MHTP success in latest NHMRC funding announcement

Professor Michael Hickey

The MHTP Precinct has received over $35 million to lead 22 research projects in the latest National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding announcement.

The Federal Minister for Health, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, made the announcement on December 7 and said the funding would support more than 400 research projects worth over $400 million.

Medical researchers at Monash University were awarded more than $76 million in funding from the NHMRC, placing Monash above any other Australian University.

Of the $35.5 million awarded to MHTP, $21.5 million will fund projects in the School of Clinical Sciences (SCS), including four Ideas Grants, seven Investigator Grants, and two CTCS Grants.

Professor Michael Hickey, Director of the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, received an $805,360 Ideas Grant to research how regulatory T cells work to ‘switch off’ inflammation and protect organs from damage. Dr Connie Wong, also from the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, received almost $900,000 for her research to identify the signalling pathways that underlie gut barrier breakdown after stroke, and also assess the potential of a novel pharmacological approach for reducing bacterial infection in stroke patients.

Professor Yahya Shehabi, Program Director of Critical Care in SCS, was awarded a CTCS Grant worth almost $5 million for his SPICE IV trial. The trial will focus on whether the use of dexmedetomidine as a primary sedative in older ICU patients reduces long-term mortality and delirium. This follows on from Professor Shehabi’s SPICE III trial in which a large scale trial of dexmedetomidine revealed a survival benefit in a subgroup of patients over 65 years of age.

The success of SCS researchers highlights the strength of collaborative research across the MHTP precinct.

Congratulations to all our 2019 NHMRC grant recipients;

Professor Michael Hickey	Control of Proinflammatory Endothelial Cell function by Regulatory T cells	Ideas Grant	$805,360
Dr Connie Wong	Targeting the brain-gut axis to improve stroke outcome	Ideas Grant	$899,750
Professor Kate Loveland	Developmental Events Affecting Male Fertility and Reproductive Pathologies	Ideas Grant	$1,430,398
Dr Jun Yang	Screening for Primary Aldosteronism: Outcomes, Economics and Biomarkers	Ideas Grant	$571,199
Dr Michelle Tate	Finding the balance – Reducing inflammation during severe influenza infections	Ideas Grant	$581,520
Dr Sam Forster	Microbiome derived candidates to revolutionise treatment of inflammatory bowel disease	Ideas Grant	$997,926
Dr Shayanti Mukherjee	Advancing Women’s Urogynecological Health using Micro/Nanotechnologies	Ideas Grant	$1,168,385
Professor Mark Hedger	Treating Inflammation in the Male Reproductive Tract	Ideas Grant	$1,225,116
Dr Kelly Crossley	Reducing the risk of pulmonary hypertension in infants with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia	Ideas Grant	$920,076
Professor Guiying Nie	The central role of accelerated trophoblast syncytialization and aging in preeclampsia	Ideas Grant	$856,540
Dr Kate Lawlor	Role of A1 in repressing mitochondrial apoptosis to limit pathogen clearance	Ideas Grant	$789,536
Dr Beth Allison	Improved cardiovascular outcomes for growth-restricted infants	Investigator Grant (EL1)	$602,250
Professor Ben Mol	Towards sustainable evidence-based pathways in perinatology and reproductive medicine: evidence synthesis in women's health on a global scale.	Investigator Grant (L3)	$2,801,595
Dr David Scott	Optimising Exercise Interventions for Maintaining Physical Function, Bone and Muscle Health in Older Adults with Obesity and Osteoarthritis	Investigator Grant (EL2)	$1,443,588
Professor Caroline Gargett	Translating Endometrial Stem/Progenitor Cell Discoveries to Transform Women's and Girls' Gynaecological Health Outcomes	Investigator Grant (L1)	$2,003,030
Dr Calum Roberts	Life in Transition: Optimising Early Respiratory Support in the Preterm Infant	Investigator Grant (EL1)	$483,850
Professor Elizabeth Hartland	Towards precision microbiology: new strategies to combat bacterial infection	Investigator Grant (L2)	$1,900,000
Assoc. Prof Graeme Polglase	Reducing the consequences of prematurity by improving the transition at birth	Investigator Grant (L1)	$2,003,030
Assoc. Prof Claudia Nold	Interventional Immunology in Early Life Diseases	Investigator Grant (L1)	$2,528,030
Dr Kirsten Palmer	PROTECT Me: Assessing Antenatal Maternal Melatonin Supplementation in Fetal Growth Restriction to Improve Neurodevelopmental Outcomes	Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies (CTCS) Grant	$1,607,080
Professor Yahya Shehabi	Sedation Practice in Intensive Care Evaluation in Older ventilated Critically Ill patients; Early Sedation with Dexmedetomidine in Older Ventilated Critically Ill Patients. A Randomised Double Blind Placebo Controlled Trial - SPICE IV	Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies (CTCS) Grants	$4,946,136
Professor Paul Hertzog	Innate Mucosal Sensing & Shaping of the Human-Microbiome	Synergy Grant	$5,000,000