Congratulations to our Faculty of Health Sciences staff who were recently awarded grants from the National Health Research Council (NHMRC).

NHMRC Investigator Grant recipients (media release linked here)

Professor Peter Gething from Curtin’s School of Population Health and Telethon Kids Institute and his team were awarded $2.89 million to find new strategies to tackle malaria, a leading cause of death in Africa. The research will build on cutting-edge geospatial modelling through the Malaria Atlas Project to plan more effective control measures.

Professor Oliver Rackham from Curtin’s Medical School, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and his team were awarded $2.69 million to harnesses synthetic biology to create innovative gene therapies for difficult to treat diseases. The work includes the development of protein-based gene therapies to potentially cure inherited genetic diseases and cancer.

NHMRC Ideas Grants recipients (media release linked here)

Associate Professor Juliana Hamzah from Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute’s (CHIRI) and her team were awarded more than $2.1 million to work towards a new treatment for cardiovascular disease: a first-ever drug to clear blocked arteries. In collaboration with Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, the research will determine the safety of the medication and which patients would be most suitable to receive the treatment.

Dr Daniel Brown from Curtin Medical School and CHIRI associate, and his team were awarded almost $585,000 to develop an implantable biosensor for the inner ear that aims to halt the progression of Meniere’s Disease, an inner-ear disorder which results in sudden vertigo attacks, hearing fluctuation and tinnitus. Thesensor – an Ion Sensitive Electrode (ISE) – will monitor changes in the potassium concentration of inner ear fluids to allow for controlled drug delivery to halt disease progression.