WA Near-Miss Awards strengthen pipeline of nationally competitive health and medical research
A total of 39 Western Australian early- and mid-career researchers have been supported through the WA Near-Miss Awards (WANMA), reinforcing the State’s growing strength in health and medical research with $3.9 million awarded through the program.
Delivered through the Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund, the WANMA program provides targeted support to high-quality research applications that narrowly miss out on National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding. The program plays a critical role in maintaining research momentum, retaining talent and strengthening Western Australia’s competitiveness on the national stage.
The latest cohort includes 13 recipients awarded through the WANMA Ideas Grants 2025–26 and 26 recipients through the WANMA Investigator Grants 2026–27, supporting researchers who were near-misses in the 2025 NHMRC Ideas Grants and 2026 NHMRC Investigator Grants opportunities.
Together, they represent a diverse range of research areas including cancer, cardiovascular health, infectious diseases, mental health and ageing.
Funding supports research activities aimed at increasing competitiveness for future submissions to national funding bodies such as the NHMRC, Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and Australian Research Council (ARC), including addressing peer reviewer feedback.
Recipients have demonstrated strong national competitiveness for their research, highlighting the quality and impact of Western Australia’s research pipeline.
Among them:
- Professor Christopher Blyth (The Kids Research Institute Australia / The University of Western Australia) for his nationally competitive research into improving prevention of paediatric respiratory infections.
- Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst (Edith Cowan University), a WANMA Emerging Leaders recipient, for her nationally competitive research exploring the role of diet in heart health.
- Dr Luke Garratt (The University of Western Australia), a multiple FHRI Fund grant recipient, for his nationally competitive research into immune cell function and disease.
Strong representation was also seen in the NHMRC Ideas Grants round:
- Dr Ziming Chen (The University of Western Australia), for his research into tendon repair and cellular processes.
- Dr Omar Elaskalani (The Kids Research Institute Australia), a WANMA Ideas Grant recipient, for his research advancing immunotherapy for childhood cancer.
- Dr Tao Wang (The Kids Research Institute Australia), who has received multiple FHRI Fund grants, for his research developing new approaches to cancer treatment.
These outcomes highlight the importance of the WA Near-Miss Awards in supporting high-quality research at a critical stage—ensuring strong ideas remain competitive and continue to progress toward national funding success.
The program forms part of the broader WA Grants Success Framework, which aims to strengthen Western Australia’s performance in national funding schemes and support a sustainable pipeline of research talent.
By investing in researchers at key points in their careers, the FHRI Fund is helping to position Western Australia as a leader in health and medical research, delivering long-term benefits for the community.
Award recipients: Name Activity title Responsible entity Award Dr Hadib Afsharan Redefining cardiac diagnostics: Simplified biomarker technology for cardiovascular health The University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Ziming Chen From Force to Mitochondrial Transfer: Decoding Mechanotransduction for Tendon Repair The University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Omar Elaskalani Age Matters: Harnessing the Developing Immune System to Transform Immunotherapy for Childhood Cancer The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Loren Flynn Patient profiling to identify sporadic ALS responders to SOD1 suppression therapy Murdoch University $100,000 Dr Syed Zulqarnain Gilani Detecting Abdominal Aortic Calcification with Explainable AI: Developing and Testing a Framework for Localisation and Interpretability Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Jua Iwasaki Nipping Strep A infections in the bud: targeting tonsil attachment to improve vaccine development The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Jasreen Kular The role of lysosomal transporter MFSD12 in health and disease The University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Virginie Lam Advancing interventions for chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction in cancer patients and survivors Curtin University $100,000 Dr Xingang Li Deep Learning-based Multi-Omics Integration in an Australian Ageing Cohort: Uncovering Immunoglobulin G N-Glycome as Predictors of Cardiometabolic Diseases Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Andrew Stevenson Enhancing autologous cell therapies to regenerate skin after injury University of Western Australia $100,000 Professor Gina Trapp Reshaping Australia's school environments to combat childhood obesity and poor nutrition Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Tao Wang Developing a novel dsRNA immune adjuvant for cancer treatment and vaccination The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Pauline Zaenker Autoantibodies as Predictive Biomarkers of Immunotherapy Response and Severe Immune-related Adverse Events in Cutaneous Melanoma Patients Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Lisa Alcock Targeted protein degraders as novel therapies for osteosarcomas Curtin University $100,000 Dr Aaron Beasley Advanced cfDNA genomics for improving the outcomes of cancer patients Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Chrianna Bharat From Clusters to Care: Identifying Disease Burden and Opportunities for Intervention in Healthy Ageing University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst Unlocking a heart-healthy diet: are cruciferous vegetables the key? Edith Cowan University $100,000 Professor Christopher Blyth Innovative Strategies to Optimise Paediatric Acute Respiratory Infection Prevention The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Anthony Buzzai Dissecting and exploiting cancer-immune interactions in paediatric cancers The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Anita Campbell Advancing equity in sepsis care and prevention The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Jennifer Currenti Personalising liver cancer therapy: enhancing efficacy and patient outcomes through targeted treatments Curtin University $100,000 Dr Jennifer Dunne Menopause and Dementia Curtin University $100,000 Dr Denby Evans Unravelling the mechanisms of persistent and progressive lung disease after preterm birth The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Luke Garratt You Got To Move It! Revealing Cell Migration and Sex Matter to Neutrophil Poise University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Lakshini Herat Controlling Sympathetic Nerve Activity for Cardiorenal and Metabolic Health. University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Mridul Johari Cracking the Tubulin Code: How TUBA4A variants shape neurological diseases University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Erin Kelty Prenatal medication exposure and congenital anomalies: Tackling methodological inconsistencies in research to reduce prenatal exposure to teratogenic medications University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Su Lim A One Health approach tackling Clostridium difficile infection University of Western Australia $100,000 Professor Hannah Moore Improving how we implement and evaluate vaccines: What can we learn from RSV and Strep A? Curtin University $100,000 Dr Kenta Ninomiya Epigenetic roadmap to healthy aging for all The University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Jessica Nolan Advancing stroke rehabilitation in Western Australia Curtin University $100,000 Dr Nicola Principe Targeting lipid -mediated immune suppression to improve cancer immunotherapy The University of Western Australia $100,000 Dr Annabel Short Designing Safer Childhood Brain Cancer Therapies by Understanding Brain-Immune Microenvironment The Kids Research Institute of Australia on behalf of the Centre for Child Research UWA $100,000 Dr Cassandra Smith Her heart matters: cardiovascular disease screening during bone density testing Edith Cowan University $100,000 Dr Ingrid Stacey Cardiovascular measures to guide policy and practice for First Nations populations: time to close the data gaps The University of Western Australia $100,000 Associate Professor Gizachew Tessema Developing culturally tailored interventions to improve development outcomes of children in priority populations Curtin University $100,000 Dr Frances Theunissen Development of SARM1 antisense therapy to restore axonal health in motor neurone disease The University of Notre Dame Australia $100,000 Dr Getinet Yaya Developing a risk-prediction model and co-designing early intervention and prevention strategies for mental health in CALD children and young people: A transformative approach Curtin University $100,000 Dr Liezhou Zhong More than a dollop: new approaches to improve the health and wellbeing of people eating texture modified food Edith Cowan University $100,000