18 health, medicine and science researchers from the University of Sydney have been awarded more than $22 million in grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The NHMRC Ideas Grants scheme supports researchers at all stages in their career undertaking innovative and creative research projects in any area of health and medical research from discovery to implementation.
Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Julie Cairney welcomed the news and congratulated our researchers.
“Congratulations to our 18 outstanding researchers who were successful in this competitive NHMRC funding round,” said Professor Cairney.
“Their projects span diverse areas of health and medical research, from gene therapies and diabetes to leukaemia and speech therapy.
“We take great pride in our longstanding research excellence in medicine and health and are delighted to see so many of our researchers recognised by the NHMRC. I look forward to seeing the impact of their research on the lives of people everywhere.”
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Dr Charles Bailey from the Centenary Institute has received $1,065,723.29 for his project ‘Enhanced adeno-associated virus vectors for safer gene therapies.’
Professor Kirrie Ballard from the Sydney School of Health Sciences has received $909,646 for her project ‘As we speak: Unmasking speech changes earlier in the course of disease.’
Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski from the Sydney Pharmacy School has received $885,247.10 for his project ‘Mitochondrial transplantation as a next-generation therapeutic for COPD.’
Dr Kavitha Gowrishankar from the School of Medical Sciences has received $1,338,210.20 for her project ‘Transgenic receptor combinations - novel cellular therapeutics for acute myeloid leukaemia.’
Professor Ruta Gupta from the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse has received $1,033,196 for her project ‘Tailoring Adjuvant Therapy for Oral Cancer Through BioPrinting.’
Professor Wayne Hawthorne from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and School of Medical Sciences has received $3,912,003.50 for his project ‘Xenotransplantation a Next Generation Cure for Diabetes using Transgenic Porcine Islets.’
Dr Weerachai Jaratlerdsiri from the School of Medical Sciences has received $236,744.45 for his project ‘Towards New Reference-free Cancer Genome Analysis for Better Addressing Racial Disparities.’
Dr Sohel Julovi from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research has received $1,054,097.50 for his project ‘Heartfelt disharmony: Investigating a Novel Pathway Driving Cardiorenal Syndrome.’
Associate Professor Eddy Kizana from Sydney Medical School has received $1,603,928.40 for his project ‘Creation of Next Generation Vectors for Cardiac Gene Therapy: Toward Human Application.’
Professor Barbara Mintzes from the School of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre has received $1,846,156 for her project ‘A stronger voice for Australian patients and health consumers: toolkit for independence.’
Professor Hilda Pickett from the Children’s Medical Research Institute has received $681,113 for her project ‘Telomerase proteostasis in human health and disease.’
Professor Renae Ryan from the School of Medical Sciences has received $987,264 for her project ‘The twisted link between a dual function transporter and Episodic Ataxia.’
Professor Barry Slobedman from the School of Medical Sciences has received $1,564,754.40 for his project ‘Improving Outcomes for Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: Pioneering Biomarkers in Human Cytomegalovirus Infection.’
Associate Professor Thomas Tu from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research has received $1,288,133 for his project ‘Overcoming viral persistence to cure Hepatitis B.’
Associate Professor Anna Waterhouse from the School of Medical Sciences has received $781,778 for her project ‘Bioengineering to Eliminate Thrombosis in Heart-Lung Machines.’
Dr Justin Wong from the School of Medical Sciences has received $1,029,321 for his project ‘Linking altered RNA modification in untranslated regions to cancer pathogenesis.’
Faculty of Science
Professor Peter Rutledge from the School of Chemistry has received $977,475 for his project ‘Hijacking the mycobacterial protein degradation system for new drugs against tuberculosis.’
Dr Carola Venturini from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science has received $816,351 for her project ‘Molecular and multi-omics assessment of Klebsiella pneumoniae response to bacteriophages.’