Avant Foundation 2025: Creating transformational change in healthcare

A new frontier in paediatric medicine

A new frontier in paediatric medicine

We’re proud to announce that the University of Sydney has received our $1 million Avant Foundation Transformation Grant to lead groundbreaking research into childhood neurodevelopmental disorders - including Autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome. Led by renowned paediatric neurologist Professor Russell Dale, this project represents a bold step forward in personalised medicine, exploring how environmental factors such as stress, infection and diet can alter brain development, and how targeted therapies might reverse these effects.

We’re excited to support research that listens to families, responds to real-world challenges, and aims to give children the best chance to thrive.

Supporting the future of medicine and those who shape it

At Avant Foundation, we’re committed to advancing healthcare by supporting the people who make it possible - medical professionals like you. Through targeted funding for research and education, we’re helping drive innovation that improves quality, safety, professionalism, equity, and sustainability in medical practice. We’re proud to have launched our new 2024–25 Foundation program, backed by a generous $50 million commitment from Avant Group. This investment ensures the long-term sustainability of our grants program and reflects our deep belief in the power of clinician-led change.

Our latest initiatives are designed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the healthcare sector and our members. Programs are open to Avant members, with a strong focus on supporting young and early-career clinician researchers as well as providing larger grants to organisations driving systemic impact.

Together, we’re building a healthier future - one breakthrough, one clinician, one patient at a time.

Walking the healing path: Aiden Wu’s vision for mob and medicine

Walking the healing path: Aiden Wu’s vision for mob and medicine

As the 2025 Avant Foundation AIDA Bursary recipient, Aiden Wu is more than a medical student - he’s a future leader, a changemaker and a proud Torres Strait Islander committed to healing generational wounds and building a more equitable healthcare system. From volunteering at the Murri School Health Expo, to shadowing doctors at Thursday Island Hospital, Aiden’s journey is grounded in community, culture and purpose.

The bursary supports Indigenous students like Aiden by removing financial barriers and fostering leadership, helping build a strong pipeline of culturally responsive healthcare professionals.

Empowering First Nations mothers: A digital lifeline in maternal care

Empowering First Nations mothers: A digital lifeline in maternal care

Supported by our Avant Foundation Research Grant, Dr Kiarna Brown and the Menzies School of Health Research are leading a groundbreaking project to transform pregnancy care for First Nations women. At the heart of this work is the Dungudbila App - a culturally informed, co-designed digital tool that blends clinical evidence with Indigenous knowledge. This initiative is improving healthcare quality and safety by delivering respectful, community-led care that empowers women, strengthens cultural connection, and reimagines maternal health through a First Nations lens.

Supporting doctors to lead change: Member Grants in action

Supporting doctors to lead change: Member Grants in action

Through Avant Foundation Member Grants, doctors like Dr Adrian Lee are driving innovation in healthcare. With funding support of up to $50,000, these grants empower early-career professionals to lead research, education, and projects that improve safety, quality and professionalism for underserved communities. Dr Lee’s work on Sjögren’s disease - a complex and underdiagnosed autoimmune condition - is advancing diagnostic tools and targeted therapies, helping to shape a more informed and compassionate future for patients.

Discover our impact - Avant Foundation Annual Review

Explore how the Avant Foundation is advancing healthcare through research, education, and innovation. With a renewed $50 million commitment from Avant Group, our 2024–25 program is supporting doctors and organisations to tackle key challenges in quality, safety, equity and sustainability. Read the full review.

Learn more
Funding to lead positive improvements in Australian healthcare

Is your organisation seeking funding to lead positive improvements in Australian healthcare?

Avant Foundation is now accepting expressions of interest for two major grant programs designed to support initiatives that advance quality, safety, and sustainability in medicine: our flagship Transformation Grant and our Research Grants.

Apply now
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Avant acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their connections to land, sea and community. As a national organisation, we pay our respects to Elders past and present, of the lands on which we gather and work, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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