NHMRC Investigator Grant announcements

Congratulations to our researchers who‘ve been awarded National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grants in the 2023 round, announced in late December. . 

Investigator Grants support high-performing researchers at all career stages with salary and research support, to form collaborations and pursue important research directions as they arise. 

CCS researchers received nine grants worth $16.3 million, with funding commencing in 2024: 

Professor Benjamin Marsland (Immunology and Pathology) - Harnessing Microbes and Metabolites to Combat Respiratory Diseases ($2.9m).

Professor Patrick Kwan (Neuroscience) – Transforming Epilepsy Outcomes Through Innovative Technologies ($2.7m)

Professor Joseph Doyle (Infectious Diseases) – Accelerating Progress Toward Hepatitis C Elimination as a Public Health Threat ($1.6m)

Dr Omer Gilan (Clinical Haematology) – Epigenetic Regulation of Self Renewal in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis ($1.2m)

Adjunct Professor Marcus Chen (Melbourne Sexual Health Centre) – A New Model for Improved Syphilis Management and Control ($2.9m)

Dr Ian Harding (Neuroscience) – The Cerebellum-Striatum Axis in Progressive Movement Disorders ($1.6m)

Associate Professor Vilija Jokubaitis (Neuroscience) – Multiple Sclerosis in Childbearing Women: Clinical Management, Consequences and Biological Management ($2.8m)

Dr Shobi Sivathamboo (Neuroscience) – Preventing sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: Identifying Predictive Biomakers and Advancing Automated Seizure Detection for Real-Time Interventions’ ($662,040). 

And finally, Dr Prasanti Kotagiri (Immunology), who joins us in the new year from The University of Melbourne, received a grant for Improving long-term outcomes post kidney transplant through study of the immune receptor repertoire ($497,224)

Pictured from top L-R: Omer Gilan, Vilija Jokubaitis, Shobi Sivathamboo, Marcus Chen, Joseph Doyle, Benjamin Marsland, Patrick Kwan, Ian Harding, Prasanti Kotagiri

See here for a full list list of Investigator grants winners.

Funding to break the research participation barrier in spinocerebellar ataxia

Study participants can complete web-based assessments from home

in Dr Ian Harding's research on spinocerebellar ataxias.

Congratulations to Dr Ian Harding, Department of Neuroscience, for obtaining a Young Investigator grant of USD $50,000 from the National Ataxia Foundation for research on spinocerebellar ataxias.

Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are inherited progressive and life-shortening neurological disorders. People with SCAs experience a wide range of different symptoms, including difficulties with movement coordination, speech, mental function skills like thinking, and managing their emotions. Currently, no treatments exist that stop the disease progression.

Awareness day brings rare diseases out of the shadows

CCS researchers have teamed up with patient advocates to give

insight into living with the illness and the research challenges

to understand the disease for improved diagnosis and treatment.

See video playlist or see below for links to specific videos.

Today, 28 February, the Central Clinical School’s Community and Research Engagement (CCS CaRE) program is participating in a global Rare Disease Day, to raise awareness of rare diseases and showcase some of the research that goes into rare diseases now being undertaken across the school.

Brain imaging reveals insights into movement disorder: Rare Disease Day feature

L-R: Patient advocate Marcus and CCS researcher Dr Ian Harding
talk about the experience of living with the illness and the
challenges of research into the disease. Video (2:09 mins)

Part of our special series for Rare Disease Day featuring patient advocates and CCS researchers 

Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a debilitating genetic disorder that causes progressive damage to the nervous system and heart. Defined by problems with gait, balance and motor coordination, speech and swallowing, its symptoms generally start in childhood or adolescence and progressively worsen, causing increasing difficulty with basic daily activities and self-care, and ultimately leading to premature death 20 to 30 years after first symptoms. It affects 2-4 people per 100 000.

Dr Ian Harding and his team in the CCS’s Department of Neuroscience have recently made some exciting advances in knowledge using a variety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging techniques.

Building a detailed picture of Friedreich Ataxia through global collaboration

The Monash led ENIGMA-Ataxia working group is collecting
and analysing data worldwide on Friedreich Ataxia

Friedreich Ataxia (FRDA) is a rare inherited disease affecting between 500-800 Australians. It is a neurological disorder causing damage in areas of the nervous system responsible for movement and sensation. It shows initially with abnormal, uncoordinated movements, and over time as the disease progresses, a whole constellation of problems emerges. 

Early diagnosis can help with managing the symptoms, allowing improved quality of life for people with the illness, but there is no cure.

Participants sought: Measuring oxidative stress in the brain

Participants sought for neurological study: See detail

We are seeking participants with no history of neurological illnesses to take part in our study investigating oxidative stress and neurodegeneration.

This project will use combined Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain scanning technology to measure oxidative stress in the brain and determine its relationship with measures of neurodegeneration.

Welcome to Dr Will Khan, Department of Neuroscience!

We welcome a new staff member, Dr Will Khan, a Research Fellow joining the Harding research group (as part of the iBRAIN unit) in the Department of Neuroscience. He completed his PhD at King’s College London looking at the utility of brain imaging as a biomarker for early Alzheimer’s disease detection and prediction.

Will's current work at Monash will look at the application of different brain imaging techniques to investigate chronic inflammation in Friedreich Ataxia, and explore mechanistic links with neurodegeneration and the clinical progression of the disease. Please make Will welcome if you see him around the department!

Healthy participants sought for brain imaging study

Healthy participants sought for brain imaging 
study. Contact: Louisa.Selvadurai@monash.edu

Molecular neuroimaging of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases

We are seeking healthy individuals to participate as controls in a brain imaging research study investigating the measurement of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disorders. See detail below.