$11.1m research boost from NHMRC

Griffith University research projects have been awarded more than $11.1 million in funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Announced today by the Prime Minister, The Honourable Tony Abbott, and Federal Health Minister, The Honourable Peter Dutton, Griffith was awarded $11,140,557 in research funding from a total allocation of $538.9 million across a broad range of diseases and health conditions.

“Griffith was in the top 10 of all Australian universities for funding awarded in this funding round,” Griffith Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor said.

”Warmest congratulations to the academic staff and their colleagues at other institutions who have achieved this tremendous success and many other staff within academic elements and central administration who have provided support during the busy grant round.”

Listed below are the successful applications submitted through Griffith.

Project Grants

Associate Professor Belinda Beck(Mark Forwood),Whole body vibration for osteoporosis: Shaking up our treatment options,$919,688.40

Associate Professor Brigid Gillespie(Wendy Chaboyer, David Ellwood),Adding negative pressureto improve healing(the DRESSING trial),$2,285,351.30

Professor Michael Good(Manisha Pandey, Michael Batzloff),Developing a vaccine to protect against hypervirulent strains of group A streptococcus,$516,864

Dr Lara Herrero,Glycotherapeutics; a new class of treatment for alphavirus-induced musculoskeletal disease,$435,784.50

Professor Saso Ivanovski,Evaluation of tissue engineered decellularised biphasic constructs for periodontal regeneration,$559,936.50

Professor Newell Johnson(Jeroen Kroon, Ohnmar Tut, Sanjeewa Kularatna),Effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit of a single annual professional intervention for the prevention of childhood dental caries in a remote rural Indigenous community,$1,020,590.20

Professor Suresh Mahalingam,Arbovirus activation and modulation of NLRP3 inflammasome,$752,387.50

Associate Professor George Mellick,Identification of Parkinson’s disease genes in Queensland families showing patterns of Mendelian inheritance,$452,077

Associate Professor Glen Ulett,Uncovering novel roles of Escherichia coli flagella and LPS in uropathogenesis,$392,077

Professor Mark von Itzstein(Helen Blanchard),New insight into glycan requirements for rotavirus-cell attachment and entry,$1,030,526.75

Early Career Fellowships

Dr Lauren Ball,Preventing Chronic Disease Through Improved Dietary Behaviours: Developing and Implementing a Nutrition Intervention for Patients in Partnership with Practice Nurses (PPPNs) using the Knowledge to Action framework,$309,436

Centre of Research Excellence

Professor Michele Sterling(Elizabeth Kendall),CRE in recovery following road traffic injuries,$2,465,838

We are also aware of the following Griffith University staff who have obtained success as part of a team led by other institutions;

Professor David Shum and Associate Professor Tamara Ownsworth(through the University of Queensland)Efficacy of prospective memory rehabilitation plus metacognitive skills training for adults with traumatic brain injury: a randomised controlled trial$461,398

Professor Andrea Marshall(through the University of Sydney)A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract in Critically Ill Patients$3,958,205