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Research at The University of Western Australia into the role of family history in preventing certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes is among dozens of UWA projects awarded National Health and Medical Research Council funding.

Winthrop Professor Jon Emery will use the $333,000 grant to develop and evaluate a family history questionnaire in preparation of a trial of family history screening for chronic disease prevention.

His grant is one of several awarded to more than 50 UWA medical research projects, part of the $487 million funding announced yesterday by Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon. The NHMRC is Australia's peak funding body for health and medical research.

Other UWA research, which received a $20.6 million boost, includes:

• A family study of ear health and metabolic diseases in a WA Indigenous community by Winthrop Professor Jenefer Blackwell and her team;
• A randomised controlled trial of three treatments for anorexia nervosa in adults by Associate Professor Susan Byrne and her team;
• A partnership intervention trial to redress treatment delay and improve outcomes in rural cancer patients by Winthrop Professor D'Arcy Holman and his team;
• Dust-related health issues in WA by Research Associate Professor Alison Reid and her team;
• Towards alternative therapeutic agents to antibiotics for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections by Winthrop Professor Alice Vrielink and her team which includes Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall;
• Predicting health and disease in Australian men over the age of 80 years by Winthrop Professor Leon Flicker and his team;
• Cognitive decline in type 2 diabetes by Winthrop Professor David Bruce and his team;
• Childhood determinants of risky sexual behaviour in adolescence by Dr Susan Skinner and her team.

More information .

Media references

Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716