CSIRO's research is focused on the following:

Nutrition, lifestyle and DNA
Nutrition, lifestyle and DNA

- CSIRO is researching foods, diets, our lifestyles and DNA to keep us healthier and fitter for longer. A healthy diet and lifestyle can help avoid the major causes of illness and premature death.

The CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Kids
The CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Kids

- The CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Kids contains practical information, based on science, for parents to use to positively influence children’s eating and activity habits.

Food Bioactives for health
Food Bioactives for health

- Bioactive molecules are components of food that possess biological activity in addition to their nutritional value and can play roles in human growth, development and disease prevention.

Food safety
Food safety

- Eating healthy and safe foods are fundamental activities that people enjoy in Australia. Ensuring foodborne pathogens, especially pathogenic bacteria, are appropriately controlled and dealt with is key to healthy eating and our ongoing wellbeing.

Bowel cancer and gut health
Bowel cancer and gut health

- Our gut health is integral to our overall health and wellbeing. Healthy eating, regular exercise and participating in bowel cancer screening programs can lower the risk of developing bowel cancer.

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease

- CSIRO scientists have developed a new system to screen for compounds that can inhibit one of the processes that takes place during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Advances in medical imaging
Advances in medical imaging

- Advances in medical imaging are assisting with the earlier detection of a range of diseases including cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Environmental health
Environmental health

- Understanding and improving urban environments is imperative for the health and long-term wellbeing of our communities.

Preventative health activities can reduce the burden of disease by avoiding the development or halting the progression of illness. We advance this through research focussed on early detection, intervention and reducing the further impacts of established disease.

CSIRO’s health prevention activities are broad ranging and include research in nutrition, substantiation of food claims, developing healthier foods and better understanding of how foods, diets and physical activity can improve health and wellbeing in adults and children.

Our research also incorporates:

  • behavioural studies to investigate the individual and environment factors that influence people’s decision making and behaviour in relation to health

  • investigating and designing functional foods that contain naturally occurring molecules with enhanced health benefits such as edible oils, resistant starches and fibre

  • understanding and modifying the risk factors for a range of chronic diseases, improving the accuracy and early detection of disease, and monitoring the impacts on the community.

CSIRO health research activities in prevention are principally through its Preventative Health Flagship. The long term vision of the Flagship is to improve the health and well-being of Australians and deliver savings in direct health costs through the prevention and early detection of disease.

Show Prevention Index