Funding Opportunities

icare Dust Diseases Board Researcher Development Stream Awards 2025

These awards support a wide range of research activities aimed at fostering emerging talent, building research and clinical capacity, and advancing dust disease management. They support Research Scientists, Occupational Hygienists, those in Occupational Health, and Clinicians at any career stage, and aim to enhance capacities in key fields related to dust diseases, such as, but not limited to, thoracic oncology, respiratory health, public health, nursing, psychology, and radiology.

The program aims to encourage innovation, promotes collaboration, and pushes forward advancements that lead to better patient outcomes and improved quality of life for workers with dust diseases.

This year’s awards program has been designed to align with the DDB’s Vision, Mission, and Strategic Priorities outlined in the 2025-2029 Dust Diseases Board strategy. This alignment ensures that all initiatives support the DDB’s commitment to making a positive difference for those impacted by hazardous dust exposure and dust diseases.

The new researcher development stream awards program includes:

PhD Scholarships
Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Clinical Fellowships

Applications close on Thursday 7 November.

CREATE is developing emerging researchers who will be future leaders in the field of pulmonary fibrosis.

Funding opportunities available through the CREATE program include:

• PhD scholarships for projects supervised by CRE-PF investigators
• Post-doctoral fellowships
• Collaboration grants-in-aid
• Travel grants

Grants are awarded via competitive application processes.

CREATE Hope Fellowships in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research

An initiative of the Centre of Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis (CRE-PF), supported by Lung Foundation Australia’s Hope Research Fund, the CREATE Hope Fellowships in Pulmonary Fibrosis support research into pulmonary fibrosis in Australia.

The CRE-PF will allocate 2 fellowships to early career researchers, each for $75,000, over the period of one year.

Applications closed COB 30 September 2024.

PACT Grant-in-Aid

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Australasian Clinical Trials (PACT) Network offers an annual PACT Grant-in-Aid for Investigator Led Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research.

Dr Sionne Lucas from the University of Tasmania was the 2024 PACT Grant-in-Aid winner for Establishing the Pulmonary Fibrosis Variation Curation Database. Read more about Sionne’s work here. 

CREATE Hope Fellowships in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research

An initiative of the Centre for Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis, supported by Lung Foundation Australia’s Hope Research Fund. 

CREATE Hope Fellowships in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research were awarded in 2023 to Dr Caitlin Fermoyle from the University of Sydney and Dr Minh Dao Ngo for the University of Queensland.

CREATE Hope Clinical Fellowship in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research was awarded in 2022 to Dr Ingrid Cox from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and University of Tasmania. 

CREATE Hope Scientific Fellowship in Pulmonary Fibrosis Research was awarded in 2021 to Dr Gang Liu from the University of Technology Sydney and the Centenary Institute. 

CREATE Grants-in-Aid

Support new collaborations for pulmonary fibrosis research among CREATE emerging researchers from two or more institutions. 

• Dr Mariana Hoffman and Dr Leona Dowman from Monash University and Ms Debra Sandford from University of Adelaide for “Effect of a brief behavioural intervention to improve physical activity in people with pulmonary fibrosis”
• Dr Christian Aloe from RMIT University, Dr Alexandra Brown from University of Newcastle and Dr Lai-Ying Zhang from Metro North Hospital and Health Service for “Targeting iron-induced oxidative stress to preserve telomere health in lung fibrosis”
• Dr Laura Glenn and Dr Alan Teoh, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Dr Hayley Barnes, Alfred Health and Dr John Mackintosh, Prince Charles Hospital for development of a standard framework for ILD multi-disciplinary research meetings, 2021.
• Dr Gang Liu, UTS, Dr Ashleigh Philip, Garvan Institute and Dr Laura Glenn, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for development of a fingerprint of the proteins that are present in lung fibrosis, 2021.
• Dr Jade Jaffar, Monash and Dr Yet Khor, Austin Health for establishing a multi-pronged research program on the effects of hypoxaemia (low oxygen levels) and oxygen therapy in interstitial lung disease, 2020

CREATE Hope PhD Scholarships for Pulmonary Fibrosis Research

Awarded in 2021 to Joanna Lee (Self-management for pulmonary fibrosis: what does it mean and how might it help?) and Claudia Sim (Targeting fibrosis with relaxin – a new therapeutic strategy for IPF and silicosis), both from Monash University. Supported by a donation from Lung Foundation Australia’s Hope Research Fund.