An evaluation of NHMRC-funded dementia and diabetes research

An evaluation of NHMRC-funded dementia and diabetes research delves into the outputs, outcomes, and pathways to impact arising from NHMRC-supported research in the areas of dementia and diabetes by analysing data captured by Scopus-indexed publications. It employs AI-driven analytics and narrative techniques combined with novel bibliometric methods to identify impacts or pathways to impact. The report also benchmarks NHMRC's contributions against major international funders, offering insights from 2000 to 2023.

• Novel approach combining next-gen bibliometrics and generative AI identified 17 cases of economic, environmental, social, or health impacts.

• NHMRC knowledge impacts drive innovation in cutting-edge fields like AI-enhanced brain imaging, bioengineering, and gene editing.

• Preliminary findings using a bibliometric/LLM approach highlight NHMRC’s role in advancing cost-effective interventions that enhance well-being or prevent disease.

• Impact case studies showcase NHMRC’s contributions across dementia and diabetes domains.

• NHMRC-backed prevention programs help diabetes patients achieve lifestyle changes, including 8%+ weight loss, improving disease management, and patient empowerment.

• 9% of dementia and 15% of diabetes publications were cited in policy documents, surpassing global comparators.

• 4% of dementia and 8% of diabetes publications were cited in clinical guidelines. This corresponds to 153 clinical trials for dementia and 216 for diabetes.

• NHMRC has contributed to 44 commercialised or trademarked dementia interventions and 101 commercialised or trademarked diabetes interventions.

• 13 dementia and diabetes Australian startups have benefited from NHMRC funding.

• NHMRC-supported research demonstrated strong publication outputs in dementia (3.0% of NHMRC publication output) and diabetes (4.2% of NHMRC publication output), more than 2 times the global average.

• NHMRC-supported research has contributed to 445 distinct dementia interventions and 490 diabetes interventions since 2000.

• 15.5% of NHMRC diabetes papers shared their data, compared to 12.9% for funders worldwide.

• There are more than 1,000 patent families citing NHMRC diabetes and dementia research.

The analysis suggests key opportunities for research funders to improve impact assessment and support mechanisms:

• Create and maintain internal research repositories covering all research outputs.

• Leverage AI and big data while ensuring high-quality curation of outcomes and impact records, enabling more granular qualitative insights.

• Integrate retrospective outcome tracking in new award submissions to ease the reporting burden.

• Develop policies fostering societal impact through diversity and inter-sectoral collaboration.

• Support data sharing and open science through funding mechanisms.

• Balance traditional excellence metrics with broader impact measures, including policy and clinical uptake.

Research excellence and impact remain high priorities for NHMRC funding. Academic leaders and researchers should consider:

• Prioritising both research excellence and translation pathways to maximise impact

• Strengthening data-sharing practices and open science initiatives

• Building interdisciplinary collaborations and industry partnerships

• Focusing on policy and clinical impact alongside traditional academic metrics

• Developing clear pathways for research commercialisation and implementation