The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

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Next-gen treatments the focus of NHMRC-funded research

 

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute medical research projects have received $11.3 million in the National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC) Project Grants for 2010. The NHMRC has also supported institute researchers with five Career Development Awards, one Practitioner Fellowship and nine Research Fellowships.

Twenty-five NHMRC Project Grants were awarded to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute out of a total of 675 worth $380 million nationally.

Professor Doug Hilton, director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, said the NHMRC-supported research projects showcased the innovative approaches taken by institute researchers as they look for causes, treatments, vaccines and cures for diseases including cancer, malaria, herpesvirus and coeliac disease.

“At the core of our research is a commitment to making basic discoveries that will ultimately bring clinical benefits for patients,” Professor Hilton said. “The projects that have been funded by the NHMRC will expand on what we already know about disease and bring us closer to developing the next generation of therapeutics.”

Successful Walter and Eliza Hall Institute projects include:

• Explaining the selection of gluten peptides toxic in coeliac disease; $679,000

• Finding therapeutic targets for penicilliosis, an opportunistic human fungal pathogen that is particularly prevalent among people with HIV; $389,750

• Pathogen sensing in autoinflammatory and autoimmune disease, $328,750

• Mechanisms regulating establishment of persistent herpesvirus infection, $493,200

For the full list of NHMRC-funded project grants at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute commencing in 2010 click here.

NHMRC Career Development Awards totalling $1,885,000 were received by Dr Daniel Gray, Dr Marc Kvansakul, Dr Justine Mintern, Dr Marnie Blewitt and Dr Marc Pellegrini.

Associate Professor Andrew Roberts, a clinical haematologist, received a Practitioner Fellowship and NHMRC Research Fellowships were awarded to Professor Nick Nicola, Professor Len Harrison, Professor Phil Hodgkin, Associate Professor Andrew Lew, Dr Lorraine Robb, Dr Lynn Corcoran, Associate Professor Geoff Lindeman, Associate Professor Jane Visvader and Dr James Beeson.

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