Otago researchers funded to pursue projects benefiting NZ health
Eight of the nine ‘Emerging Researcher First Grants’ awarded nationally in the Health Research Council’s (HRC) 2015
funding round have been won by up-and-coming Otago researchers.
Emerging researcher grants, which this year total more than $1.3M, support the career development of some of New
Zealand’s best and brightest health researchers.
Announcing the funding results, HRC Chief Executive Dr Kathryn McPherson said recipients of emerging researcher grants
are “outstanding in their respective research fields and with these grants they will be able to conduct research that
will benefit the health of all New Zealanders”.
The Otago recipients include researchers from the University’s three main campuses in Dunedin, Christchurch and
Wellington. Their research projects range from studying how being born prematurely may affect later cardiovascular
health to investigating the strong antibacterial activity of a unique subset of white blood cells known as MAIT cells.
The HRC also announced nine Feasibility Study recipients, five of whom are Otago researchers. These grants cover a range
of topics including diabetes and pre-diabetes in pregnancy, and tart cherry concentrate as a potential treatment for
gout flare-ups.
Otago Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) Professor Richard Blaikie warmly congratulated all the grant recipients on their successes.
“I’m especially pleased by Otago’s exceptionally strong performance in the emerging researcher grants. This stellar
showing reflects the large body of highly talented early-career staff at our University who are poised to become the
research leaders of tomorrow,” Professor Blaikie says.
Otago researchers received a combined total of around $1.8M of the funding announced today by the HRC.
ENDS