Singapore: Australia's body for supporting health and medical research National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has launched Research Translation Faculty for health and medical research translation in Australia.

NHMRC CEO Prof Warwick Anderson officially launched the strategic initiative, which is represented by over 2,500 members made up of NHMRC-supported chief investigators or NHMRC fellows. The creation of knowledge through research underpins improvement in Australia's health service delivery and intervention. However, it is widely acknowledged that there is a gap between discovery and implementation of knowledge from research. This gap slows the uptake of the benefits from research, for patients and for the operation of the health system.

"Australian researchers supported by the NHMRC are a major resource for research translation in Australia; however they have not been enabled to play this role fully in recent times. NHMRC's faculty seeks to make use of this pool of scientific knowledge and the experience the faculty members hold in their positions in health policy and practice," said Prof Anderson.

Recently, the NHMRC held the inaugural Research Translation Faculty symposium. The event provided 400 faculty members with a useful opportunity to hear from experts about existing gaps in the health system and to participate in discussions about possible ways forward.

Keynote speaker Prof Lawrence W Green from the University of California spoke of the context of knowledge translation, and challenged attendees to adapt many of the aspects of the research system to ensure better uptake of research into practice. "It is clear from the number of people who have joined the faculty and from those that are here today, that there is a clear appetite to do more, and better, in research translation. This is a really exciting initiative for NHMRC and I want to capitalise on the momentum we've now achieved," said Prof Anderson.