05 December 2016
Researchers at the University of South Australia, at all stages of their research careers, have been awarded almost $14 million to fund a range of both fundamental and applied research projects looking at everything from genetics and personalised medicine, to cancer treatments, wound and bone healing, and the role of social technologies in healthy behaviour.
The latest round of funding announced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) included funding for 14 Project Grants and two Career Development projects. This is in addition to four successful Early Career Fellowships and two Research Fellowships announced just last month.
UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research, Professor Tanya Monro says the grants represent the steady increase in world class medical and health research being undertaken at UniSA, driven by an array of brilliant and highly dedicated researchers.
“All of these projects are clearly focused on finding new techniques, therapies, treatments and causes for some of the key health challenges we face – cancer, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, obesity, and the fundamental genetic research that will help pinpoint causes and cures for a whole host of diseases,” Prof Monro says.
“Each year researchers have to prove the worth of their projects and earn support for them in what is an increasingly competitive arena. We are delighted that so many of our submissions have been successful because it means they can continue to lead their important health research here in South Australia.”
A full range of projects undertaken at UniSA and SA Pathology’s Centre for Cancer Biology have been successful – including research into chemo resistance in lung cancer treatment, an exploration of the role of mast cells in anaphylaxis and asthma and research into inhibiting metastasis in childhood neuroblastoma.
Other project grants include new research using CRISP-R/TALEN gene editing technology to give insights into the biology of newly identified epilepsy genes so that diagnostics and novel drug treatments can be improved and developed.
Career Development Grants were also received for a range of projects from how online interventions including social media may promote behavioural change to encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyles, to the development and delivery of a new generation of biomedical devices that can control infections, inflammation and foreign body response.
Early Career Fellowship grants will support research to develop a computational method for characterising cancer sub-types and work that unpacks who and when and how to treat prostate cancer to ensure the best outcomes.
Further details of projects that successfully achieved funding through the NHMRC can be found here.
Media contact: Will Venn mobile: 0401 366054 email: will.venn@unisa.edu.au
