Monash BDI secures more than $16m in NHMRC Ideas Grants
Researchers from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) were awarded more than $16 million across 16 projects in the highly competitive NHMRC Ideas Grant scheme for innovative research projects.
Announced today, the grants are part of $241 million in funding for 232 research projects, which will help advance understanding of a wide range of health and medical issues faced by Australians.
The Ideas Grant scheme is designed to support innovative research projects addressing a specific question, and provide particular opportunities for early and mid-career researchers.
Monash BDI projects to be awarded funding include research investigating how dietary restriction leads to overeating and weight gain; preventing a nephron deficit in premature babies; identifying new targets for treating deadly fungal infections; identifying improved therapeutic strategies in chronic lung disease; utilising organoid technology for studying treatments of colorectal cancer; and understanding how the sentinels of the immune system sense and respond to “danger” in their environment, and using this knowledge to improve vaccines and immunotherapies.
Monash BDI’s Director, Professor John Carroll, said, “Congratulations to all of our researchers who were successful in the 2022 Ideas Grant round. These awards reflect the breadth and depth of our research capability at the BDI and are a true testament to the innovative and cutting-edge projects we are seeing from our researchers.”
Congratulations to all of our researchers who have secured funding in this scheme.
- Professor Helen Abud - Unravelling tumour plasticity via parallels with tissue regeneration
- Professor Zane Andrews - A neural metabolic memory of diet restriction influences rebound weight gain
- Dr Nafiseh Atapour - Thalamic plasticity following cortical damage: recovery of vision
- Professor John Bertram - Preventing a nephron deficit in premature offspring
- Associate Professor Jane Bourke - Blocking harmful lung damage during acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused by infections
- Associate Professor Chen Davidovich - RNA-mediated regulation of chromatin compaction in development and disease
- Associate Professor Andrew Ellisdon - Molecular mechanisms underlying NF1 dysfunction in tumour growth and disease
- Dr David Gonsalvez - Wnt signalling in oligodendroglia: a missing link in MS neuroinflammation
- Associate Professor Mireille Lahoud - Dissecting the regulatory mechanisms controlling antigen processing and presentation in dendritic cells
- Associate Professor Daniela Loessner - Targeting the 4Ms in cancer treatment – matrix, mechanics, microenvironment, metabolism
- Associate Professor Gregory Moseley - Viral modulation of the host cell: the STAT3 interface
- Professor Roger Pocock - Characterization of the germline regulatory landscape
- Dr Adam Rose - Targeting hepatic amino acid transport to combat cardiometabolic disease
- Professor Chrishan Samuel - Engineering bone marrow-derived stromal cells to express anti-fibrotic cargo as a treatment for chronic kidney disease
- Professor Ana Traven - Harnessing metabolism to improve the outcomes of deadly fungal infections
- Professor Stephen Turner - PRC-1 regulation of mature CD8+ T cell effector and memory responses
Collectively, the University has received more than $41 million for 37 projects - the most of any Australian university for the third year in a row.
Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences were awarded in excess of $33 million across 30 projects in the NHMRC Ideas Grant scheme.
Read the announcement from the NHMRC and see the full list of national recipients on the NHMRC site.
Read more about each of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences recipients, and Monash University recipients.
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Spanning seven discovery programs across Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Development and Stem Cells, Infection, Immunity, Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity, and Neuroscience, Monash BDI is one of the largest biomedical research institutes in Australia. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.