What We Fund

Jacka Foundation for Natural Therapies (JFNT) is a not-for-profit charitable fund that supports research in naturopathy and its related modalities, and the development of a community of researchers, scholars and leaders in the naturopathic profession.

2024: Development of a non-animal model for pain – $200,000

This project continues the work of Professor Ron Quinn with the Mudjala project with the Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal Community and Griffith University, as outlined below.

The aim is to establish a non-animal model for pain using cells from dorsal root ganglion that express a range of pain targets and a skin permeability model using 3D-printed tissue.  These objectives are relevant to the ongoing Mudjala project as well as other topical remedies.

2023: Assessing the efficacy of a herbal bladder formula for cystitis – $100,000

The Jacka Foundation is collaborating with Southern Cross University and the Siepel Group to assess the efficacy of a patented herbal formula for cystitis. This double-blind, placeo controlled randomised clinical trial commenced in September 2023 and will run for two years. It is led by SCU’s Dr Janet Schloss.

2021: Advancing an Aboriginal Pain Remedy – $40,000
Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal Community (JBAC) and Griffith University are working together to develop an indigenous sourced, over-the-counter pain medication based on an Australian Aboriginal traditional herbal remedy. The Nyikina-Mangala peoples of the Kimberley region of WA have used the plant for millennia to treat serious pain from puncture wounds, cuts and sores.

This grant enabled the completion of vital lab work, under the direction of Prof Ron Quinn,to establish and standardise the composition of the extracted product. This is a required step in progressing TGA approval. 

Should this long running project be successful, it will establish a pathway for further opportunities for scientifically validated indigenous materials to succeed, where ownership mainly resides in, and helps the support growth of, indigenous communities.

2020: The Victorian Foundation of Survivors of Torture (VFST) – $45,000
This project formally evaluates of the longstanding Complementary Therapies (CT) program at the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture (VFST), or Foundation House, as it is known. The mission of Foundation House is to advance the health, wellbeing and human rights of people from refugee backgrounds who have experienced torture or other traumatic events. The CT program was established in 1989 and uses herbal medicine, nutritional medicine, dietary therapies, massage, shiatsu and yoga.

2019: NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University $6m over 15 years
JFNT continues its support for the work of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM), based at the University of Western Sydney (UWS). Since 2015, JFNT has supported academic leadership and promoted research into natural therapies at NICM, and in July 2019 a pledge for further funding of $400,000 a year for 15 years was finalised.
 
The new funding agreement supports:

  • Research in complementary and integrative medicine,
  • The Jacka Foundation PhD scholarship for a candidate with a naturopathic background, and
  • The Jacka Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.
  • It also contributes to
  • The position of the Jacka Foundation Senior Research Fellow (Inaugural Fellow Dr Carolyn Ee), and
  • The development of the Jacka Foundation Conference Centre in the NICM building at WSU’s Westmead campus. It is envisaged that the conference centre will become a hub for the exchange of information, research and best practice in complementary and integrative medicine, and facilitate NICM’s reach to a global audience.