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Thursday, 3 November 2016

The University of Western Australia has been awarded grants totalling more than $3.5 million to support health and medical research projects through the Federal Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding scheme.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley announced details of the funding, bringing together UWA scientists and other leading researchers, to pursue innovative, high-quality collaborative research involving eye disease and childhood health and education.

A team led by Professor David Mackey from UWA’s Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science (COVS) and Managing Director of the Lions Eye Institute intend to use the funding to develop treatments to target genetic eye diseases.

The research team has a strong background in identifying and characterising genes that cause blinding eye diseases and in translating these findings into clinical care.

Using new imaging technology, the team will conduct national clinical trials to investigate inherited eye diseases in patients and their families. The aim is to develop world leading models that can predict the genetic risk of someone developing complex eye diseases.

A second grant will also advance eye disease research. In conjunction with the Lions Eye Institute, Professors Dao-Yi Yu, Stephen Cringle and William Morgan from COVS will use their grant to develop new glaucoma surgery for clinical use and commercialisation.

In collaboration with The University of Tasmania, Professor Catherine Taylor, Dr Stephen Zubrick, and Associate Professor David Lawrence from UWA will investigate pathways to provide better health education outcomes for Tasmania’s children.

Under the NHMRC funding round, 10 research fellowships were also awarded to UWA recipients. These are deigned to support and build the capacity of Australian research for the future and to create knowledge through investment in research.

Media references

Jess Reid (UWA Media and Public Relations Advisor)                                      (+61 8) 6488 6876

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