Prestigious Myopia Research Grant
Congratulations to Associate Professor Ranjay Chakraborty, from the College of Health & Enablement, on winning one of only three US$500,000 Myopia Research Grants from the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) and Meta Reality Labs Research. With myopia declared an emerging public health concern, the research of all three winning candidates was applauded as having the potential to meaningfully advance our understanding of myopia. The only recipient from outside the United States, Associate Professor Chakraborty’s research will focus on “Objective Measures of Ambient Light Exposure and Near Work in Pre-Myopic Children: A Cross-Continental Longitudinal Study across 100 Degrees of Latitude: Light X Near Study”.
Funding win for Australian Veterans Wellbeing Pilot
Congratulations to the Open Door team and to Professor Ben Wadham, Director of the Open Door research initiative, on winning a signifcant grant from Open Arms DVA to pilot a veterans and wellbeing program. Part of the Flinders’ Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Open Door focuses their research on improving the wellbeing of veterans, public safety personnel, and their families. Australian Defence Force (ADF) veterans experience an elevated risk of suicide and behavioural crisis. The Australian Veterans Wellbeing Pilot offers an alternate way for police and ambulance first responders to identify and approach crises involving ADF veterans, and it will create an evaluation framework to continue evidence-based improvements in this area.
MRFF drives better mental health at home for older Australians
Award-winning mental health initiative Talking Mental Health will be scaled up thanks to a $5 million Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant recognising the strength, impact and significance of its potential health outcomes for older Australians.
Aged care provider Uniting AgeWell, in partnership with Flinders University and the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) and other eminent researchers, people with lived and living experience, universities and hospitals, has been selected for this highly competitive funding. This success reflects the project’s strong evidence base, deep sector partnerships and alignment with national aged care reform.
As part of the research team, Professor Tim Windsor will help implement the program at scale across metropolitan and regional services, strengthening workforce capability and resilience, embedding mental health into everyday care practice, and generating robust evidence on effectiveness, sustainability and cost benefit. Read more about the research here.