TOMAGO manufacturer Whiteley Corporation, the University of Newcastle, Hunter engineering firm Ampcontrol and Western Sydney University will receive $1.97 million in wounds research funding from the federal government's latest round of Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) grants.
Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic announced 19 new grants last week, with the university also partnering with MPC Group and Flowdyne in a $785,000 grant for gas well emissions reduction.
It was the 13th round of CRC Projects grants.
Whiteley Corporation is headed by scientist and infection control specialist Greg Whiteley, with offices in North Sydney and a manufacturing campus at Tomago.
The grant partners are working on a $5.6 million "multidisciplinary" project to improve the management of wounds, using "novel anti-biofilm treatments and wound monitoring".
"This work will be of major medical impact worldwide," Dr Whiteley said.
"Chronic wounds start with a minor skin injury that doesn't heal but progresses to a problem costing $3.5 billion in Australia alone.
"Effective management of chronic wounds requires a combination of treatments that include wound debridement, an anti-biofilm treatment, wound mapping, and a deeper tissue perception of bacterial engagement beyond the wound surface, which cannot typically be seen."
Ampcontrol CEO Rod Henderson said Ampcontrol's collaboration building ventilators at the height of COVID showed the strength of Hunter research and manufacturing.
"We have shown what can be achieved here in Australia when strong partnerships exist between government, university, and industry. We have proven strength in local manufacturing capability and a highly skilled workforce ready for the next generation of product innovation," Mr Henderson said.
