The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has awarded $3m to the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health to continue its mission to find causes of chronic unexplained gut diseases,unlock new targets for therapies and ultimately cure disease.

Announced by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney MP, the funding will enable the Centre, led by world-renowned neurogastroenterologist, University of Newcastle Distinguished Laureate Professor Nick Talley, AC, to build on its work aiming to improve quality of life for people with unexplained chronic gastrointestinal disorders.

More than one third of Australians are affected by disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI), which include irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease in remission.
As the burden of gastrointestinal disorders increase in Australia, Professor Talley* said the interconnectedness of the digestive and central nervous systems, often referred to as gut-brain interactions, was emerging as a key factordriving chronic and relapsing symptoms.

“DGBIs cause a very significant burden on patients including reduced quality of life and productivity, impaired mental health, and very substantial demands on health services. The economic burden of DGBIs reflect the urgent need for better diagnostic and therapeutic treatments,” Professor Talley said.

Since its inception in 2019 the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health has brought together world leading researchers from universities, hospitals and research institutions in Newcastle, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne who work with clinicians, healthcare providers, patients and carers to improve the understanding, diagnosis and management of chronic digestive diseases.

Today’s funding will support the Centre over the next five years to generate new knowledge to accelerate the translation of state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the management of patients with DGBI.

Professor Talley said the Centre’s researchers would combine advanced techniques to identify disease markers and personalised treatments, capture unmet patient needs, and test removing dietary and other triggers including gut bacteria.

“Our ultimate goal is for new discoveries to generate the knowledge required for translation into clinical practice to improve public health.
“We plan to build upon a strong foundation of previous discoveries made by the research team indicating DGBIs are diverse diseases driven by an imbalance in immune-small intestinal microbiome homeostasis, further complicated by environmental factors, such as dietary antigens and gut bacteria.

“This work will improve people’s symptoms, quality of life and patient experiences, as well as reducing the burden on the health care system from chronic digestive tract disorders.

The University of Newcastle’s leadership of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health is an important example of our commitment to helping people live better, healthier lives.