contributors to antibiotic resistance, including antibiotic overuse and person-to-person transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. The research will inform the design, evaluation and translation of urgently needed interventions, aimed at clinicians, patients and policy-makers.

Bond University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford said receiving a NHMRC grant was significant for the University and follows the success of two other Commonwealth funded research grants announced last week.

“I congratulate Professor Del Mar and the research team on their achievement. This is the first time Bond has received this funding and is a fantastic addition to our recent research success,” said Professor Brailsford.

“Last week we announced Professor Dan Svantesson from the Faculty of Law was awarded a $671,616 Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship grant, and Professor Bon Gray from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine was awarded a $5.75million Collaborative Research Network (CRN) grant.

“This NHMRC research grant is further evidence to the calibre of the researchers we have at Bond and our research portfolio in terms of size and complexity,” he said.