VU Health Research Facility

Bringing together researchers, clinicians and community, our purpose-built health-research facility enables research that delivers real-world impact.

About the facility

A large, modern hospital
VU at Footscray Hospital
Located at the new Footscray Hospital, directly opposite VU's Footscray Park Campus, the VU Health Research Facility spans four levels. Researchers based here are advancing work in preventative disease and healthy ageing, and plan to increase community participation in clinical trials by up to 50%.

The $63 million VU Health Research Facility allows researchers to work directly with Western Health clinicians, allied health professionals and patients, and local community members, to advance work in preventative disease and healthy ageing.

The space will support the work of hundreds of researchers and research students. It is fitted with $3.1 million of new equipment including:

  • large-scale clinical rehabilitation gymnasium
  • allied health suites
  • commercial kitchen for nutrition and diet intervention studies
  • expansive yoga studio for wellbeing-related studies
  • dedicated vascular research lab.

A full-scale PC2 lab with a 3D bioprinter to print living organisms for cell studies will also open in late 2026.

A woman in professional dress poses in youga class held in a large room with tall glass windows
A man holding a clipboard speaks to a woman on a treadmill in a modern gym with large windows
A large modern glass and wood building with Victoria University signage
A courtyard between two modern buildings with a hospital sign indicating Footscray Hospital and Victoria University research facilities
A white, bright, large room with exercise equipment and people exercising
A young man in an exercise studio demonstrates exercises using equipement
Yoga class in a bright modern room
A modern over-road bridge with 'Victoria University' logo leads to a 1970s campus
A colourful foyer with bright walls and comfortable chairs
A clean wood-look kitchenette and dining area with floor-to-ceiling glass windows

Health research focus

Victoria University researchers are working to address urgent and complex health concerns in Melbourne’s west, across Australia, and internationally.

Conducted through the VU's Institute for Health and Sport, the facility will support VU's research priority areas:

  • exercise and nutrition, including community health
  • muscular skeletal disorders
  • brain related injuries and disease
  • obesity and metabolic diseases including diabetes
  • sleep disorders, neurocognition and mental health.

Meet our researchers

Research is undertaken by the Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), at Victoria University. IHES addresses real-world problems of local, national and global relevance in health, sport and active living, offering opportunities for PhD candidature and industry collaboration.

Visit IHES website

Professional looking man in suit smiles at the camera.
Professor Andy Hill
VU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Impact, Andy Hill is internationally renowned for his ground-breaking work in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Prion Diseases, and in the field of extracellular vesicles.
Professor Alex Parker stands in the yoga studio at VU Health Research Facility, at Footscray Hospital. Alex smiles at the camera.
Professor Alex Parker
Executive Director, Institute for Health and Sport, and Professor of Physical Activity and Mental Health, Alex Parker leads a multidisciplinary research group. She leads research projects to measure, understand, and promote physical activity to optimise mental wellbeing and prevent and treat mental illness.
Professor Itamar Levinger
Professor Itamar Levinger is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) with expertise in exercise rehabilitation for patients with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, muscle function, structure and metabolism and cell signalling in humans and murine models.
Professor David Bishop
Professor David Bishop is a world leader in muscle exercise physiology. He examines how diet, exercise, and genes interact to regulate skeletal muscle adaptations, and translates this into recommendations for exercise prescriptions to better improve health and human performance.
Dr Jujiao Kuang
Dr Jujiao Kuang has extensive expertise in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics, with specialist expertise in the study of Caenorhabditis elegans and human mitochondria.
Dr Alessandra Ferri
Dr Alessandra Ferri is an exercise physiologist who researches exercise training to improve muscle health, physical function and quality of life in different clinical populations.
Professor Kim Cornish AM
Professor Kim Cornish AM
Professor Kim Cornish AM is an award-winning educator, researcher, and leader in child developmental science.
James Broatch, senior researcher at IHES, Victoria University
Dr James Broatch
Dr Broatch established a unique, multidisciplinary ‘Exercise and Brain Health’ research program that uses neuroimaging and molecular biology technique in exercise physiology research.
Dr Lesley Cheng
Lesley Cheng is a cell and molecular biologist with published Bioinformatics experience. She is highly active in the exosomal field and is a co-inventor of a patent that describes the use of exosomal miRNA to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases.

Contact us

Address

91 Ballarat Road

Footscray

Vic 3011

Opening hours

Hours: 9am-5pm

Days: Monday–Friday

Contact IHES

[email protected]

+61 3 9919 2685

More IHES contacts