The National Foundation for Medical Research and Innovation (NFMRI) supports early medical research to advance innovation and enable collaborations.
Our Mission
“To advance innovations in medical research related to the nature, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and incidence of disease and other health problems that have a significant impact on the health of humans”
NFMRI recognises that many community benefits arising from medial research are accessed by people in need as new innovative products including; medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and devices.
These early innovations require collaborators and investment to deliver their full potential. Early innovators also need access to additional skills sets and networks. And NFMRI is looking for opportunities where it can value-add.
As well as the potential to deliver better health outcomes ‘spill-over’ benefits can support individual businesses and the economy creating opportunities for growth, employment and access to export markets.
The Australian Innovation System Report 2013, notes that “collaborative innovation with research organisations more than triples the likelihood of business productivity growth. Compared to businesses that don’t innovate, innovative Australian businesses that collaborate with research organisations (amongst others) are 242% more likely to report increases in productivity….
… Despite the benefits, Australia’s overall levels of collaborative business innovation and business-to-research collaboration on innovation continue to compare poorly with other OECD countries. Relative to other OECD countries, Australia’s level of collaborative business innovation is low (ranked 23rd or lower depending on business size). Interestingly, SMEs have caught up with, and even slightly exceeded, large businesses on the levels of collaborative innovation.”
Internationally large programs are trying to facilitate similar needs. Last week, the UK launch of the Horizon 2020 program. This €70 bn research program (over 7 years) now has a greater emphasis on frontier research embracing collaborations with academia and industry providing important opportunities to find finance, networks and partnerships for innovation.
Whilst the resources available from Horizon 2020 dwarf what is available in Australia it highlights the importance of supporting frontier research, advancing innovation and enabling collaborations. Australian researchers are recognised for their international contributions to science. NFMRI is looking to partner with donors, PAFS and other organisations that wish to make a difference and support our mission to assist our researchers translate their research into community benefits.