Revolutionary analysis initiatives that leverage AI expertise, cut back diabetes problems, and search to protect and restore beta cell perform are set for a $2 million funding in 2026 by the Diabetes Australia Analysis Belief.
This funding will help 19 leading edge initiatives throughout basic, medical, well being methods and public well being analysis, as a part of Diabetes Australia’s dedication to take a position $40 million over 10 years alongside the 2025-2030 Diabetes Australia Analysis Technique.
An extra two scholarships will help PhD postgraduate analysis in diabetes, in partnership with the Nationwide Well being and Medical Analysis Council.
Guided by the Analysis Technique, this funding helps a dedication to contain folks dwelling with and susceptible to diabetes all through the analysis course of, together with deciding on precedence initiatives, co-designing analysis and options, and guaranteeing susceptible communities are prioritised.
Diabetes Australia Group CEO Justine Cain stated this 12 months’s analysis funding would create a optimistic affect in vital areas together with decreasing diabetes problems, and help for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“Diabetes is likely one of the most pressing well being challenges of our time, affecting greater than two million Australians,” Ms Cain stated.
“By our analysis funding, we intention to centre the experiences of individuals dwelling with diabetes all through the analysis course of to fast-track options that can enhance each day lives and ship measurable affect.
“This funding is made attainable by the beneficiant help of our donors and companions, who we thank for supporting evidence-based analysis that prioritises the unmet wants of individuals dwelling with diabetes and the diabetes group.
“Congratulations to all funding recipients. We’re excited to see how your initiatives contribute to higher well being outcomes and improved lived experiences for all Australians dwelling with diabetes, their help networks, and our well being system.”
Diabetes Australia Director of Analysis Professor Grant Brinkworth stated the initiatives funded cowl a variety of experience, from cutting-edge beta-cell manufacturing restoration, to specialist wound care, and initiatives to centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in diabetes major care.
“A number of initiatives help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by creating community-led diabetes major care fashions, together with work to progress language-based culturally inclusive well being training by collaboration with group leaders,” Professor Brinkworth stated.
“Chopping-edge analysis into novel approaches to beta cell regeneration will look into new methods to mix immunotherapy with established remedies, whereas one other undertaking will search to develop an individualised stem-cell based mostly strategy to beta cell regeneration.
“AI-based analysis initiatives will deal with creating instruments that make well being data simpler to grasp, help folks in managing their very own wellbeing, and strengthen the connection between people and their care staff,” he stated.
The College of Sydney’s Dr Julie Ayre stated the funding would assist construct a man-made intelligence software that would present clear-language healthcare summaries for folks dwelling with diabetes.
“This grant will assist us co-design an AI software to make well being care simpler to grasp, extra accessible, and higher meet the wants of individuals with diabetes,” stated Dr Ayre.
“AI-generated, health-literate summaries of personalised care recommendation have the potential to rework how folks with and susceptible to diabetes construct the information, expertise, and confidence they should dwell nicely with diabetes.”
A complete of 19 initiatives have been funded within the 2026 Diabetes Australia Analysis Mission funding spherical, totalling $2 million in funding, and an additional two Nationwide Well being and Medical Analysis Council (NHMRC) Diabetes Australia postgraduate scholarships.
Tasks have been chosen by a peer assessment course of in opposition to standards that helps the Diabetes Australia 2025-2030 Analysis Technique.
Diabetes Australia wish to thank the Analysis Steering Committee and knowledgeable peer reviewers for his or her time, experience and considerate consideration of every software.
2026 Diabetes Australia Analysis Program Grants
| RESEARCHER | INSTITUTION | PROJECT | CO-INVESTIGATORS |
| A/Prof Behnam Akhavan | College of Newcastle | Engineering a Needle-Free Saliva Check for Type 2 Diabetes: A Low-Price Glucose Sensor for Rural and Socioeconomically Deprived Communities | Prof Shamasunder Acharya Prof Alexis Hure Dr Syamak Farajikhah Dr Shanika Nanayakkara |
| Dr Bernard Asiamah-Asare | Deakin College | Shifting the Curve: Modelling the Case for Earlier Intervention in Type 2 Diabetes | Dr Crystal Lee Dr Sean Randall Prof Suzanne Robinson Dr Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott Dr Gill Cowan |
| Dr Julie Ayre | College of Sydney | Clear Phrases, Higher Care Mission: Evaluating AI-generated, affected person pleasant summaries for folks with diabetes | A/Prof Carissa Bonner Prof Adam Dunn Dr Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz Dr Shanthini Seelan Mrs Geetha Bhat |
| Dr Richard Vivid | Flinders College | Bettering Outcomes with Ankle Fracture Fixation Gadgets in T2DM Sufferers | Prof Krasimir Vasilev Prof Ruurd Jaarsma A/Prof Tania Crotti |
| Dr Kaley Butten | CSIRO | Your Well being, Your Abstract: Supporting Postpartum Care with a Digital Discharge Abstract | Dr Marlien Varnfield |
| Dr Kevin Chemello Kellion Analysis Award |
College of New South Wales | Preservation and Restoration of β-Cell Operate in Type 1 Diabetes Utilizing a Novel Peptide-Immunomodulatory Mixture Remedy | Prof Kerry-Anne Rye Dr Blake Cochran A/Prof Shane Thomas Prof Gerard O’Shea Ms Zara Mckinstry Mr Abel Orellana |
| Dr Paddy Dempsey | Deakin College | SMART-T2D: Adapting and co-designing a next-generation AI-powered digital ecosystem to help personalised self-care for kind 2 diabetes. | Prof Ralph Maddison Dr Yuxin Zhang Dr Paul Janson Prof David Dunstan Prof Jane Speight A/Prof Neale Cohen Dr Charitha Dissanayake Dr Michael Wheeler |
| Miss Mariam Hachem | College of Melbourne | The ICO-CGM Trial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander folks with kind 2 diabetes. | Prof Elif Ekinci Ms Tracey Hearn Mr Bernard Kelly-Edwards Prof Leonid Churilov Dr Marlena Klaic Prof David O’Neal Mr Ray Kelly Ms Coralie Cross Prof Chris Schilling Dr Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott Prof Stephen Twigg Ms Laura Zimmerman Dr Jas-mine Seah Prof Sean Taylor |
| Dr Jay Jha | Monash College | Decoding NOX5: A Novel Non-Invasive Biomarker for Early Detection of Kidney Dysfunction in Weight problems and Diabetes | Dr Karly Sourris Prof Karin Jandeleit-Dahm Prof Jonathan Shaw |
| Dr Xuyu (Johnny) Liu | Coronary heart Analysis Institute | Microengineered Digital Vessel Twins for Personalised Antithrombotic Screening and Eating regimen Planning to Cut back the Threat of Strokes and Thrombotic Issues in Diabetes | Prof Arnold Ju Dr Mike Wu A/Prof Freda Passam Dr Timothy Ang |
| Dr Diana MacKay | Menzies Faculty of Well being Analysis | Enhancing Ngarnduma Ladies’s Story Sharing: additional improvement of culturally resonant well being promotion messages and well being training actions within the Maningrida Wholesome Ladies’s Mission | Mrs Norlisha Bartlett Ms Jessica Phillips Ms Felicity Douglas |
| Dr Olumuyiwa Omonaiye | Deakin College | Bettering care and outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Jap Melbourne | Dr Sharon Atkinson-Briggs Prof Bodil Rasmussen Prof Christopher Gilfillan Ms Kate Corrigan A/Prof Jacqueline Boyle A/Prof Rosemary Wong Ms Josette O’Donnell Dr Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott Ms Sarah Gales |
| Dr Jacqueline Schiesser | Murdoch Youngsters’s Analysis Institute | Defining a stem cell derived beta cell alternative remedy for the remedy of kind 1 diabetes | Prof Ed Stanley |
| Dr Mitchell Sullivan | College of Queensland | Glycogen Structural Dysregulation as a Novel Driver of Liver Damage in Diabetes-Related MASLD | Prof James O’Beirne Dr Lochlan Fennell A/Prof Nicholas West |
| A/Prof Ryu Takechi | Curtin College | Sustaining Wholesome Mind in Dementia Sufferers: Novel Insights by ApoE4 Genotype | Dr Virginie Lam Prof Gerald Watts Dr Tim Rosenow Prof John Mamo |
| Dr Mary White | Murdoch Youngsters’s Analysis Institute | DIRECT-T1DM: Determination-Help for Actual-Time Analysis & Medical Administration of New Onset Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus within the Main Care Setting | Dr Barbara Hunter A/Prof Jo-Anne Manski-Nankervis A/Prof Craig Nelson Prof Dougie Boyle Prof Harriet Hiscock Prof Fergus Cameron Ms Karly Cini Dr Cate Bailey Dr Christopher Preston Dr Devaang Kevat Dr Rahul Barmanway Dr Gabby Atlas Ms Molly O’Sullivan |
| Dr Ziyu Wang | College of Sydney | A hydrogel dressing regulator of temporal irritation to speed up diabetic wound therapeutic | Prof Stephen Twigg Dr Danqing Min Prof Anthony Weiss |
| A/Prof Tongzhi Wu | Adelaide College | A novel renal pathway for non-nutritive sweetener danger in prediabetes | Prof Christopher Rayner A/Prof Richard Younger Dr Natalie Luscombe-Marsh Prof Merlin Thomas |
| Dr Belinda Yau | College of Sydney | Utilizing insulin granule proteomics to uncover new biomarkers for kind 1 diabetes | A/Prof Melkam Kebede Dr Kirstine Bell |
2026 NHMRC – DIABETES AUSTRALIA POSTGRADUATE AWARD
| RESEARCHER | INSTITUTION | PROJECT | SUPERVISORS |
| Dr Beryl Lin | Baker Coronary heart and Diabetes Institute | Bettering cardiorenal outcomes in kind 2 diabetes: real-world implementation and population-level affect of SLGT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists | Prof Dianna Magliano Prof Jonathan Shaw |
| Ms Caroline Deen | College of Sydney | Growth of culturally applicable family meals safety indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander folks | Ass Prof Veronica Matthews Ms Simone Sherriff Dr Alana Gall |
