Leading members of the State’s health and medical research community will today meet with Deputy Premier and Health Minister Roger Cook for a roundtable event to discuss the future of health and medical research in Western Australia.
Plans for a secure research funding source, in the form of a Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, will be top of the meeting’s agenda.
Among those attending will be prominent WA researchers – Professors Jonathan Carapetis, Peter Leedman, Christobel Saunders and Bruce Robinson – as well as emerging research leaders and representatives of government, universities, research institutes, the health professions and corporate sector.
Establishment of the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund was a key election commitment. The planned fund, will draw on interest from the State’s sovereign wealth fund to provide two streams of funding – one for health and medical research, the other for medical innovation and commercialisation.
The roundtable will also explore opportunities to improve patient care, and grow the number of jobs and economic benefits of health and medical research.