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Addressing the needs of unpaid carers of older Aboriginal people, The Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II and the long-term consequences of IVF treatment on offspring are among 50 research projects to benefit from new medical grants totalling more than $31 million for The University of Western Australia.

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek today announced a total of 1141 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants worth $652 million Australia-wide.  UWA was awarded 88 per cent of NHMRC grants awarded to WA.

UWA's $31,421,353 allocation will fund a wide range of projects, from research into childhood asthma, wheezing and allergies, to cancer, healthy ageing and improving physical health in people with severe mental illness.

Career Development Fellowships were awarded to Winthrop Professor Y. C. Gary Lee from UWA's Co-operative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways, and cancer researcher Dr Juliana Hamza, from the UWA-affiliated Western Australian Institute for Medical Research WAIMR.

Early Career Fellowships were awarded to four young UWA scientists: Dr Gavin Pereira to develop his work on pre-term birth and exposure to pollution; Dr Monique Robinson for research on early life influences on child and adolescent mental health problems; Associate Professor Fred Chen to research eye disease; and Dr Senta Walton, who received the Biomedical Fellowship.

Research Fellowships were awarded to cancer researcher Professor Lin Fritschi, child health researcher Professor Trevor Mori and sleep disorders researcher Professor Peter Eastwood.

WAIMR's Head of Neuromuscular Diseases, UWA Professor Nigel Laing, received an NHMRC-European Union Collaborative Research Grant for research on improving the diagnosis of rare disorders.  UWA research was also supported by almost $250,000 in equipment funding for 2013.

UWA Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Louden said the latest medical grants reflected the nation's confidence in the impact of the University's research.

"Our researchers are world-leaders in their field, and this funding will help them continue to make positive differences to the lives of ordinary people," he said.

Media references

Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783