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Alliance Catalyst Fund

The Monash Warwick Alliance encourages the development of joint research and education collaboration with the aim of mutually beneficial growth in the research and teaching excellence of both institutions. The Alliance Research Catalyst Fund has been established with the specific intention to foster new initiatives with high potential that combine complementary aspects of each institution towards novel research outcomes.

Congratulations to the following recipients who have been awarded funding in this round:

Embassies and Encounters: New Sources for Global History

Global History enables us to look beyond nation states to understand what connected and bound the world together. The period from 1600 to 1800 was a crucial watershed in human history. For the first time, the world was bound together by maritime trade routes that encircled the globe, tying diverse states together. In this connected world, the embassy formed one of the most important mechanisms for cross-cultural contact.

Through the Alliance, Associate Professor Adam Clulow, History Program, Monash University and Dr Guido van Meersbergen, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow, Global History and Culture Centre, University of Warwick will produce the first scholarly examination of a key early modern embassy, led by Sir William Norris to Mughal India across a three-year period from 1699 to 1702. Georgia O’Connor, a MA student in the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at Monash is currently writing a thesis on Norris and will also play a pivotal role.

The project goal is to produce the first scholarly edition of the Norris Embassy Diaries. Transcribing and analysing the Norris papers present a significant challenge as the manuscript and accompanying project is so large that it can only be done through collaborative efforts with both universities. To make this project possible, it will pool together specialised knowledge, skills, and resources.

Once published, the transcription will contribute to a greater understanding of the relationship between Asia and Europe in the early modern period, and will complement existing work by other academics on East and Southeast Asia. It will also enable the collaborative team to produce new research and deliver direct educational benefit to students through a series of masterclasses, a Masters-led research project and development of a website that will provide a platform for further research collaboration and teaching of global history.

Principle applicants

Associate Professor Adam Clulow

Faculty of Arts, Department of History, Monash University

Dr Guido van Meersbergen

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow,
Department of History, University of Warwick

Co-applicants

Carolyn James, Associate Professor, Department of History, Monash University

Professor Giorgio Riello, Faculty of Arts, University of Warwick

Identification of markers for severe disease risk in H.pylori infected patients

Gastric cancer is a major global health issue. It is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with almost one million new cases arising each year and a five-year survival rate of 20-30%. Exploring new ways to provide better diagnosis and treatment of this potentially deadly disease is something medical professionals over the world are seeking to achieve.

Through the Alliance, the team of Dr Terry Kwok-Schuelein, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Monash University and Dr Mark Achtman, Professor from the Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick have the unique opportunity to explore one of the most common human pathogens, Helicobacter pylori (or H. pylori in short). H. pylori resides in the stomach of almost 50% of the human population. Although H. pylori infection does not cause illness in most infected people, the bacterium can trigger damage to the stomach lining and cause long-term inflammation or even tissue deterioration, leading to 50% of gastric cancer cases worldwide. The questions surrounding whether it is predestined in our genes for H. pylori infection to cause disease, or whether a disease outcome is influenced by the genes of the bacterium, or both, forms the basis of this collaborative global study.

Through the Alliance, Dr Kwok-Schuelein and Dr Achtman will lead a team to share skills, expertise and knowledge to tackle this global health issue. By combining bacterial genomics expertise at Warwick with the H. pylori pathogenesis and human genomics expertise at Monash, a unique opportunity has been created to assess the role of the relationship between human and H. pylori genetics in the development of H. pylori-associated disease.

The knowledge gained will achieve significant steps forward in the identification of carriers of the H. pylori bacteria who are at risk of adverse health outcomes even before symptoms appear. It will also assist in the selection of who should be targeted for eradication therapy and endoscopy.

Principle applicants

Dr Terry Kwok-Schuelein

Senior Lecturer, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University

Dr Mark Achtman

Professor, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Co-applicants

Dr Rebecca Gorrell, Research Fellow, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Monash University,

Dr Lawrence Young, Professor Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Understanding the cascade of care in tuberculosis patients: A focus in migrants

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem affecting millions of people around the world. In times of increasing population mobility, TB will never be completely removed until it is eliminated globally. The World Health Organisation has plans to eliminate tuberculosis within the next 15 years and has published a framework giving top priority to high-incidence population groups who experience significant marginalisation and human rights violations, such as migrants and refugees.

Due to increased border mobility and conflict, South-East Asian countries particularly struggle to document diagnosed cases of TB. The University of Warwick and Monash University plan to work together in the development of a system that will not only enhance early TB detection of future outbreaks for migrants and refugees in Malaysia and Thailand, it will also act as the primary source of data collection for diagnosed cases.

The project led by Dr Jason Madan from the Warwick Medical School and Dr Shaun Lee from the School of Pharmacy at Monash University will utilise knowledge and expertise from both institutions. In particular, Warwick Medical School will draw upon their vast experience in Health Technology Assessment research, economic modelling and health economics expertise applied to TB. Monash University plan to tap into resources from the Asian Centre for Evidence Synthesis Population, Implementation and Clinical Outcomes (PICO) at Monash University Malaysia to leverage their skills in Health Technology Assessment, health economics, population health and policy development. It is highly anticipated the outcome of the system will then provide a platform for international partners to collaborate in the quest of improving the population’s well-being as a whole.