NCEPH researchers awarded NHMRC grants for ambitious public health research

Four researchers from the ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH) have been awarded 2026 NHMRC Investigator Grants, securing almost $8 million in funding to pursue ambitious public health research over the next five years.

Together, their research addresses some of the most pressing health challenges, from preventing suicide and self-harm among young people and improving mental health help-seeking, to reducing inequities in lung cancer screening and tackling childhood stunting.

Professor Alison Calear from the Centre for Mental Health Research will be using the funding to ask how we can prevent suicide and self-harm among young people.

“Rates of suicide and self-harm are high in Australian youth,” she explains. “My research aims to lower the risk of youth suicide and self-harm by better understanding the causes of this behaviour and by testing new interventions to prevent self-harm and suicide and promote timely help-seeking.”

The project, Understanding and preventing self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents, has secured $2,836,100. The project aims to develop new approaches to prevent self-harm and suicide while encouraging timely help-seeking.

“I feel extremely honoured to be awarded an NHMRC Leadership I Investigator Grant and want to thank my family, friends and colleagues who have supported and encouraged me in this pursuit,” says Professor Calear. 

“It is an absolute privilege to have the time, space and resourcing to undertake this program of research in youth suicide and self-harm prevention, and I look forward to making a genuine difference in this space.”

Preventing mental health crises is one part of the challenge. Making sure people know where to turn—and feel safe seeking professional help—is another.

At the Centre for Mental Health Research, Dr Amelia Gulliver’s grant will assist her exploration of the gap between having mental health services available and actually accessing them.

“University students are at high risk of experiencing mental ill-health and its consequences yet avoid seeking professional help due to stigma or career concerns, or not being able to access the care that’s right for them,” she says.

To connect students with mental health care, her team will focus on increasing students’ awareness and ability to seek help, ensuring the services students need and prefer are available, and developing national guidelines for implementing digital tools in universities to encourage help-seeking and support pathways to care.

With $1,636,800 supporting the project Click to Connect: Implementing evidence-based digital help-seeking tools in higher education, Dr Gulliver looks forward to helping make sure mental health services are informed by the voices and experiences of the people who use them.

“This grant is exciting as it will allow me to extend my lived experience-led research on evaluating mental health services, including community-based programs and digital tools for young people, including university students,” she says.

Access to healthcare also means ensuring that programs work equitably for everyone.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the challenge is not simply whether a new health program exists, but whether it is designed to overcome the barriers that have contributed to persistent health inequities.

“While lung cancer remains a significant health challenge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the rollout of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program creates an important opportunity to support earlier diagnosis and better outcomes,” says Professor Lisa Whop from Yardhura Walani.

Professor Whop’s project, Reducing the burden of lung cancer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through lung cancer screening, is supported with $2,836,100 to develop community-informed strategies that help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples access and benefit from lung cancer screening.

“This grant support is both a significant opportunity and a responsibility to work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, recognising their strengths, knowledge and leadership as we strive to improve equity in lung cancer screening,” she says.

Improving health sometimes requires looking not only within but also beyond national borders.

Dr Haribondhu Sarma from the Department of Applied Epidemiology has received $672,107.08 to reduce child stunting in Timor-Leste, where more than 30 per cent of children are affected by impaired growth and development.

The project, Co-Design Approach to Engage Mother Support Groups in Community-Based One Health Interventions to Improve Child Linear Growth in Timor-Leste, aims to improve child growth outcomes by engaging trained community volunteers to support pregnant women and mothers through home visits focused on nutrition, hygiene and animal care.

The work is expected to provide a model for addressing childhood undernutrition across similar low-resource settings.

“The grant will enable our team to work closely with local communities, health systems and policymakers to co-design and implement sustainable interventions, while strengthening Australia’s leadership in global nutrition and implementation science,” says Dr Sarma.

These four projects demonstrate the breadth of work required to improve population health.