Congratulations to our 2022 NHMRC Ideas grant awardees

L-R: Dr Omer Gilan, A/Prof Margaret Hibbs, Prof Vaughan Macefield

and Prof Merlin Thomas

Congratulations to Central Clinical School's (CCS) four National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) awardees Professor Vaughan Macefield, Associate Professor Margaret Hibbs, Professor Merlin Thomas and Dr Omer Gilan in this very difficult round. 

See detail below of CCS research and see all Monash Faculty winners here.

Participants sought: How does the brain control blood pressure in hypertension?

We are seeking participants for our study, which is undertaking the functional identification of cortical and subcortical sites responsible for neurogenic hypertension in humans. 

That is, we are looking at how the brain controls blood pressure in hypertension.

Monash part of global study investigating how vagus nerve stimulation controls epilepsy

Monash University is part of a global consortium to study why
stimulating the vagus nerve is effective for controlling epilepsy

The Vagus nerve is one of the most important cranial nerves in the body – conveying information to and from the brain to most visceral organs. It is responsible for the control of diverse homeostatic processes essential for life, including cardiovascular function and gut motility. 

Since the early 90’s electrical stimulation of the human vagus nerve, via surgically implanted electrodes wrapped around the nerve, has been established as an important treatment for selected patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. How it works is poorly understood, but Monash University has joined forces with a global consortium funded USD$21M to find out more.

See faculty story