2 November 2009

The Darwin-based Menzies School of Health Research has received over $8 million in new Australian Government grants to boost its ground-breaking research into Indigenous and tropical health.

After a highly competitive national application process, Menzies gained funding totalling $8.4 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for seven new research programs.

The NHMRC grants were announced by Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon in Canberra this week as part of $487 million program of national funding towards medical research.

Thanking the NHMRC and the Australian Government, Menzies Deputy Director Prof Ross Spark said that the success of Menzies researchers in NHMRC grants was a vindication of the hard work and dedication of Menzies staff and the ongoing support of the communities in which Menzies conducts its research.

“Next year will be Menzies 25th anniversary year, and it is fitting that we should start the year with such a welcome boost to our funding.”

“For 25 years Menzies have been working towards breaking the cycle of ill-health faced by many people living in our region and this funding will certainly help us along the way.”

Grants were awarded across a broad range of Menzies work and successful projects included research into the impact of treatment regimes on scabies and strongyloidiasis in Indigenous communities ($1.25 million); trials of drugs and treatment regimes to reduce the morbidity from severe bronchiolitis in Indigenous infants ($1.4 million); the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines to treat Indigenous children ($2.4 million); and trials to assess whether administering some nutrients to people suffering from Tuberculosis will assist in their recovery and reduce long-term lung damage.

Associate Professor Ross Andrews is Head of the Child Health Division at Menzies and the project leader for the successful ‘scabies and strongyloidiasis’ research project. He said that the study would be a critical first step in establishing whether the use of ivermectin (oral medication) in mass drug administration programs can be successful in a remote Indigenous community setting, where the disease burden from scabies and strongyloidiasis (threadworm infections) is very high.

“Overseas studies suggest sustainable and long term benefits can be obtained through the use of certain treatments in mass drug administration programs to control parasitic infections. By looking at the way similar problems have been successfully tackled overseas and by working with the community to see what they think will work best for them, we are very hopeful that this research will make a substantial impact."

Mr Eddie Mulholland, Chief Executive Officer of Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation, one of a team of collaborators involved in the research, congratulated Menzies on their success and pointed to the long-standing relationship that Menzies has with the community as a critical factor in the success of the funding application.

"This is a complex issue where many social and environmental factors also come into play but it is a good example of research being driven by the community and what can be achieved when community groups, the local Aboriginal medical service, government and researchers come together to work out how to tackle a problem.”

“We all started working on this plan about 18 months ago and there has been a lot of work done talking with local community members and others about how to proceed. Now with this funding confirmed, we are ready to get on with the business to see if we can tackle the problem of scabies and strongyloidiasis together."

A full list of successful projects can be found below.

- Ends -

Contact for more information: Julie Carmichael, 02 65548333 or 0429 916758 (please note limited mobile reception) or Julie.carmichael@menzies.edu.au
 

Notes to Editors

Menzies School of Health Research - Successful NHMRC Project Grant Applications to commence in 2010

Impact of an ivermectin mass drug administration program against endemic scabies and strongyloidiasis

Ross Andrews, Richard Speare, Jonathan Carapetis, James McCarthy, Allen Cheng, Therese Kearns, Peter Markey, Eddie Mulholland, Bart Currie, Wendy Page and Joseph McDonnell

2010 – 2011 : $1,257,125

Overseas studies suggest sustainable and long term benefits can be obtained through the use of ivermectin in mass drug administration programs to control parasitic infections. Our study will be a critical first step in establishing if such a program can be successful in a remote Indigenous community setting, where the disease burden from scabies and strongyloidiasis (threadworm infections) is very high.

* * *
A randomised controlled trial of L-arginine and/or vitamin D to improve outcomes in pulmonary tuberculosis

Nicholas Anstey, Paul Kelly, Enny Kenangalem, Graeme Maguire, Ivan Bastian, Peter Morris

2010- 2013 : $909,773

Two nutrients, arginine and vitamin D, are used by defence cells in our lungs to kill the tuberculosis bacteria. We will test whether giving arginine and/or vitamin D to people with TB (in addition to their usual TB medications) will help them recover faster and cause less long-term lung damage. We will also check whether these nutrients make them less infectious to other people.

* * *
Endothelial dysfunction as a therapeutic target in severe malaria

Nicholas Anstey, Tsin Yeo, Stephen Duffull, Daniel Lampah, Enny Kenangalem

2010 – 2013 : $812,500

Even with very best drugs to kill malaria parasites, over 15% of patients with severe malaria still die.  Their blood vessels are clogged up by malaria parasites. We have shown that the cells lining their blood vessels can't make enough nitric oxide to keep them non-sticky and allow blood through. We want to test whether giving arginine can 1) increase nitric oxide,  2) open up the clogged blood vessels and 3) dampen down other processes that clog up blood vessels in severe malaria.

* * *
Immunogenicity of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination among Indigenous Australian adolescents and adults

Sue Skull, E Kim Mulholland, Anne Balloch, Paul Licciardi

2010 – 2011 : $657,925

Multiple doses of pneumococcal vaccine are recommended for Indigenous Australians under a unique schedule aimed at reducing high rates of pneumococcal disease. However, disease rates have not reduced after several years of the program. This study examines a key, previously unstudied explanation for the lack of disease reduction in this population: that repeated vaccination could produce suboptimal protection against disease. It will provide evidence to underpin future vaccination policy.

* * *
Randomised controlled trial of azithromycin to reduce the morbidity of severe bronchiolitis in Indigenous infants

Anne Chang, Peter Morris, Keith Grimwood, Theo Sloots, Andrew White, Carolyn Maclennan

2010 – 2012 : $1,407,075

Acute lower respiratory infections are the commonest cause of hospitalisations and retrievals from remote communities. Early severe respiratory infections likely impair lung growth. We will examine whether azithromycin (antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties) should be used to treat infants hospitalised with bronchiolitis to reduce the severity of bronchiolitis and prevent rehospitalisation. The study potentially improves acute clinical care as well as prevents future respiratory illness.

* * *
Single versus combination pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (13PCV and PHiD-CV) for high-risk Aboriginal children (COMBO)

Amanda Leach, E Kim Mulholland, Mathu Santosham, Paul Torzillo, Ngiare Brown, Peter McIntyre

2010 – 2013 : $2,870,025

Two new pneumococcal vaccines, each offering protection from different pneumococcal strains and pathogens will soon be available. At this time, health experts do not know which vaccine will be best for Indigenous children.  The hypothesis of this project is that both vaccines, given as a 4 dose schedule may be a better than 3-dose single vaccines for Indigenous and high-risk children.  The vaccines' effects on immune response and on nasal colonisation with bacterial pathogens will be compared.

* * *
Diversity and virulence determinants among 1000 clinical and environmental isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei

Bart Currie, Allen Cheng, Philip Giffard, Mark Mayo, Paul Keim, Brian Spratt

2010 – 2012 : $499,500

Melioidosis is an important infection in tropical northern Australia. It is a common cause of fatal pneumonia and blood infection in the region. Melioidosis results from infection with a soil bacterium.  This project builds on the existing melioidosis collaboration between researchers in northern Australia and overseas to determine how the melioidosis bacterium can be so virulent and whether only a subset of the melioidosis bacteria found in the environment are capable of infecting humans. 

Total  = 7 grants
 = $8,413,923