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The Raine Medical Research Foundation has awarded seven Priming Grants for the two year period 2013-2014, with a funding allocation of $726,000 to:

• Dr Juliana Hamzah , Raine Foundation/Alan Robson Fellow, $94,000 for Targeting inflammation-associated macrophages in chronic inflammatory diseases;
• Dr Senta Walton , $37,000 for Characterization of H. pylori-specific CD4 T cell responses;
• Associate Professor Janine Duke , $100,000 for Population based health outcomes after burn injury-hospitalisation in Western Australia;
• Dr Svetlana Baltic , $100,000 for Dysregulation of prostaglandin E2 receptor expression leads to severe asthma;
• Dr Caitlin Wyrwoll , $100,000 for Stress hormone excess in pregnancy impairs placental haemodynamics with novel implications for fetal cardiac function;
• Professor Ryan Lister , $100,000 for Genome-wide elucidation of causal mechanisms in reading and writing the DNA methylome; and
• Research Associate Professor Markus Melloh , $100,000 for Rates and predictors of complications in spinal surgery

Four Clinician Research Fellowships, an initiative of the Department of Health WA and supported by the Raine Foundation, were awarded to:

• Clinical Professor Tomas Corcoran for Restrictive versus Liberal Fluid Therapy in Major Abdominal Surgery ; and The influence of anaesthetic depth on patient outcome after major surgery;
• Dr Nicholas Gottardo , for Testing novel therapies using paediatric brain tumour models;
• Dr Nolan McDonnell , for Neuraxial magnesium and analgesia: animal and human studies; and
• Dr Andre Schultz , for The airway surface liquid micro environment in children with cystic fibrosis

The 2013 Raine Research Prize was awarded to Dr Terry Boyle for his article: Physical activity and the risks of proximal and distal colon cancers:  A systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr Boyle will receive a $5,000 travel grant.

The inaugural Strachan Memorial Prize was awarded to Dr Joshua Lewis for his article: Calcium supplementation and the risks of atherosclerotic vascular disease in older women:  results of a 5-year RCT and a 4.5-year follow-up , Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Dr Lewis will also receive a $5,000 travel grant.

A Raine International Visiting Fellowship was awarded by the Raine Medical Research Foundation and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research to Dr Michaela Fakiola from Cambridge Institute for Medical Research to visit the University for three months in 2013.

The Healy Medical Research Foundation also awarded three Healy Research Collaboration Awards valued at $10,000, to Dr Teresa Williams, from UWA's School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care; Dr Alexander Gout, from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Dr Syed Islam, from the Oral Health Centre of Western Australia, within UWA's School of Dentistry.

The Raine Medical Research Foundation was established in 1957 by Mary Raine, who bequeathed her property empire to The University of Western Australia for the purpose of funding medical research.

Since it was set up, the Raine Foundation has made a distinguished contribution to medical research.  It has supported major research projects, funded two Centres of Excellence, established fellowships and scholarships, sponsored visits by international scholars, participated in major joint ventures and fostered medical research at undergraduate level.

The Raine Priming Grants are awarded to medical research scientists at an early stage in their career and provide funding for research into the nature, origin and cause of human disease; and the prevention, cure, alleviation and treatment of disease.

Media references

Aleta Johnston (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 7977  /  (+61 4) 31 514 677