2014 NHMRC grant announcements at AMREP by the Prime Minister

"What am I looking at?"

Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott, Federal Health Minister the Hon. Peter Dutton and Victorian Health Minister, the Hon. David Davis announced the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants across eight schemes in Melbourne on Wednesday 23 October at the AMREP Precinct. See Gallery. Mr Abbott (pictured with Prof David Curtis) did a tour of Central Clinical School laboratories prior to the announcement.  CCS was awarded $5m in project grants and $2.1m in Fellowships. Please see below summary of successful NHMRC applications from CCS which will begin in 2014.

 Senior Research Fellowship

• Dr Mark Guthridge (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases)
• Prof Magdalena Plebanski (Department of Immunology)

Early Career Fellowship (Peter Doherty Biomedical)

• Dr Bernadette Fitzgibbon (Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre): Fibromyalgia: Investigating the prefrontal cortex and its role in novel treatment approaches
• Dr Michael Roche (Department of Infectious Diseases): Characterising the genotypic and phenotypic properties of the HIV-1 viral reservoir
• Dr Nigel Rogasch (Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre): Characterising and modulating corticostriatal connectivity in schizophrenia.

Project Grant (CCS-administered)

• 1058891: CIA - Dr Paul Cameron (Department of Infectious Diseases), CIB - Prof Simon Mallal , CIC - Dr Dimitrios Vatakis. The impact of HIV integration sites on eliminating HIV latency. $752,950
• 1063837: CIA - Dr Sebastian Dworkin (Department of Medicine), CIB - Prof Stephen Jane (Department of Medicine/Australian Centre for Blood Diseases), CIC - Prof Peter Anderson. Identifying the critical pathways which regulate vertebrate craniofacial development. $534,033
• 1066711: CIA - D Mark Guthridge, CIB - Doctor Andrew Wei (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases). Targeting the apoptosis machinery in cancer. $527,948
• 1066956: CIA - Prof Shaun Jackson, CIB - A/Prof Simone Schoenwaelder (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases). Investigating a novel role for the haemopoietic growth factor receptor, c-Mpl, in regulating shear-dependent platelet adhesive function. $551,524
• 1066957: CIA - Prof Shaun Jackson (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases). Identification of a novel adhesion mechanism regulating platelet-endothelial interactions. $485,179
• 1069813: CIA - Prof Stephen Jane (Department of Medicine/Australian Centre for Blood Diseases). Towards a cure for the beta-hemoglobinopathies. $617,562
• 1067561: CIA - Prof Fabienne Mackay (Department of Immunology), CIB - Dr Stephen Ting (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases). Restoration of immune competency in CLL. $557,565

Congratulations also to CCS researchers listed as named Chief Investigators on collaborative grants administered by other institutions.

Program Grant

• Chief Investigator A: Professor David Cooper; Chief Investigators: Prof Miles Davenport, Prof Sean Emery, Prof Anthony Kelleher, Prof Stephen Kent, Prof Sharon Lewin, A/Prof Damian Purcell. HIV cure and immune mediated control. APP1052979, University of New South Wales. $12,612,250.00 over 5 years

EU Grant

• Prof Russell Gruen

Project Grants

• Dr Paul Cameron
• Prof Paul Komesaroff
• Prof Catriona McLean
• Prof Jeffrey Rosenfeld
• Prof Elsdon Storey
• Prof Rowan Walker