Our impact
Bellberry’s unique not-for-profit model allows us to reinvest millions of dollars back into the research community — supporting individual researchers through fellowships and grants, and shaping national policy through sector leadership and participant advocacy.
Strengthening science globally through reinvestment
Bellberry is not a corporation, nor are we owned by anyone. Instead, we’re an independent Not-For-Profit.
Revenue generated through our Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) services is philanthropically reinvested directly back into the research sector — creating an engine room for innovation that strengthens and advances science globally while supporting the people behind it.
We provide financial and in‑kind support to initiatives that align with our mission: to protect the welfare of research participants and improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of research.
“Bellberry was founded in 2004 with a novel not-for-profit model. We determined from the start that any profits would be reinvested into medical research and its community. Our first philanthropic grant was for $30,000. As of 2025, we have contributed more than $12 million into Australia’s research sector.“
Fraser Bell, Founding and Current Chair, Bellberry
Three ways we philanthropically support research
- People — fellowships, prizes and scholarships for Australian researchers.
- Projects — targeted grant funding for conferences and initiatives that make research more participant-centred.
- Sector leadership — using our expert insights to actively improve the research sector through policy development, standards review, advocacy and collaboration.
People — investing in Australian researchers
We invest in the careers of Australian researchers through fellowships, prizes and scholarships — supporting the people behind the science.
We also support a series of prize partnerships with professional societies, including travel grants, new investigator awards and PhD student support across organisations such as AAHMS, ASCEPT and AABHL, recognising emerging researchers and First Nations scientists making a difference in their fields.
Bellberry–Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship
Our flagship award, valued at $1.375 million over five years, supports outstanding mid-career researchers to pursue innovative medical research projects.
Since 2015, we have delivered this annual Fellowship in partnership with the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation, an organisation that has supported researchers through Fellowships for more than 30 years.
Projects — funding research that puts participants first
We provide grant funding to conferences and initiatives that help:
• Strengthen ethical research practice
• Enhance the research participant experience
• Build Australia’s research capacity
Our conference grant program supports major national events to embed participant perspectives into their scientific programs — bringing community voices into spaces that have traditionally been shaped by researchers and industry alone.
We also fund research projects that strengthen ethical practice and build Australia’s research capacity. A recent example is our contribution to the University of Wollongong’s Ethics Plus AI project — part of a $2.2 million, four-year national research initiative exploring the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence in research.
The financial support provided by Bellberry is important, but our wider goal is to bring key people and ideas together in collaboration and conversation.
Sector leadership — advocating for better research policies and approaches
Our involvement in the research sector extends well beyond ethics review and philanthropic donations.
The scale and breadth of studies we oversee gives Bellberry a unique, system-wide view of opportunities and challenges facing the research sector, allowing us to contribute meaningfully to continuous improvement.
CT:IQ creates practical tools for better clinical trials
Bellberry established CT:IQ (Clinical Trials: Impact & Quality) in 2018, a member-led, not-for-profit organisation developing practical resources to improve the impact, quality and efficiency of Australian clinical trials.
Recent achievements include the new national InFORMed Participant Information and Consent Form (PICF) template, clinical research data sharing frameworks, and tools and frameworks to help people participate in research in less burdensome ways.
Thought Leadership helps experts share knowledge
Our Thought Leadership series brings together national and international experts to tackle complex challenges in research and the regulatory systems that underpin the development and distribution of innovative treatments and technologies.
A recent focus has been New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). In collaboration with ASCEPT and AusBiotech, Bellberry has been working to develop national guidelines for the use of NAMs in Australia, progressed through a series of international workshops bringing together regulators, ethicists, researchers and industry.
We also work alongside governments, regulators and industry organisations to help improve research policy and strengthen ethics guidance.
We contribute to national policy development, standards review and framework design, and we advocate and collaborate on initiatives that improve how clinical trials are designed, conducted and experienced.
This policy engagement helps embed participant protection, data integrity and patient benefit into key frameworks, while creating conditions for faster, more reliable trial start-up without compromising ethical safeguards.
“Our engagement is focused on making sure that regulation, ethics and innovation move together in the interests of patients — so that Australian patients can benefit from advances that are both scientifically robust and ethically sound.”
Leanne Weekes, Bellberry Director of Research and Policy
Download Impact Report
Bellberry’s annual Impact Report brings together the key insights, data and achievements from across the past year — from ethics review and sector leadership to philanthropy and participant advocacy.