Funding and Awards
New Independent Researcher Infrastructure Support (NIRIS) Awards
The NIRIS Awards recognise outstanding new independent medical and health researchers in Western Australia.
With the completion of the 2009 round of NIRIS, the Department of Health has now provided a total of $785,000 for 63 researchers (over the period 2001–2009).
Successful recipients have used their grants for research infrastructure costs such as laboratory equipment, computers, animal facilities, support staff and common services.
2009 Award Recipients
The Department of Health has granted the following five researchers a NIRIS Award for 2009/10.
Dr Daniel Galvão, Senior Research Fellow, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University
Dr Galvão is investigating the use of exercise in relieving a number of adverse side effects associated with hormonal treatment of prostate cancer such as muscle loss, increased abdominal fat, increased risk of heart disease and diabetes and reduced physical capacity. Existing treatments to alleviate these side effects have been predominantly pharmacological, however they are expensive, introduce additional side effects, and are not accompanied by improved physical function.
Preliminary studies suggest that exercise can reduce such adverse side effects, however there has been no large scale study to test this in prostate cancer patients undergoing or completing hormonal treatment. Having successfully completed phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, Dr Galvão’s team is now launching a larger NHMRC funded multi-site phase 3 trial to drill down to the specifics of exercise modalities, dosage and patient population implementation.
His team is also implementing a community-based exercise program, funded by Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, to prostate cancer patients from the Randomised Androgen Deprivation and Radiotherapy (RADAR) study in Australia and New Zealand. The penultimate aim of this series of studies is the production of clinical guidelines for the prescription of exercise to manage the side effects of hormonal treatment resulting in greatly improved survival and quality of life of prostate cancer patients.
Dr Lynn Meuleners, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Population Health Research, Curtin University of Technology
Dr Meuleners’ field of research includes road safety and population-based studies of interpersonal violence. In the field of road safety, she has researched and evaluated the “black spot” programs in Western Australia and the fitness and behaviour of vulnerable users including elderly, youthful and heavy vehicle drivers. Her research on interpersonal violence based on population-based studies has included the investigation of mental illness and its links with interpersonal violence.
Dr Meuleners is currently investigating the crash risk factors for older drivers in the year prior to and the year following cataract surgery compared to older drivers who have not had surgery. The study will also evaluate the effectiveness of cataract surgery and the associated costs in terms of a reduction in crashes pre and post surgery using the Western Australian Data Linkage System. The outcomes will provide ophthalmologists, road safety experts and road licensing authorities with evidence-based guidelines to improve road safety for the growing older population.
A/Prof Rachael Moorin, Senior Lecturer, School of Population Health, University of Western Australia
A/Prof Moorin is the Director of the University of Western Australia node of the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH). She has a diverse research portfolio including:
- the health effects of social inequality
- the provision of health services including those for rural cancer patients
- the cost of health care and the accessibility of care and support for catastrophically injured motor vehicle crash victims
- health care financing
- the impact of health care policies on the utilisation and outcomes of health interventions
Dr Giuseppe Verdile, Senior Lecturer, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University
The expected world-wide increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its economic burden is driving the urgent need to develop appropriate therapeutic strategies against this devastating disease. One major approach at developing appropriate therapies is reducing the accumulation within the brain of a small protein called beta amyloid. Dr Verdile’s research is aimed at the production and regulation of beta amyloid.
He is investigating the structure and function of the enzyme responsible for generating beta amyloid with an aim to develop more specific therapeutic agents. He is also investigating age dependent changes in the levels of the reproductive hormones and the associated risk of developing AD. Identifying how these changes modify the risk of developing AD is critical to determine if hormone based therapies are appropriate for AD.
In this area, Dr Verdile’s research is focused on one particular reproductive hormone called luteinizing hormone (LH) which stimulates sex steroid production. His team was the first to show that LH results in an increase in accumulation of beta amyloid within neurons. Dr Verdile’s team is now undertaking projects to investigate the mechanisms by which LH modulates beta amyloid and AD risk, and assess the efficacy of gonadotropin lowering agents as an appropriate AD therapy.
Dr Min Zhang, Research Associate Professor, School of Population Health, University of Western Australia
Dr Zhang is a research associate professor and director of the Lu Cha (Green Tea) Sino-Australian Research Collaboration within University of Western Australia School of Population Health. The major focus of her research is identifying modifiable factors, in particular green tea, associated with cancer incidence and survival, namely in adult leukaemia, breast and colorectal cancers.
She has a secondary research interest in medication safety to develop knowledge of adverse drug reactions in older Australians. Dr Zhang is currently conducting:
- an international collaboration in non-experimental research in China with a focus on the use of genetic markers
- clinical trials of green tea polyphenols and cancer control: a multi-faceted international research program of University of Western Australia, School of Population Health, Medicine and Surgery with China
- lab-based studies as an adjunct to the trials
- a methodological study of case-control study design in China
As a recipient of an NHMRC grant in nutrition related area, Dr Zhang has recently been invited to submit a literature review with the findings from her studies in the last decade for the NHMRC’s consideration of the revision of the Dietary Guidelines.
Application details
The 2009 Application Form (Word 256KB) and Guidelines to Applicants (PDF 62KB) may be accessed as reference documents.
For further information please contact us.
» 2008 NIRIS Award Recipients
» 2007 NIRIS Award Recipients
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