2008 NIRIS Award Recipients
Dr Leon Adams, Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia
Dr Adams is researching non-invasive methods to determine liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease due to obesity and diabetes, viral hepatitis and drug injury. In particular, he is assessing the validity of a blood test measuring molecules involved in hepatic fibrogenesis as a replacement for liver biopsy. Dr Adams is also involved in examining the mechanisms and treatment of fatty liver due to diabetes and obesity.
Dr Andrew Currie, Senior Research Fellow, School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia
Dr Currie is investigating why newborns, especially those born premature, are of particular risk of developing serious infection. His work involves studying the function and development of the infant immune system. The ultimate aim is to be able to predict which infants, especially premature newborns, are most at risk, thereby allowing early intervention strategies.
Assoc Professor Martin Ebert, Director, Department of Radiation Oncology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
A/Prof Ebert’s research combines physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and biology to assess and develop technologies in cancer therapy. He is developing resources to support the undertaking of high-quality clinical trials in radiotherapy, and develops mathematical methods for translating the outcomes of trials to improve cancer treatment. He also uses computer-simulation methods to model the basic processes that lead cancers to respond to radiotherapy.
Dr Anna Nowak, Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia
Dr Nowak’s research is in two areas of cancer medicine; malignant mesothelioma and brain tumours. In malignant mesothelioma, her research spans from the laboratory to clinical trials in patients. Her laboratory program examines the effects of chemotherapy on the immune system, and how to best combine chemotherapy with immunotherapies. Clinical trials of new drugs in mesothelioma and examining novel imaging techniques using PET scanning in this disease are also undertaken. Clinical data is collected to examine patterns of care for patients with high grade gliomas in WA, and she is studying the unique psycho-social needs of patients with high grade gliomas and their carers. Dr Nowak is also a chief investigator in a WA-NSW collaboration that will be collecting clinical data, tumour specimens, and DNA on all patients with high grade gliomas at participating sites.
Dr Graeme Polglase, Research Associate, School of Women’s and Infants’ Health, University of Western Australia
Preterm birth occurs in 7-12% of all births, and is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. A recent break-through has shown a causative association between infection or inflammation in the womb and preterm birth. It has previously been shown in preterm sheep that exposure to inflammation/infection in the womb can alter the structure of the airways and blood vessels in the lung. These changes are very similar to that of infants who die of chronic lung disease; a disease which has life-long consequences for preterm infants that survive. Altered vessel development and growth in the lungs can cause high blood pressure within the lungs, which in turn can lead to adverse effects upon the heart, and subsequently blood flow throughout the body. Dr Polglase’s research has two foci; a) determining the mechanisms by which inflammation in the womb leads to structural changes in the lung, potentially predisposing the preterm infant to chronic lung disease; b) determining the best way to clinically treat preterm infants exposed to inflammation in the womb.
Dr David Preen, Director/Senior Research Fellow, School of Population Health, University of Western Australia
Dr Preen is directly involved with public health research. A large portion of his research work involves the use of population-based medical record linkage for evaluating health service utilisation, health care policy and health outcomes in WA. He is currently conducting public health and health services research focussing on national priority health areas such as: i) the effects of ‘burden of disease’ on adverse health outcomes, ii) health service utilisation in the WA diabetic community, iii) medication safety in older Australians, iv) chronic disease management, v) clinical interventions for morbid obesity, vi) prescribing of psychostimulant medicines for the treatment of ADHD, and vii) methodological advances using medical record linkage.
Dr Oliver Rackham, Laboratory Head, Western Australian Institute for Medical Research and University of Western Australia
Research in Dr Rackham’s laboratory focuses on re-engineering bacteria for use as microscopic drug factories. Large, high quality libraries of new drugs are absolutely essential resources to find new medicines. However, their use is restricted to a few pharmaceutical giants. We are engineering cells to make a wide variety of drug-like molecules, providing a unique drug discovery resource accessible to almost any scientific laboratory. As each cell can make a different molecule of interest, billions of different potential drugs can be produced in a single tube. This technology provides an opportunity to put the future of drug discovery in the hands of the wider scientific community and provides new tools for Australian industries.
Dr Anita Van Den Biggelaar, Research Fellow, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
At birth the immune system is highly immature, but in the first few years of life the immune system develops under influence of microbial exposure. Although this pattern of immune development has been well described for children in developed countries, it is not known whether the same mechanisms hold true in the developing world where children are highly exposed to factors that may alter immune function, such as infectious pathogens, indoor air pollution and malnutrition. Dr van den Biggelaar’s studies will provide novel information on mechanisms that are fundamental to optimize vaccination strategies and reduce the high burden of vaccine preventable infectious diseases in early life. These account for 2.5 million childhood deaths worldwide in 2002, and are highly relevant to global child health.
Assoc Professor Anne Williams, Associate Professor, Western Australian Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care, Curtin University of Technology
The SolarisCare Centre at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital was established in 2001 as a drop-in-centre providing complementary therapies for patients with cancer. Professional therapists volunteer their time and skill to provide a choice of 20 therapies free to cancer patients. Therapies are mostly touch and counselling based. This study aims to explore whether the SolarisCare model of care increases the emotional and physical comfort of patients with cancer.