Research Advisory Committee

Research Partnerships and Engagements

Research partnership opportunities

Health and Wellbeing Queensland is committed to supporting high quality, impactful research that drives change and to growing and leveraging research funds to ensure sustainability of research programs.

Health and Wellbeing Queensland has created a grants program to support initiatives that help to drive generational change and improve the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders. Learn more about the HWQld Grants Program.

If you are applying for a grant outside of the Health and Wellbeing Queensland Grants Program that addresses health inequities and improves population health and wish to propose partnership and/or financial contribution or support from Health and Wellbeing Queensland, please complete the enquiry form.

Grants awarded to our research partners

Our research partners’ success rate in highly competitive research grant schemes is strong, highlighting HWQld’s ability to strengthen grant proposals through our support. We continue to partner with researchers holding a track record of impactful and well-aligned research projects.

Title: Untapping the potential of sleep health to improve prevention and management of mental health problems in First Nations Children 

Principal Investigator: Fatima Yaqoot 

Research Partner: University of Sunshine Coast 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Childhood Mental Health Research 

Amount Awarded: $4,997,586 

Title: Transformative synergies: Using Learning Health Systems for Chronic Disease Prevention 

Principal Investigator: Luke Wolfenden  

Research Partner: University of Newcastle 

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Synergy Grants 

Amount Awarded: $5,165,000 

Title: Active Choices for Springfield: A veteran-led digital program to support physically active and connected lifestyles in a priority regional Australian community. 

Principal Investigator: Nicholas Gilson 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation 

Amount Awarded: $250,000 

Title: Tools for Change: Informing and supporting sustainable chronic disease prevention in Australian schools 

Principal Investigator: Nicole Nathan 

Research Partner: University of Newcastle 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researchers (EMCR) Grant 

Amount Awarded: $4,869,263 

Title: Efficacy, cost-effectiveness and scale-up for a health behaviour intervention for toddlers 

Principal Investigator: Kylie Hesketh 

Research Partner: Deakin University 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Maternal Health and Healthy Lifestyles 

Amount Awarded: $1,855,635 

Title: Weight-inclusive maternity care: Codesigning best practice principles with women, clinicians and key stakeholders 

Principal Investigator: Bec Jenkinson 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN) 

Amount Awarded: $239,664 

Title: A co-designed framework to drive action to promote health and equity in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community stores 

Principal Investigator: Mark Wenitong 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Targeted Call for Research – Commercial determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health 2023 

Amount Awarded: $1,408,201 

Title: CP-KASP – Cerebral Palsy Knowledge, Advocacy skills, and Support Program: a co-designed program with families of children to optimise evidence-based funding through the NDIS 

Principal Investigator: Leanne Sakzewski 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Consumer-Led Research 

Amount Awarded: $994,907 

Title: UQ Digital Health SMART Institute 

Principal Investigator: Clair Sullivan 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: The University of Queensland (UQ) Health Research Accelerator 2.1 

UQ commitment to strategic recruitment up to $10,000,000 

Title: The 360-Kids Community Network to Support Children with Neurodevelopmental Challenges 

Principal Investigator: John Cairney 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: The University of Queensland (UQ) Health Research Accelerator 2.0 

UQ commitment to strategic recruitment up to $6,000,000 

Title: Scaling-up the ‘Play Active’ program to improve children’s physical activity in early childhood education and care – a multi-state hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial 

Principal Investigator: Hayley Christian 

Research Partner: University of Western Australia 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Maternal Health and Healthy Lifestyles 

Amount Awarded: $1,700,000 

Title: Using existing digital infrastructure for the national scale-up of an effective school nutrition program to reduce population CVD risk 

Principal Investigator: Luke Wolfenden 

Research Partner: The University of Newcastle 

Funding Scheme: MRFF Cardiovascular Health Mission 

Amount Awarded: $997,350 

Title: TOPCHILD-translate: co-creating an evidence base of intervention elements for early childhood obesity prevention in practice 

Principal Investigator: Rebecca Golley  

Research Partner: Flinders University 

Funding Scheme: Ian Potter Foundation Public Health Research Program 

Amount Awarded: $600,000 

Title: Small Steps for Big Changes: Implementing an Evidence-Based Diabetes Prevention Program into Diverse Urban Communities 

Principal Investigator: Genevieve Healy 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: 2021 NHMRC-CIHR Healthy Cities Implementation Science Team Grant Scheme 

Amount Awarded: $1,189,495.48 

Title: ARC Training Centre for Information Resilience (CIRES) 

Principal Investigator: Shazia Sadiq 

Research Partner: The University of Queensland 

Funding Scheme: ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres 

Amount Awarded: $4,883,406 

Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation

The Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation (HWCRI) is jointly funded by Health and Wellbeing Queensland and The University of Queensland and allows for a more targeted, evidence-based, and responsive approach to improving health and wellbeing of Queenslanders.

The establishment of HWCRI in December 2021 brought together a multidisciplinary team of research and clinical experts from areas including physical activity, health promotion, child health and development, nutrition science, dietetics, Indigenous health and education, and the prevention and management of chronic disease.

The HWCRI is a strategic investment set to boost the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders through the delivery of impactful research and programs, designed to reduce health inequities, and improve the health of all Queenslanders.

Last updated 14 October 2025