MRINZ Receives Independent Research Funding From The Health Research Council Of New Zealand
Core Independent Research Organisation (IRO)
funding has been granted to the Medical Research Institute
of New Zealand (MRINZ) by the Health Research Council of New
Zealand (HRC).
HRC IRO
Funding is awarded through a negotiated process, based on
the quality, expected impact, and proposed plans for future
research, aligned with national health research
priorities.
Spread over a seven-year
timeframe, this significant financial resource is to be used
to build research and innovation capability which
contributes to equitable health outcomes that meet both the
government’s and HRC’s research priorities. Alongside
the MRINZ, Te Atawhai o te Ao, Whakauae Research Services,
and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research also received
HRC IRO support in this funding
round.
As an independent research
institution, the MRINZ exists outside of the Crown Research
Institute and university sector, recognised by the
government for ongoing mahi that is nationally significant
and deserving of stable funding.
MRINZ
harnesses the power of randomised controlled trials to
provide the highest level of scientific evidence on which to
base clinical practice, and thereby improve public health
outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand, and
globally.
HRC IRO funding will
directly support the MRINZ to continue to grow and expand
significant national and international collaborations,
consolidate emerging programmes in the fields of Māori
health, anaesthesia, public health, and paediatrics, and
underpin further development of established primary care and
pharmacy networks to enhance recruitment of, Māori and
Pacific peoples.
Professor Richard
Beasley, MRINZ director and founder, said ‘The MRINZ has
been extraordinarily fortunate to have received such strong
funding support from the HRC over our twenty-one years of
operation, enabling us to make major advances in knowledge
and clinical practice across multiple areas of research
interest. We’re grateful for this current core funding to
underpin our dedicated mahi over the coming years, and the
generous recognition of our contribution to the Aotearoa New
Zealand and global research
landscape.”
This funding will allow
the MRINZ to extend current practices through strengthening
workforce training with expansion of Māori medical student
internships and career development programmes to other
non-medical specialties relevant to clinical
research.
“The HRC support will also
allow us to extend our capacity to undertake robust clinical
trials for the NZ biotechnology and therapeutics sectors,
leading to better informed health consumers.” says Deputy
Director, Complementary and Alternative Medicine programme
lead and Education programme co-lead, Adjunct Professor Alex
Semprini.
“Ngā mihi nui to the HRC for their support as we continue to embed Te Ao Māori and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi within our clinical research environment.” says Deputy Director and Māori and Pacific Peoples programme lead Associate Professor Matire Harwood. “As we advance medical knowledge and disseminate research across Aotearoa based on our strong historic record, we are also looking forward, and ensuring inclusive diverse community participation at all stages of the research pathway.”