- 13 WA health studies
to share in $2 million funding allocation
- Investment to improve
health outcomes for Western Australians
- Total of $8 million committed through program since
inception
Western Australia is well-positioned to
remain at the forefront of ground-breaking longitudinal health research, with
13 leading studies to share in a pool of $2 million funding.
The 2026 WA Cohort Studies - Operational
Support Program (WACS-OSP) provides funding to eligible studies based on
competitive excellence, to back researchers to enable important clinical
research and translate findings into changes to health policy and outcomes.
Among the 13 cohort studies to receive
funding from the 2026 round are:
- the Western Australian
Paediatric Oncology Cohort, focuses on children diagnosed with cancer in WA
and provides data and clinical samples to researchers in this field;
- ORIGINS, the largest
study of its kind in Australia, which is following 10,000 WA children from
their time in the womb over a decade to better understand the source of disease,
and improve child and adult health;
- the Raine Study, one
of the world's longest-running pre-birth longitudinal health studies,
which has followed the same group of 2,900 pregnant women and their 2,868
babies since 1989; and
- the Busselton Health Study, which has mapped
population health in the Busselton community and collected health data and
biospecimens from more than 30,000 children and adults since 1966. As a result,
it has investigated cardiovascular, liver and respiratory diseases, cancer,
endocrine disorders, obesity and sleep issues.
This year's funding round brings the total
investment through the program to $8 million.
Cohort studies are observational research
projects that follow groups of people who share a common characteristic across
many years.
They are critical to understanding disease
incidence, causes and long-term outcomes, and provide valuable datasets used by
researchers across Australia and internationally.
The program was established in 2023 to
provide operational funding to eligible cohort studies to support essential
costs such as staffing, consumer engagement, and collection of new data and
biospecimens.
Funding allocations are determined through a
competitive process based on research excellence - including grant success,
support for PhD students, and the number of research projects enabled by each
study.
To date, grants have led to increased staff
capacity, enhanced data collection, improved data integration, and greater
collaboration across research institutions.
The program has also helped leverage
additional funding, expand partnerships, and increase research outputs,
including publications and contributions to national biobanking initiatives.
Under the Future Health Research and
Innovation (FHRI) Fund Strategy 2025-30, future support for research
infrastructure including cohort studies will be delivered through a new
enabling program. The enabling program, expected to launch in late 2026, will
provide competitive grants for capital and operational infrastructure including
digital platforms, equipment, and capability-building initiatives.
The 2026 WACS-OSP recipients are listed on
the FHRI Fund website.
Comments attributed to Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson:
"Western Australia's
cohort studies are an invaluable asset, providing decades of data that help
researchers better understand disease, improve treatments and ultimately save
lives.
"This $2 million
investment ensures these important studies can continue operating, growing and
delivering high-quality data to support medical breakthroughs.
"We are building on the
success of this program through the new FHRI Fund Enabling Program, which will
deliver broader support for the infrastructure that underpins world-class
research in WA.
"The Cook Labor
Government remains committed to supporting innovation and ensuring Western
Australia continues to lead in health and medical research."
