Project and Research Highlights

Learn about projects making a difference in our region and the incredible research taking place at Western Sydney University.

Health Research Projects

With a rapidly growing reputation for high quality health and medical research in chronic diseases, we are at the forefront of the fight against diabetes, cancer and dementia; diseases that are having a diabolical impact on Australians.

We are focused on ensuring that our research programs are expanded and delivered with increasing haste and scale, and have a direct and measurable impact on Australian communities, beginning with people of Western Sydney.

Our School of Medicine was established with the aspirations of a community of almost two million people living in the most multicultural, complex, urban area in Australia. Whose medical services and resources have consistently lagged behind the rest of Sydney.

We are dealing head-on with the unique health issues plaguing Western Sydney, and committed to enhancing the quality and accessibility of health care, medical training and research across the region.

The majority of our students intend to stay and work in the local area. On graduation, these locally trained doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, will better understand the health challenges of their region.

Over the next decade and beyond we will focus on real world issues, with the promise of real time research breakthroughs in the areas of cancer, dementia, mental health and diabetes.

Cancer Research

Our dream is to ensure the people of Western Sydney have access to the best treatments and clinical trials, right in their own backyards. Western Sydney University's cancer research has a five star ERA rating, meaning the quality of our research is well above world standard.

We are working to make real impact in cancer research; impact that will contribute to breakthroughs into treatments and cures.

Research with the potential to affect millions is currently being performed by Professor Soon Lee and his team. With a particular focus on prostate cancer, Professor Lee is determining if urinary infection plays a role in the initiation and/or promotion of prostate cancer. Such a breakthrough would mean that treating the urinary infection with readily available antibiotics would revolutionise treatments to help prevent prostate cancer.

"[Dementia is] the second leading cause of death in older Australians. It takes them up to five years to get a diagnosis which is unacceptable [...] if we get in there early enough then we can [...] delay deterioration and most importantly improve quatliy of life."

- Dr Genevieve Steiner, NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development Fellow

Dementia and Age-related Illness Research

Across Australia, a tidal wave of ageing related illness is about to hit, and we need to be ready for it. Western Sydney University’s researchers are working on practical and translatable early identification, patient and carer support, treatments and cures for people living with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other cognitive impairments.

In response to the anticipated four-fold increase in memory related illness, our vision is to see a network of memory clinics across Western Sydney.

Mental Health Research

Our goal is to break the stigma of mental health – a condition which drives issues ranging from eating disorders, post-natal depression and anxiety, to suicide and many things in between.

Our vision is that engaging with these services will be as commonplace and normal as seeing your GP for a cold or flu.

"There was a gap in evidence and we're filling it; and we're actually the only ones filling it in the world, in this way."

- Professor David Simmons, Professor of Medicine, Diabetes and Obesity Research

Diabetes Research

Two decades from now, we will have turned the tide on the diabetes tsunami. No longer will diabetes be the debilitating, complex and common illness it is today.

Western Health

The heath challenges our region faces in the coming decades are big, but Western Sydney University’s resolve is strong. With our community, government and industry partners, we are transforming the way we engage with the health and wellbeing of Western Sydney.

The Western Health strategy sets out our teaching, research and collaborative commitment in the most vital and important area of our region’s continued development.

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