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Funding announcements aimed at improving health of Australians
The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today announced funding of $1.6 million in new health and medical research funding to the University of Wollongong.
The funding will be provided through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) which is the Federal Government’s peak funding body for health and medical research. It selects projects for funding from among a large number of applications.
This funding will enable researchers at the university to contribute to the Government’s health reform agenda to improve the health of all Australians.
Ms Roxon said the research produced would enable Australia to better understand, tackle and even prevent chronic disease and other health problems in the future.
The largest slice of the overall funding has gone to Project Grants, which support individuals and teams conducting research into all areas of health. Project Grants received by the University of Wollongong include:
New therapeutics to fight Strep A flesh eating bacteria – group A streptococcus causes 600,000 cases of serious invasive disease each year world wide, and approximately 25% of cases are fatal. Dr Martina Sanderson-Smith’s research team (Biological Sciences) will receive $503,500 to investigate the mechanisms behind these severe infections, to improve future treatments.
Schizophrenia: prevention of treatment-related obesity – newer antipsychotics, used to treat mental illness, are effective but can lead to side effects of obesity and metabolic disorders. Professor Xu-Feng Huang (Health Sciences) will look at the mechanisms that lead to these problems and ways of minimising them, using funding of $399,250.
Remodelling damaged peripheral nerves – the current treatment for incapacitating nerve damage is the replacement of the damaged nerves with healthy nerves from elsewhere in the body. This research investigates the possibility of using man-made implants that protects the damaged nerve while it regenerates, reducing the need for nerve harvesting while restoring nerve function. Associate Professor Robert Kapsa (St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and UOW’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science) has been funded $662,500 to carry out this important research.
For more information on the funding schemes, and a full list of successful projects, visit here
Media opportunity: Dr Martina Sanderson-Smith is available to talk with media about her research team’s work between 11am and midday today by phoning 4221 4602.