Precision Health

World of genomics moving into mainstream

New leader and a genomics policy framework out for consultation

4 July 2025

Sector leader Tiffany Boughtwood has been appointed Australian Health Genomics Commissioner following the launch of Genomics Australia this week. Genomics Australia commenced operations on July 1, a week after the government released the draft National Health Genomics Policy Framework and Implementation Plan 2026 – 2030 for consultation with feedback closing on July 25. The vision […]

Preview Health first Australian startup to complete PharmStars accelerator

3 July 2025

Digital health startup Preview Health – founded by Dr Diana Zhang and Anastasia Latin – has successfully completed the US-based PharmStars accelerator program, the first Australian startup to do so. Sydney-based Preview Health completed PharmaU, PharmStars’ 10-week educational and mentoring program in May this year. Preview Health’s proprietary AI platform analyses 100 per cent of […]

RMIT medtech invention goes to market

3 July 2025

An ingestible gas-sensing capsule invented at RMIT to provide real-time insights into gut health has been cleared for use in the United States. The Atmo Gas Capsule – which helps diagnose gut disorders from gases it measures while travelling through the digestive system – has just received regulatory clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. […]

Tech upgrade boosts single-cell sequencing in Australia

18 June 2025

The South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC), with its main node based at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, is staking its claim as a world-class single-cell profiling hub by becoming the first certified service provider in the Asia-Pacific for Parse Bioscience’s Evercode technology. Evercode allows researchers to analyse gene expression from millions of individual cells […]

AI will help deliver equitable maternal care

16 June 2025

The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) has announced a collaborative research project with ASX-listed HeraMED and RMIT University focused on improving maternal health outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women through AI-enabled predictive care. Under the project, AI models to assess the risk of pre-term delivery linked to socio-economic factors, HeraMED’s proprietary HeraCARE […]

Hospital genomics initiative tackles dangerous superbug

5 June 2025

Australian researchers are using real-time genome sequencing in routine hospital care for patients with severe Staphylococcus aureus infections – otherwise known as ‘golden staph’, a superbug responsible for more than one million deaths globally each year. In partnership with seven major Victorian hospitals, researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), […]

Biggest study into OCD unlocks new genes

16 May 2025

QIMR Berghofer researchers have found the genes linked to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for the first time, after identifying 30 regions on the human genome associated with this debilitating yet often misunderstood mental health condition. The global research (published in Nature Genetics) involved more than 50,000 people with OCD and 2 million people who did not have […]

Australia’s cancer challenge: Can AI unlock precise and personalised treatment at scale?

16 May 2025

A thousand years ago, the Persian physician Avicenna transformed medicine with his Canon of Medicine. He painstakingly compiled and organised centuries of knowledge into a unified, structured resource, empowering physicians with comprehensible and actionable insights. Today, medicine stands at a similar turning point. The challenge now isn’t a lack of information, but an excess of […]

Harnessing the power of data

15 May 2025

The eHealth Hub for Cancer has issued an urgent call for cross-border action on cancer data collection and analysis, and is warning that the Republic of Ireland must expedite the digitisation of oncology services or risk missing out on a “generation-defining” opportunity. “Ireland needs to urgently progress its own digital health capability, otherwise a generation-defining […]

ANU study to benefit treatment of genetic disease

2 May 2025

Scientists at Australian National University have used powerful AI technology to analyse genetic variations at an unprecedented scale. Researchers say it could lead to prioritising treatments and improving patient outcomes as genetic diseases are better diagnosed and treated. In a step forward for personalised medicine, they uncovered a hidden pattern which  revealed why less critical genes, […]

World-first clinical trial could change how cancer is treated

1 May 2025

In a breakthrough for the future of personalised medicines, a world-first clinical trial launched in Melbourne has the potential to revolutionise the way people with bowel cancer are treated. The trial, based on landmark WEHI research, is the first to look at whether a patient’s response to specific drugs can be accurately predicted, before they […]

Opinion: Where public health ends and personalised medicine begins

24 April 2025

The coming reckoning for AI in Australia, New Zealand healthcare The convergence of AI, public health, and personalised medicine isn’t coming, it is by all accounts, already here. But healthcare systems in Australia and New Zealand are not prepared for the questions it raises, nor the strategic and tactical overhaul it demands. We have long […]

Otago-led genomics research receives $25m Govt funding

23 April 2025

Genomics research aimed at improving health and economic wellbeing in New Zealand has received a new round of Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) funding totalling $25million. Genomics Aotearoa, a collaborative research platform featuring a consortium of five New Zealand universities and five Crown Research Institutes, is led by the University of Otago and was established […]

Unlocking the promise of big data for genomics research

16 April 2025

A team at CSIRO has developed a tool – RAPpoet – to unlock the power of big data stored inside cloud biobanks –making genomic research faster and cheaper. CSIRO Genome Insights team leader Dr Natalie Twine said in its initial use case, RAPpoet reduced costs by 44% and analysis time by 94% compared to standard […]

Feature: Australian researchers call for greater diversity in genomics

31 March 2025

While scientific advances in genomics have been transformative for our ability to diagnose and treat disease, most genetic studies have focused on people of European descent. A new study has uncovered that a gene variant common in Oceanian communities was misclassified as a potential cause of heart disease, highlighting the risk of the current diversity […]

SA Genomics certified with Parse

25 March 2025

The South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC) is the first in Australia to partner with Parse Biosciences as a Certified Service Provider. NATA-accredited SAGC is in Adelaide with labs in both the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Flinders University. It was established in July 2020 as a State-wide genomics facility to support […]

Indigenous values hard-wired into genomics platform

24 March 2025

Māori and non-Māori scientists have teamed up to develop a prototype platform that aims to link whole genome DNA sequencing data, healthcare records, and mātauranga whakapapa (genealogical knowledge) – all with te ao Māori principles “hard wired” into its setup. In a new paper Rakeiora Genomics Platform: a pathfinder for genomic medicine research in Aotearoa New […]

Personalised medicine shaped by risk assessment

19 March 2025

Australian genomics technology leader AGRF is offering Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) powered by the Allelica PREDICT module, a cutting-edge platform that translates genomic data into actionable risk assessments. AGRF says healthcare providers will be able to better stratify risk, identifying high-risk individuals earlier, and implement targeted interventions before potential disease onset. “Genomics is revolutionising healthcare, […]

One step closer to banning genetic test discrimination

14 March 2025

Experts are hopeful the Australian Government’s promised ban on life insurers discriminating based on genetic test results is one step closer, with the Treasury consultation on the legislation’s design ending this week. Over 100 community organisations have endorsed a consultation submission led by Monash University researchers, representing wide collaboration and consensus between a broad range of stakeholders. Pulse+IT reported in […]

Funding to advance genomics in cancer trials

25 February 2025

The Government has established a $3 million Cancer Genomics Clinical Trials Fund to drive advancements in genomic medicine and ensure equitable access to cancer clinical trials incorporating genomics. The initial investment will be open to Australia’s 14 Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups as part of the Support for Cancer Clinical Trials (SCCT) program. This […]

Irish AI health platform acquired by US health technology company

13 February 2025

The Irish start-up AI health platform Cambrean has been acquired by US health technology company Nucleus Genomics, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition follows the successful close of a recent funding round by Nucleus Genomics which generated close to €14 million, bringing its total funding to nearly €31 million. Last year, Nucleus announced the launch […]

Precision Health

World of genomics moving into mainstream

New leader and a genomics policy framework out for consultation