Clifford Craig funding steps in amid a shortage of medical research grants

The researchers presented their novel projects to the community, ranging from new approaches to diabetes, breast cancer, palliative care and more.

The projects are supported by a $215,000 grant from the Foundation (CCF).

Grant recipient Darren Henstridge said as medical funding was becoming harder to access in Australia, the local grant came at a good time.

"Like a lot of things, the funding from larger governments and so forth hasn't really kept up with ongoing increasing pricing and costs," Dr Henstridge said.

"So your chance of getting grants are quite low at the moment, but when you have a community foundation like Clifford Craig who fundraise and offer local support - it really helps you to continue to research in times when funding is difficult to obtain."

Dr Henstridge is investigating if altering a gene improves the action of the diabetes drug metformin, and if it can help decrease fat accumulation in the liver.

"This is a discovery project so it's very much in its infancy," Dr Henstridge said.

"All medical research advancements start in discovery so we need to identify all these pathways, understand it well, and then apply it to different models.

"But the hope in the future is that we're always looking for new drugs to target or ways in which we can improve these conditions."

CCF chief executive Vanessa Cahoon said the foundation had been "blessed" to have the philanthropic support of the Northern community for the past 30 years.

"Without that support we simply wouldn't be able to offer the research programs that we have," Ms Cahoon said.

"Medical research has many benefits - they can lead to new drugs, new treatments, and certainly improved patient outcomes."