Surgeon gains Pacific clinical research award

Surgeon gains Pacific clinical research award

Surgeon and research fellow Dr Bruce Uelese Su’a from the South Auckland Clinical School at Middlemore Hospital has received the inaugural Pacific clinical research training fellowship.

The inaugural award from the Health Research Council will enable Dr Su’a to develop earlier effective treatment for anastomotic leakage – one of the worst complications following colon cancer surgery – by measuring biomarkers in patients’ blood.

Dr Su’a was among several University of Auckland researchers who received Pacific career development awards just announced by the HRC.

His research titled ‘Inflammation or infection? The role of biomarkers after colon surgery’ is funded for two years and a total of $166,667.

The HRC was able to show its commitment to supporting the development and retention of Pacific health researchers this year by funding two new awards: the Pacific clinical research training fellowship and a Pacific emerging researcher first grant, says HRC Chief Executive Professor Kath McPherson.

The Pacific emerging researcher first grant was awarded to Dr Pritika Narayan from the University’s Biomedical Imaging Research Unit, who is examining how the epigenome (that helps control which genes are active in a particular cell), is compromised in Huntington’s disease.

The $150,000 grant will fund this research on, ‘The epigenome is compromised in Huntington’s disease,’ for three years.

Pritika will join Professor Russell Snell’s research team at the School of Biological Sciences to study the epigenome of the transgenic Huntington’s disease sheep model at an age when their symptoms are not yet obvious.

“We want to investigate if early changes in the epigenome could be used as early biomarkers and as potential strategies for early intervention,” says Pritika. “During my PhD studies (with Prof Mike Dragunow and Prof Richard Faull), I found significant epigenetic changes in post-mortem brain tissue from Huntington’s disease compared to control. I want to know if these changes are cause or consequence of HD-related pathology.”

“The epigenome is like a switch that can turn genes on or off,” she says. “In this study I hope to identify faulty epigenetic ‘switches’ in the pre-symptomatic HD sheep and work out ways to restore them to health?”

More HRC Pacific grant recipients from the University of Auckland include;

HRC Pacific knowledge translation grant:

Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath, ‘Tongan youth suicide prevention resource’, six months, $5,000

Dr Seini Taufa, ‘A mother's hope: Pacific teenage pregnancy in New Zealand’, six months, $5,000

Afu Taufa, ‘Her side of the kava story’, six months, $5,000

HRC Pacific summer studentship:

Nathaniel Carter, ‘Epigenetic effects of alcohol exposure in the first trimester’, 10 weeks, $5,000

Steven Frederick Claude Young, ‘Analysis of the demographics and barriers to access for patients in Vanuatu’,10 weeks, $5,000

Natalie Taule'alo-Russell, ‘Health promotion in pregnancy and infancy for Pacific disabled parents’,

10 weeks, $5,000

HRC Pacific postdoctoral fellowship

Ravi Reddy, ‘Improving the uptake of hearing health services in older Pasifika people’, three years, $285,000

ENDS

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