Congratulations to MRFF grant awardees Michele Callisaya and Patrick Kwan

Congratulations to Central Clinical School's Associate Professor Michele Callisaya and Professor Patrick Kwan on their MRFF grants! See the missions and our projects below.

Stem Cell Therapies Mission

L-R: CIs on the MRFF grant, Prof Patrick Kwan,
Dr Lauren May, Dr Ben Rollo

Pre-clinical evaluation of selective adenosine A1 receptor positive allosteric modulators for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy - $3,850,000
Led by Professor Patrick Kwan (Department of Neuroscience)

The research, which will span five years, is being led by Professor Patrick Kwan in CCS's Department of Neuroscience. It will be conducted in collaboration with Chief Investigators (CIs) from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Swinburne University of Technology. It will screen a new class of compounds using cultured neurons derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells, followed by testing in an animal model of drug resistant epilepsy (DRE), aiming to identify one or two compounds ready for clinical trialling in DRE patients once the project is completed. 

See faculty story.

Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission

The right to rehabilitation for people with dementia: tackling stigma and implementing evidence-based interventions - $1,020,000
Led by Associate Professor Michele Callisaya (Peninsula Clinical Health and National Centre for Healthy Ageing) 

A/Professor Michele Callisaya said that rehabilitation interventions are often denied to people with dementia. “In stage one of our project we will work with people with dementia and health professionals to co-design resources and create local networks to ensure that people with dementia have equal access to quality health care in order to maintain their independence and quality of life. In stage 2 we will implement and evaluate their success in Eastern and South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network regions.”

See faculty story