Canterbury Medical Research Foundation grants

Friday 26 October 2007

Canterbury Medical Research Foundation grants awarded

Health researchers at the University of Otago, Christchurch have been awarded nearly $385,000 in project grants by the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation as part of its annual grant round for 2007.

All these studies rely on contributions from the Foundation and its members who have been supporting health research in Canterbury for 46 years. More details can be found at www.cmrf.org.nz

Professor Gary Nicholls,Christchurch Cardioendocrine Research, has been granted $74,563 to research how hormones expressed by the heart may be used as an indicator of possible kidney failure, and assist with the management of patients undergoing renal dialysis.

Dr Leigh Ellmers,Christchurch Cardioendocrine Research, has received $74,478 to investigate the Urocortin family of hormones as a possible therapeutic agent in ameliorating damage to the heart after a heart attack.

Dr Barry Palmer, Christchurch Cardioendocrine Research , has received $66,983 to study three genes from the X chromosome which are related to the cardiovascular system. The aim is to determine genetic variation in these genes and to allow genetic testing to aid clinical management.

Professor Tim Anderson,Van der Veer Institute, has received $74,394 to research whether rapid eye movements can be used as biomarkers for determining disease status in Parkinson’s Disease, and to correlate these with information from MRI scans across a patient cohort.

Dr Margreet Vissers, Free Radical Research, has received $69,851 to research how Vitamin C may be beneficial for controlling the growth and survival of cancer tumours. Dr Vissers will investigate the effect of Vitamin C in a range of tumour cell types.

Dr Judith McKenzie, Haematology Research, has been awarded $14,378 to investigate how chronic lymphocytic leukaemia affects the immune system by expressing a particular protein. Understanding how this works could lead to new treatments for our most common leukaemia.

Dr Kenny Chitcholtan, Helicobacter Research, has received $10,000 to investigate how H.pylori alters the integrity of primary gastric epithelial cells. H.pylori in the stomach is associated with the development of severe inflammation, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer.

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