December 04, 2025
As we review our successes, we're grateful for the trust researchers continue to place in us and excited about the momentum we're carrying into the new year. Here are some of the key moments from the past twelve months.
Our 20th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday 26 November was a wonderful day, full of fascinating presentations from people working hard to make our communities healthier including our Keynote Speakers Dr Louise Schaper and Dr Amanda Caples, Victoria’s Chief Scientist.
As well as marking our significant milestone, the event was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends, as well as learn about the innovative ways our members are solving complex data-related research challenges.
The response to this event was so positive that we will again be hosting a seminar on 28 April 2026, complementing our Annual General Meeting.
2025 started with very good news about the Federal Government’s commitment of $6.7 million in funding over the next four years to the Australian Rare Cancer (ARC) Portal, a ground-breaking platform that provides life-saving access to specialist care for Australians living with rare cancers, especially those in rural and regional areas.
BioGrid supports the ARC Portal by facilitating secure links for cancer specialists to expert advice, research opportunities, and clinical trial options, whilst maintaining patient confidentiality, and has been doing so since 2019. This funding is a significant step forward in ensuring equitable access to the best possible care, regardless of where patients live, and will allow for a targeted expansion throughout Queensland to provide care to people in remote areas, through a partnership with Cancer Alliance Queensland and others.
Long-term BioGrid Board member and Chair of BioGrid’s Finance, Audit and Risk Committee David Polonsky resigned from the Board at the Annual General Meeting on 26 November 2024. Kylie Maher BBus CPA GAICD joined the Board in March, filling a casual vacancy effective 26 February 2025 as a result of David Polonsky’s retirement after serving on the Board since 2015 and as Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee since 2017.
Ms Maher joined the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and brings to the role extensive audit and risk management experience in the health sector. We look forward to working with Ms Maher to further establish BioGrid Australia as a leader in Australian health informatics.
Chris Arnold AM resigned from the BioGrid Board in October 2025 after 10 years’ service. We are grateful for the valuable services provided by Chris and David, who volunteered their time for a decade to help guide BioGrid’s growth and sustainability with their expert advice and experience.
This year BioGrid signed a landmark partnership between the Snow Centre for Immune Health - co led by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) in partnership with Snow Medical Research Foundation - resulting in an Australian-first collaboration bringing together clinicians and researchers, supported by the Aridhia Digital Research Environment (DRE), a secure, cloud-based platform.
This partnership will enable researchers to securely access and collaborate on patient samples, such as blood and saliva, and associated research data – all from a single, secure hub.
BioGrid is providing the Aridhia DRE to securely house the data and will also support the Snow Centre with the ethics and governance framework needed to facilitate responsible, compliant data sharing, enabling faster implementation of programs for researchers and protecting patient privacy.
BioGrid welcomed RMIT University as our newest member in the second half of the year. RMIT University runs a substantial research program, leading or joining research collaborations that bring together investigators from universities, industry and government, both nationally and internationally. We look forward to working with RMIT University and supporting their health and medical research objectives.
The past year has also seen BioGrid continue long-running partnerships with a number of programs improving health outcomes for all Australians, including:
The next 12 months have more exciting developments for BioGrid, as we roll out initiatives that will expand the services we’re able to offer Australian researchers.
The BioGrid-managed Aridhia Digital Research Environment (DRE), a secure, cloud-based medical research platform, will be available for projects that require an ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and/or HITRUST certified secure research environment that can work with complex datasets. This will present new opportunities for projects that need a secure collaboration environment and we’re excited to work with our members to explore the potential of this platform.
In addition, the ARC Portal will recommence full operations in early 2026, connecting rare cancer patients to a network of expert specialists, clinical trials, and new treatments—all while allowing patients to remain with their local healthcare providers, regardless of where they live. A new element of ARC Portal operations enabled by the funding agreement will be the implementation of a targeted expansion throughout Queensland, providing care to people in remote areas through a partnership with Cancer Alliance Queensland and others.