Several The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers will share in more than $7.5 million in prestigious Investigator Grants to pursue a range of innovative child health research.
The Investigator Grant scheme is the National Health and Medical Research Council’s largest funding scheme and a major investment in Australia’s health and medical research workforce, providing a five year fellowship and research support for outstanding researchers at all career stages.
Announced by Federal Health Minister Mark Butler today, the latest round of Investigator Grants will see 216 emerging and established health and medical research leaders across Australia share in funding worth $379 million.
At The Kids Research Institute Australia, the grants will support critical research into projects including new treatments for childhood brain cancer, eliminating rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, halting the resurgence of malaria in Africa, and improving the diagnosis and treatment of Mitochondrial Disease (MD).
Professor Pete Gething, Kerry M Stokes AC Chair in Child Health and John Curtin Distinguished Professor at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University, will receive $2.89 million to develop more efficient, effective and adaptable measures to tackle the resurgence of malaria in Africa – a leading cause of death in children.
Administered through Curtin University, the grant will allow Professor Gething to build on world-leading geospatial modelling through the Malaria Atlas Project to understand and address inefficiencies in malaria control, respond to the changing climate, and ensure findings are translated into impact.
Senior Research Fellow and member of the Strep A team at The Kids Research Institute Australia, Dr Rosemary Wyber, will use more than $650,000 to significantly address the burden of rheumatic heart disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Her five-year research program will aim to highlight how improved housing affects Strep A incidence, improve shared understanding of RHD through a new system of disease staging, and increase widespread use of less painful treatments in clinical settings.
Dr Wyber – who is also from the Australian National University and The University of Western Australia – is the lead author of the RHD Endgame Strategy to eliminate RHD in Australia by 2031. This grant will be administered through the Australian National University.
The Louis Landau Chair in Child Health Research at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic biology at The University of Western Australia, Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, was awarded $2.69 million for a research program aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial diseases (MD).
Her pioneering research will use cutting-edge technology to address the prolonged and complex diagnostic process for MDs, find more effective treatments, and improve the lives of patients and families. Professor Filipovska’s grant will be administered at The University of Western Australia.
Congratulations also to Professor Oliver Rackham, Head of the Mitochondrial Therapies team at The Kids Research Institute Australia and a Professor at Curtin Medical School and Head of Synthetic Biology and Drug Discovery at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, who has secured a $2.69 million Investigator grant to develop protein-based gene therapies to treat, and potentially cure, inherited genetic diseases and cancer. This grant will be administered through Curtin University.
Dr Jessica Buck, who is based at the The Kids Cancer Centre, will receive more than $670,000 for her research aiming to develop safer, more effective treatments for childhood brain cancer.
Brain cancer kills more Australian children than any other disease, but current treatments often result in life-long side effects, including cognitive impairments, hormonal imbalances and secondary cancers. Through this project, Dr Buck will evaluate the efficacy of DNA damage response pathway inhibitors (DDRi) to improve survival rates and maintain long-term quality of life for children and young people.
This grant will be administered through The University of Western Australia.
Dr Rachael Zemek, Raine BrightSpark Fellow and Forrest Prospect Fellow, has been awarded more than $660,000 for her research to improve cancer immunotherapy treatments, prevent relapse of cancer and increase survival rates.
By using advanced RNA-sequencing technology, Dr Zemek will aim to understand how the immune system is altered over time after immunotherapy and surgery, identifying the optimal timing when they should be given in combination.
Additionally, Dr Zemek will work to develop therapies for use during surgery to enhance the body's healing response, working together with immunotherapy to kill remaining cancer cells and prevent relapse.
Dr Zemek is embarking on this project in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre, where she has recently relocated and will take up the Investigator Grant at a later date. This grant will be administered through The University of Western Australia.
NHMRC Investigator Grants provide the highest-performing researchers at all career stages with secure funding that enables them to pursue important new research directions and collaborations as they arise, rather than being tied to one specific research project.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Deputy Executive Director, Professor Catherine Elliott, said the grants would play a crucial role in empowering researchers to pursue projects that can bring about significant advancements in child health research, and the broader healthcare system.
“These five research projects collectively address critical health challenges affecting children and young people,” Professor Elliott said.
The NHMRC Investigator Grants are highly competitive and are a testament to the excellence of not only our researchers, but the potential of their work to make a meaningful difference to patients, families, and communities globally.
Minister Hunt’s media release can be read here.