Research initiatives that help parents talk to their children about alcohol, seek better outcomes for people with lung diseases, support breast cancer patients and assist Indigenous communities with out-of-pocket expenses have been awarded more than $4.5 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

Professor Jacqueline Bowden and her research team have been awarded more than $945,000 to work with parents and adolescents to develop ways to better inform them about the impact and dangers of supplying alcohol.

Alcohol is the leading individual risk factor for death and disability in 15–24-year-olds globally.  Parents have an important role to play in protecting teenagers, setting boundaries and clear expectations about drinking alcohol.

The research project will enlist the aid of parents and their teenagers to design and test communication materials, such as videos for social media, or television and online information, to support parents and discourage them from providing alcohol to their children.

“Data shows that parents are supplying drinks to their teenagers in the mistaken belief that it is building a responsible relationship with alcohol.  Unfortunately, the evidence shows that, on the contrary, it can increase drinking and the associated harms among young people,” she says.

Professor Sonja Klebe and her team have been awarded almost $2 million to test combinations of therapies to improve survival rates in lung cancer and mesothelioma, and minimise side effects of those treatments.

In Australia 14,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year, along with 700 Australians who are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

The survival rates for both diseases are low. Those diagnosed with lung cancer have a 22 per cent chance of surviving five years after diagnosis when compared to the general Australian population, whilst those with mesothelioma have only a 6.4 per cent chance.

“Our research will help create personalised immunotherapy for lung cancer and mesothelioma, as well as new biomarkers to predict patient outcomes with the goal of improving lung cancer patient survival while reducing nasty side effects,” she says.

Professor Bogda Koczwara and her team have been awarded almost $600,000 for research to develop an online tool that can effectively help thousands of breast cancer survivors in Australia suffering from or at risk of lymphoedema.

Lymphoedema is a distressing condition that involves the accumulation of fluid in patients’ arms, resulting from damage or removal of lymph nodes during breast cancer treatment. The condition can develop soon after surgery or many years later.

“Our research will develop and evaluate an online lymphoedema program in South Australia and the Northern Territory caring for approximately 800 new patients with breast cancer a year, 70% of whom reside in rural or regional Australia.”

“This research will address an urgent gap and serve as a model that can be adapted to other conditions with a high risk of lymphoedema, such as non-malignant lymphoedema and lymphoedema related to other cancers such as melanoma, head and neck and gynaecologic cancers.

Associate Professor Courtney Ryder has been awarded almost $1 million to fund research to build and implement a digital platform that will help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families cope with the significant burden of out-of-pocket health expenses for healthcare.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are one of the most marginalised communities impacted by the burden of additional healthcare expenses not covered by Medicare or private insurance,” says Associate Professor Ryder.

The new social prescribing digital platform will offer an expanding range of non-medical supports available in the community, providing patients with targeted support to access healthcare such as  fuel vouchers or affordable accommodation close to hospitals.

“Radical change from government initiative and policies through to health professional awareness is needed to ensure equitable healthcare access which does not create additional financial hardship in communities already experiencing economic disadvantage,” she says.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Raymond Chan congratulated all the researchers and their teams on securing funding from the Medical Future Fund towards projects that will improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.

“Flinders University has consistently been at the forefront of groundbreaking research, addressing global challenges and making a significant impact towards improving lives across Australia and on an international level,” says Professor Chan.

“We are fortunate to have a team of exceptionally talented researchers and their groundbreaking research is making a significant impact by tackling some of the most intricate healthcare issues affecting individuals today.”

Meanwhile Flinders University researchers continue to be at the forefront of cutting-edge cancer research to help achieve better quality of life and outcomes for people diagnosed, and living with cancer.

The latest Beat Cancer round of grants announced Early Career Research Fellowships for Dr Huah Shin Ng ($240,000) from the College of Medicine and Public Health and Dr Imogen Ramsey ($240,000) from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

In an Australian first, Dr Ramsey’s project, ‘Surveillance of patient-reported outcomes in cancer survivorship: a patient-centred approach to understanding the impacts of cancer on population health’ will develop and implement an innovative registry in South Australia to capture important data on the health and wellbeing of cancer survivors.

“My vision is to provide Australia’s first cancer survivorship registry, to bridge a crucial knowledge gap regarding the long-term impacts of cancer on population health,” says Dr Ramsey.

Nearly half of the patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia are 65 years or older and with the population ageing, this proportion is projected to increase.

Dr Huah Shin Ng’s project, ‘Real-world data for evidence-based treatment decisions in older adults with breast cancer’ aims to improve outcomes in older adults diagnosed with breast cancer through multidisciplinary clinical and epidemiological research seeking to advance knowledge of treatment outcomes, including toxicity of treatment.

“I hope to make a substantial impact on breast cancer control through an increased understanding of risk factors for treatment toxicity. Better management of toxicity of anti-cancer treatment not only improves cancer outcomes but also quality of life while on treatment,” says Dr Ng.

The Beat Cancer Project provides vital funding for cancer research, increasing the capacity for researchers to attract more national and international research grants and build a stronger cancer research workforce with broader research infrastructure in South Australia.