Melbourne Health’s research vision is to be a leading centre for to delivery of translational health, research and education.

Melbourne Health, through The Royal Melbourne Hospital, North Western Mental Health and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, (VIDRL) has a commitment to improving patient care through translating research outcomes into clinical practice.

Melbourne Health is the second largest public health service in Victoria, serving a population of more than one million living in the inner, northern and western corridors of Melbourne as well as regional and rural Victorian and southern New South Wales.  The Royal  Melbourne Hospital was Victoria’s first hospital and today provides more than 100,000 episodes of care each year. NorthWestern Mental Health is one of the largest publicly funded providers of mental health services in Australia and VIDRL is the state’s largest public health reference laboratory with core responsibilities in virology and mycobacteriology. VIDRL also provides expertise in bacteriology, parasitology, epidemiology and molecular detection technologies. VIDRL has state, national and international roles.

Our organisation undertakes a wide range of research across all clinical disciplines, with key strengths in neurosciences, cancer, endocrinology and immunology (especially diabetes), infectious diseases, mental health and cardio-respiratory research.

Consistent with our role as a tertiary/quaternary health service, a major focus of our research is on translation. It is our focus on and our abilities to deliver translational research that make us a perfect partner for laboratory-based research organisations