Established in 2005 with funding from the Australian Government the APF continues to provide quality National infrastructure in collaboration with Phenomics Australia. This partnership brings together expertise and infrastructure from across Australia for the Creation, Characterisation, and Cryopreservation of mouse models of human disease.

Funding is provided by the Government (see below). Through this funding, the APF is able to provide specialised equipment, expertise, and subsidised access to models to further Australian scientific research.

Funding bodies

Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (CRIS)

CRIS is an interim funding solution to allow priority research infrastructure projects funded under NCRIS and/or the Super Science Initiative to remain operational.

National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)

NCRIS is designed to provide Australia’s research sector with ongoing access to high-quality, operational research infrastructure facilities and supports collaboration between the research sector, industry, and government in Australia to conduct world-class research. This will ensure that Australian research continues to be competitive and rank highly on an international scale.

Since 2004, the Australian Government has invested over $2.5 billion in the strategy which has enabled over 30,000 researchers to access world-leading equipment and facilities. The network consists of 13 capabilities and 27 active projects, and employs over 1,500 technical experts, researchers and facility managers in 222 institutions.

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

The NHMRC is Australia's peak body for supporting health and medical research; for developing health advice for the Australian community, health professionals, and governments; and for providing advice on ethical behaviour in health care and in the conduct of health and medical research.

Education Investment Fund Super Science Initiative

The Super Science Initiative addressed priorities identified in the 2008 Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure and contributed $1.1 billion to priority areas of Australian research until 2013. $989 million of this money is for research infrastructure that will make a lasting contribution to Australian science. These infrastructure investments are being funded from the Education Investment Fund, which is one of the three Nation-building Funds established by the Nation-building Funds Act 2008.

National

Australian Genome Research Facility

The Australian Genome Research Facility Ltd (AGRF), is a not-for-profit company and is Australia's largest provider of genomics services and solutions. AGRF has laboratories in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, each providing a gateway to a national network of state-of-the-art facilities, technology and expertise. From microbes to plants, animals and humans, AGRF provides a full range of services across the entire biological spectrum. AGRF provides services to academia and industry with clients from bioscience, environmental science, biomedicine and agricultural biotechnology.

We have signed a memorandum of understanding with AGRF, in order to establish a technology partnership for the study of mouse genetics.

Our two facilities provide complementary services to increase the efficiency of mouse genomic analysis and data flow to the overall benefit of the research community. The complementary services will facilitate researcher access to the latest in high throughput sequencing workflows and products, and will provide cost-effective bioinformatic tools.

Phenomics Australia

We are a proud member of Phenomics Australia, a network of core infrastructure and services designed to facilitate the use of mouse models by the Australian and international research community.

Established in 2007 with funding from the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and Education Investment Fund (EIF) and with contributions from state governments, research institutions and the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), APN brings together mouse production, strain storage and pathology capabilities.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory Australia

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Australia was formed to foster and enhance Australia's international competitiveness in the life sciences and strengthen Australia's emerging position as a leader in biotechnology research. The centrepiece of EMBL Australia will be the Partner Laboratory Network (PLN) of young research groups across Australia.

EMBL Australia provides Australian researchers access to EMBL through activities such as funded research positions, collaborative ventures and the formation of research institutes.

We have signed a memorandum of understanding with EMBL Australia to work together to establish programs of research collaboration in areas of mutual interest and benefit to the research community.

Our two organisations will work together to develop and promote recommended protocols for high throughput sequencing of the mouse genome. These recommendations will be distributed to the research community as advisory documents and updated regularly as technological change.

We have also agreed to work together to deliver our unique archive of mutant mouse pedigrees to EMBL Australia researchers and research teams in Europe and the UK.

International

Asian Mouse Mutagenesis Resource Association

The Asian Mouse Mutagenesis and Resource Association (AMMRA) is a collaborative group of the development, archiving/distribution, and coordination of phenotyping and informatics of mutant mice in Asia.

The goal of AMMRA is the use of mouse models for understanding the genome function and improvement of human health.

Asian Mouse Phenotyping Consortium

The Asian Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (AMPC) has been established to promote the coordination and development of advanced strategies and service platforms for phenotyping and informatics.

AMPC will join the international phenotyping efforts including International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC).

International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium

The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) builds on the efforts of IKMC to produce knockout mice and carry out high-throughput phenotyping of each line in order to determine the function of every gene in the mouse genome.

These mice will be preserved in repositories and made available to the scientific community representing a valuable resource for basic scientific research as well as generating new models for human diseases.