NHMRC awards over $6M for Griffith University research projects

Griffith University research projects have been awarded just over $6M in research funding by the prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor has warmly congratulated all the academic staff involved in achieving this tremendous success.

Professor Wendy Moyle from the university’s Centre for Health Practice Innovation received the largest funding of $1,115,684 for her study looking at the effects of robotic animals on engagement, mood states, agitation and antipsychotic drug use in people with dementia.

Dr Lara Farrell from the Griffith Health Institute’s Behaviourial Basis of Health program has attracted $285,000 for her study Combined d-Cycloserine and Intensive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Youth with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Professor Wendy Chaboyer from the University’s Centre for Research Excellence in Nursing has received $1,071,077 for her trial INTroducing A Care bundle To prevent pressure injury (The INTACT Trial).

Professor Yaoqi Zhou has received $340,171 for his study Discriminating disease-causing from from neutral insertion/deletions in human genetic variations.

Professor Vicky Avery from the Eskitis Institute has been granted $632,402 for Investigating the therapeutic potential of FTY720 for Human African Trypanosomiasis.

Meanwhile Professor Suresh Mahalingham from the Institute for Glycomics has been granted a research fellowship of $601,420.00 to study Viral Inflammatory disease: new mechanisms and approaches to therapy.

Under the category of Translating Research into Practice Fellowship, Dr Brigid Gillespie from the Centre for Research Excellence in Nursing has been granted $170,689 for Improving surgical safety in the operating room.

Early Career Fellowships under the title of 'Peter Doherty Biomedical' have been granted to Dr Mehfuz Zaman for the Development of a Group A Streptococcus vaccine candidate ($304,596 granted) and to Dr Adam Taylor for How alphaviruses cause disease and identifying new therapeutics ($304,596 granted).

Australian/EU Collaborative Research Grants include the following:

Associate Professor Katherine Andrews New drugs for parasitic diseases $266,353 granted.

Congratulations to the following Griffith University staff who were successful through other institutions:

Professor Suzanne Chambers from the Griffith Health Institute (through Edith Cowan University) Improving sexual health in men with prostate cancer: randomised controlled trial of exercise and psychosexual therapies, $561,845 granted.

Associate Professor Glen Ulett (through University of Queensland) 'A matter of life and death: defining novel interactions between uropathogenic E. coli and macrophages that influence UTI pathology, $621,894 granted.

Professor David Lloyd from the Griffith Health Institute (through University of Sydney) Randomised controlled trial of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement, $968,257 granted.