COVID-19: MACH Response – Archived
Our partners and especially our health services face unprecedented challenges over the next few months. The research response to COVID-19 is second only in importance to the clinical care challenges posed by the epidemic. The MACH has responded by helping our health services and research institutes lead the fight-back by supporting highest priority COVID-19 research.
MACH COVID-19 Activities
MACH COVID-19 Activities
The Committee meet regularly to deploy its wide-ranging expertise to review, evaluate and endorse interventional clinical trials for MACH-affiliated health services. The Committee serves as a platform to encourage collaboration across the trials and health services where possible.
Current Committee-endorsed trials are found below with information updated after each Committee meeting:
Factors favouring an endorsement for a trial may include:
- Funding from the NHMRC/MRFF
- An adaptive design
- An opportunity to join an outstanding quality international study
- Studies that nest in biobankable or diagnostic material
- Studies addressing a particular local need
MACH invites partner Research Offices to alert us to studies that are sufficiently advanced to be seeking ethics and governance approval and other queries related to COVID-19 research and trials (including non-clinical trials).
Streamlining ethical approval across MACH
Research Managers (through the statewide Hospital Research Managers Committee) have agreed to fast-track COVID-19 trials through Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval and are reviewing the use of the framework of National Mutual Acceptance (NMA).
Victorian Collaborative Healthcare Recovery Initiative
Read about the Victorian Collaborative Healthcare Recovery Initiative (VCHRI), a state-wide collaboration between MACH, Monash Partners and Western Alliance, that seeks to develop projects that contribute to the redesign and improvement of Victoria’s healthcare system during recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic through research-led innovation
COVID-19 Resources
$3 million for research to accelerate the development of promising COVID-19 prophylactic vaccine candidates for which research and development is already underway. The prophylactic vaccine must be intended to induce active long-term immunity against COVID-19. Now open – Closes 15 July
$1 million for research that characterises the immune response across COVID-19 patients with asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and critical disease. Now open – Closes 23 July
$1 million for research to support research to understand how the mental health system can be enhanced to be most effective and responsive during and following the acute COVID-19 crisis. Now open – Closes 13 July
$4 million for digital health research infrastructure to help health systems respond faster to high-need emerging challenges. Opens 1 July – Closes 14 July
$600,000 for research to understand the community’s information needs and behavioural drivers during outbreaks, and strategies to address these. Opens 1 July – Closes 14 July