Collaboration is KING in the world of research

“This is the place to go if you want to do this kind of research,”…

That was Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI) Executive Director, Prof David Adams speaking about the need to collaborate to drive internationally competitive research.

He was talking to researchers from both IHMRI and ACES at a networking event that highlighted our existing work together as well as encouraged researchers to think about more joint projects.

After six months in the top job, Prof Adams has a strong understanding of IHMRI’s point of difference and is leading a strategy to capitalise on these strengths and build a “critical mass”.

“We need a strong team to attract more funding and remain competitive internationally and as such, we need to increase our involvement with clinicians and widen our collaborative network,” he said.

ACES—with its international links and multidisciplinary team—can help facilitate the IHMRI plan.

ACES Director Prof Gordon Wallace said IHMRI and ACES are increasingly working on next-generation medical devices and therapies which are attracting national and international attention.

“Bringing together ACES and IHMRI researchers more than doubles the knowledge bank we can delve into to tackle clinical challenges,” Prof Wallace said.

Some examples of existing projects that were highlighted at the event include:

• A project using our expertise in biofabrication to build a model of a sleep aponea patient’s airway, so that new treatments can be developed to keep the airway open at night.
• A project leveraging our expertise in the development of novel fibres that can be used to deliver drugs directly, with sustained release, into cancer tumours.
• A project that uses fundamental ACES discoveries in bioactive electromaterials to facilitate neurite branching (a decrease in branching is related to diseases such as schizophrenia).

“We encourage those involved in biomedical research to consider how rapidly converging advances in materials science, 3D printing and cellular biology can be used to tackle both fundamental and applied research challenges in an unprecedented manner,” Prof Wallace said.