16 December 2025
Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA), in partnership with Phenomics Australia, Bioplatforms Australia and ANSTO’s National Deuteration Facility, is thrilled to announce the successful recipients of the Pipeline Accelerator 2025-26 (Round 1).
Enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), these four NCRIS providers are working in partnership to help address the medical products challenge outlined in the 2021 National Research Infrastructure (NRI) Roadmap. Together, they provide academic researchers and SMEs seamless access to world-class Australian translational research infrastructure, from understanding the molecular basis of health and disease through to early-phase clinical trials.
In this round, 38 projects, including one Technical Feasibility Assessment (TFA), will share a total of $1,245,261 in voucher awards with a total cash co-investment fund of $1,495,763. These vouchers will help subsidise the cost of access to these translational NRIs, accelerating therapeutic development across areas including brain development disorder, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and urinary tract infection.
This round, three projects have also been awarded supplementary vouchers to access Bioplatforms Australia and the National Deuteration Facility capabilities, in addition to vouchers to access TIA and Phenomics Australia facilities:
- Prof Rachel Codd (University of Sydney ) – Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation (TIA) and National Deuteration Facility
- Dr Richard Foitzik(Inosi Therapeutics) – Ab Initio Pharma (TIA) and Australian Genome Research (Bioplatforms Australia)
Dr Thanh Nha Uyen Le (Hudson Institute of Medical Research) – Monash Genome Modification Platform (Monash Uni), (Phenomics Australia) and Australian Genome Research Facility and Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Platform (Bioplatforms Australia).
These projects demonstrate how the NCRIS network is working closely together to maximise the benefit of Australia’s world-class medical innovation.
Click here to see the Phenomics Australia voucher recipients.
Learn more about the Pipeline Accelerator scheme here.
The full list of awardees for the TIA Pipeline Accelerator and Technical Feasibility Assessment 2025-26 (Round 1) can be found below.
| Recipient Name | Recipient Affiliation | Project Title | Provider Facility |
| Dr Daryl Ariawan | Macquarie University | Next-Generation Small Molecules for Alzheimer’s Therapy | Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation |
| Dr Kiymet Bozaoglu | Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | Using patient-derived stem cell models to identify new therapies for NF1 Neurodevelopmental Disorders | Compounds Australia, Drug Discovery Facility |
| Dr Rodrigo Maron Carlessi | Curtin Medical Research Institute | A Programmable RNA Therapy Platform to Treat Liver Cancer | RNA Innovation Foundry |
| Dr Shea Carter | QIMR Berghofer | Novel Small Molecule G9a Inhibitors for Treating Colon and Liver Cancers | Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative, Protein Expression Facility |
| Dr Edmund Yin Man Chung | University of Sydney | In-vivo generation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells using lipid nanoparticles to treat autoimmune kidney disease | RNA Institute |
| Professor Rachel Codd | University of Sydney | Pharmacokinetics of Next-Generation Iron Chelators | Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation, National Deuteration Facility |
| Dr Siyang Ding | La Trobe University | Development of a high-throughput phenotypic screen for lysosomal storage disorders | Compounds Australia, National Drug Discovery Centre |
| Dr Gabriel Duette | Westmead Institute for Medical Research | Developing immunotherapies to enhance CD8 T-cell-mediated clearance of HIV-1-infected cells | mRNA CORE |
| A/Prof Iain Duggin | University of Technology Sydney | Scaling up the manufacture of an mRNA vaccine for the prevention of urinary tract infection | Biologics Innovation Facility, Recombinant Products Facility, RNA Institute |
| Dr Richard Foitzik | Inosi Therapeutics | IRAP Inhibitor Manufacturing | Ab Initio Pharma, Australian Genome Research Facility |
| Dr Shadabul Haque | Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre | Development of an Inhaled siRNA Therapeutic Targeting TNF-α for Pulmonary Inflammation | RNA Institute |
| Professor James Hudson | QIMR Berghofer | New Generation Specific Epigenetic Inhibitors for Heart Failure | National Drug Discovery Centre |
| Dr Adam Johnson | Skin2Neuron | Aseptic process simulation runs enabling clinical manufacture of Primaverah for Phase 1/2A clinical use | Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics |
| Professor Arnold Lining Ju | University of Sydney | Comparative Investigation of Adenovirus and Adeno-Associated Virus Protein Interfaces in the Context of Thrombosis | Vector and Genome Engineering Facility, Recombinant Products Facility |
| A/Prof Colm Keane | University of Queensland | BrainCAR19 Study – Treatment of relapsed Primary Brain Lymphoma with CD19 directed CAR-T cells | Sydney Cell and Gene Therapy |
| Dr Grace Mennen | Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science | Development of Novel Small Molecules for Therapeutic Intervention in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) | National Drug Discovery Centre |
| Professor Greg Monteith | University of Queensland | Development of an Oral Solid Dosage Formulation of Novel Prostate Cancer TRPV6 Inhibitor QED-203 | Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre |
| Mrs Aneta Nash | ThyX Pty Ltd | Development and Assessment of Levothyroxine Implant | Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre |
| Ms Alison Roennfeldt | University of Adelaide | Novel Small Molecule FIH Inhibitors for Treatment of Metabolic Disease | Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation, Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative |
| Dr Mitali Sarkar-Tyson | University of Western Australia | Advanced Optimisation of Antivirulence Compounds Against Bacterial Pathogens | Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation |
| Dr Kevin Sek | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Developing the next generation of cancer mRNA therapeutics | BASE Facility |
| Dr Travis Stiles | Novoroo Bioscience Pty Ltd | LRP1 Antagonist to Block Interneuronal Spread of Tau in Alzheimer’s Disease | Monash Fragment Platform |
| Dr Amila Suraweera | Queensland University of Technology | Optimisation of a novel small molecule inhibitor for the treatment of lung cancer | Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility |
| Dr Stefka Tasheva | University of Adelaide | Developing Precision Medicine Therapies for PCDH19-Clustering Epilepsy | Functional Genomics SA |
| Professor Nicodemus Tedla | University of New South Wales | Development of a novel treatment option for post-sepsis acute lung injury (ALI) | CSIRO Biomedical Manufacturing |
| Dr Adam Thomas | Burnet Institute | Developing the first multi-species malaria vaccine to provide worldwide protection | mRNA CORE |
| Dr Jordan Wright | Murdoch Children’s Research Institute | Discovery of new treatments for brain development disorders linked to epigenetic regulatory genes | Compounds Australia, Drug Discovery Facility, Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics |
| Dr Ben Wylie | UWA Centre for Child Health Research | Developing a biomaterial for intra-operative delivery of mRNA therapeutics targeting the tumour microenvironment | CSIRO Biomedical Manufacturing |
| Mrs Chika Prisca Zumuk | QIMR Berghofer | Combatting Schistosomiasis through mRNA-based Transmission blocking vaccines | BASE Facility |
| A/Prof Shireen Lamande (TFA Voucher Recipient) | Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) | Products for Cartilage and Bone Repair using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Organoids and Decellularized Organoid Scaffolds | Cell Therapies Pty Ltd |