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The Raine Medical Research Foundation has recognised the high standard of research in Western Australia by awarding almost $1 million in funding.

Priming grants award medical scientists and clinicians at an early stage in their research career for research into any area of medical science that investigates the nature, origin and cause of human disease, and its prevention, cure, alleviation and treatment.

A total of $797,128 in five priming grants for the two-year period of 2017-2018 was awarded to:

Dr Yit Heng Chooi, from UWA’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was named the Honorary Raine/Robson Fellow as the top-ranked applicant for his project, Unveiling novel small molecule virulence factors from a human fungal pathogen.

Dr Laurens Manning , Honorary Stewart/BrightSpark/Raine Fellow from Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Fiona Stanley Hospital and UWA’s School of Medicine and Pharmacology, for his project, Better management of childhood malaria in areas with multiple Plasmodium species.

Dr Melissa O’Donnell, Research Associate from the UWA-affiliated Telethon Kids Institute was named the Stewart/BrightSpark/Raine Fellow as the top-ranked applicant in the area of child health research for her project, Alcohol-related harm in young people: developing a longitudinal evidence base.

Dr Ashleigh Lin, Adjunct Research Fellow fromTelethon Kids Institute, for her project: GENTLE: The GENder identiTy Longitudinal Experience Project.

Dr Vicky Johnstone, Research Associate from UWA’s School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology,for her project, Novel treatment strategies for heart failure associated with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Dr Helena Viola , Research Associate from UWA’s School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, for her project, A novel approach for the prevention of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Dr Katrina Ellis, Research Fellow from UWA’s School of Medicine and Pharmacology Royal Perth Hospital Unit, for her project: Novel aspects of the role of Lipoprotein(a) in premature heart disease.

The 2017 Raine Research Prize was awarded to Dr Ozren Bogdanovic , Research Fellow from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, for his publication: Active DNA demethylation at enhancers during the vertebrate phylotypic period in Nature Genetics . Dr Bogdanovic will receive a $5,000 travel grant.

The 2017 Strachan Memorial Prize was awarded to Dr Ashleigh Lin for her publication: Outcomes of non-transitioned cases in a sample at ultra-high risk for psychosis: a medium to long-term follow-up study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Dr Lin will receive a $5,000 travel grant.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Rigby family, an additional prize consisting of a Travel Grant valued at $5,000 was awarded to Dr Tara Richman, from theHarry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, for her publication: Loss of the RNA-binding protein TACO1 causes late-onset mitochondrial dysfunction in mice, published in Nature Communications .

Two Healy Research Collaboration Awards of up to $10,000 each have been awarded to Dr Iona Schuster from the UWA-affiliated Lions Eye Institute, for her project: Characterizing innate lymphoid cells in steady state and infection and Dr Peijun Gong, from UWA’s School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, for his project: Optical imaging of conjunctival lymphatics for better glaucoma treatment.

Three Cockell Research Collaboration Awards of up to $15,000 each were awarded to Associate Professor Lisa Wood , from UWA’s School of Population Health for her project: Prevalence of Mental Illness and Treatment Pathways among people who are homeless in Perth, Western Australia, Dr Benjamain Milbourn, fromCurtin University, for his project: Mental health outcomes of adolescents with ASD as they transition to adulthood and Dr Ben Grafton , from UWA’s School of Psychology, for his project: Enhancing the treatment of depression through the delivery of attentional bias modification procedures.

Two 2017 BrightSpark Research Collaboration Awards of up to $10,000 were awarded to Dr Laurence Cheung, fromTelethon Kids Institute, for his project: Identification of novel drug combinations to cure high-risk infant leukaemia and Dr Gavin Pereira, from Curtin University for his project: Heatwaves and Perinatal Morbidity – a combined observational and experimental study.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media and Public Relations Manager)   (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716