HRC funding announced for top emerging health researchers

HRC funding announced for top emerging health researchers

New Zealand’s top emerging health researchers have been awarded funding grants worth a total of $1.51 million from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC), to support them in establishing independent careers in health research.

The HRC is the principal Government agency responsible for funding health research in New Zealand.

From this recent round of health research funding, eleven up and coming health researchers have received an HRC Emerging Researcher First Grant.

“I am very pleased that we are once again able to support this country’s greatest young research talent in this way,” says HRC’s Chief Executive, Dr Robin Olds. These young people are outstanding in their respective research fields and with these grants they will be able to conduct research which will be of benefit to the health of all New Zealanders,” he says.

Two of the funded projects, by researchers from The University of Auckland, will investigate different aspects of bone disease. Dr Vickie Shim will characterise the influence of daily activities on cellular and genetic function of cartilage cells in order to identify the genes that are related to the onset of osteoarthritis. Since knee injuries are known to lead to early osteoarthritis, which is currently incurable and lacking effective treatment, the identification of cellular and genetic links will be invaluable in devising a new therapy and better patient management.

Dr Justin Fernandez will quantify the impact of low dose fluoride treatment on the fracture susceptibility of the femur and spine of menopausal women with osteopenia, which is a condition where bone mineral density is lower than normal, and considered by many doctors to be a precursor to osteoporosis.

Three projects will investigate cancer including: a potential treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer; another study will provide data to advance efficient treatment of oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer and the appearance of metastases; and a further project will look at the development of potential anticancer drugs, related to molecules found in marine sponges.

Dr Richard Hall from the Institute of Environmental Science Research Limited aims to discover currently unknown viruses that cause human gastrointestinal disease. The results from this study will be used by public health agencies to prevent or contain outbreaks through a better knowledge of these ‘mystery’ viruses causing such a common disease.

Evidence suggests that there is a relationship between vitamin D status and a history of respiratory illness and allergy. Dr Pamela von Hurst from Massey University, Albany, aims to measure the vitamin D levels of pre-schoolers from around New Zealand and to gather information on the predictors of deficiency, with the objective of creating an easily used risk assessment tool for health professionals in the community. It will also enable the investigation of the potential link with respiratory illness and allergy.

2011 HRC Emerging Researcher First Grants
The following list of successful applicants includes the named Principal Investigator only.
Dr Augusto Barbosa, The University of Auckland
The Outcomes of Lactobacillus and Trichomonas vaginalis Interaction
36 months, $145,200.00
Dr Justin Fernandez, The University of Auckland
Can Low Dose Fluoride Therapy Increase Bone Strength in Osteoporosis?
36 months, $139,100.00
Dr Richard Hall, Institute of Environmental Science Research Ltd
Hunting the Silent Majority: Unknown Viruses in Human Gastrointestinal Disease
36 months, $149,999.50
Dr Joanne Harvey, Victoria University of Wellington
Analogues of Zampanolide: Design, Synthesis and Anti-Cancer Activity
36 months, $126,600.00
Dr Stephen Jamieson, The University of Auckland
Small Molecule Inhibitors of AKR1C3 in Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
24 months, $148,231.56
Dr William Levack, University of Otago, Wellington
Pulmonary Wii-habilitation: a Pilot Study
18 months, $81,686.02

Dr Greg Martin, Victoria University of Wellington
Impact of Substance Use and Mental Health Presentations in the Emergency Department
24 months, $147,000.00

Dr Katya Ruggiero, The University of Auckland
Probing Illness with a Novel Multi-omic Time-course Statistical Platform
24 months, $135,000.00

Dr Vickie Shim, The University of Auckland
Finding Links between Knee Injuries and Cartilage Degeneration
36 months, $143,000.00

Dr Sebastien Taurin, University of Otago, Dunedin
Effect of Raloxifene on Oestrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer Tumour Growth
36 months, $145,000.00

Dr Pamela von Hurst, Massey University, Albany
Vitamin D Deficiency Risk and Respiratory/Allergy Diseases in NZ 1-4 Year-olds
36 months, $149,883.00

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