SAHMRI Executive Director to continue as Chair advising NHMRC

The Morrison Government has announced the membership of the Principal Committees of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for 2021–2024.

NHMRC is the nation’s leading body supporting Australia’s health and medical research capability, funding the best research and researchers, ensuring consistent health standards and advising on ethical issues in health.

Professor Steve Wesselingh, Executive Director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), will continue as Chair of Research Committee. The Research Committee advises on the distribution of funding and policies for the NHMRC grant program and on the scope and quality of health and medical research in Australia.

Professor Emily Banks AM will Chair the new Health Research Impact Committee, which will play a key role in advising NHMRC on strategies to promote and measure the impact of health research. This covers a broad range of research, including basic science, public health, clinical and health services and research to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Professor Banks has considerable experience, leading the Epidemiology for Policy and Practice group at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University. She was formerly a member of NHMRC’s Research Committee and Deputy Chair of the NHMRC Alcohol Working Group.

Professor Ingrid Winship AO, Professor of Adult Clinical Genetics at The University of Melbourne and former Executive Director of Research for Melbourne Health, will continue as Chair of the Australian Health Ethics Committee. The Australian Health Ethics Committee advises on ethical issues in health and on the development of health research guidelines.

Membership of the NHMRC Principal Committees brings together expertise in biomedical science, clinical and public health, nursing, ethics, social sciences, health care training and the medical profession, as well as business and consumer perspectives, and expertise in the health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and of people with disability. The Principal Committees support Council and provide expert advice reflecting a wide range of perspectives to the NHMRC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Anne Kelso AO, to support these functions.

Together with the new Council, chaired by Professor Caroline Homer AO, NHMRC’s Principal Committees will support NHMRC in its mission of building a healthy Australia.