Research grants

Researchers at Royal Perth Hospital are involved with a number of research projects through funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

2017 Medical Research Foundation (MRF) grants

Hospital recipients

Mr Leon Brownrigg Cell and Tissue Therapies WA	Establishment, Manufacture and Pre-clinical Evaluation of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cells for Immunotherapy
Dr Hun Chuah Department of Haematology	Ultra-Sensitive Genetic Monitoring of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: From “Morphology to Mutation”
A/Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer Department of Geriatric Medicine	A tailored music therapy and real-time biofeedback mobile phone app to promote motor rehabilitation following stroke
Professor Martyn French Department Clinical Immunology	Combined cellular and humoral HIV-1 Gag-specific immune responses in the control of HIV-1 infection
Mr Alex Hayes Department of Medical Engineering and Physics	Evaluation of additive manufacturing as an alternative to cadaveric bone for use in biomechanical implant testing
Dr Alan Kop Department of Medical Engineering and Physics	Investigation and evaluation of 3D printed tissue engineered bone scaffolds inoculated with adult mesenchymal stem cell spheroids
A/Professor Doug McKitrick Department of Geriatric Medicine	Does Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Offer Improved Efficacy for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Therapy in Neurological Rehabilitation?
Dr Jeremy Parry Department of Anatomical Pathology	Novel drivers of progression and treatment resistance in breast cancer
A/Professor Marian Sturm Cell and Tissue Therapies WA	Expansion of Cord Blood Stem Cell Grafts using Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
Dr Andrew Toner Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine	Perioperative ADministration of Dexamethasone and Infection [PADDI] – Baroreflex sensitivity sub-study

UWA recipients

Professor Anne Barden School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Effects of weight loss and n-3 fatty acid supplementation on resolution of inflammation in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease
Dr Catherine Bondonno School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Increased production of short chain fatty acids by the gut microbiome improves vascular health
Dr Erika Bosio Centre for Clinical Research In Emergency Medicine	Does the early microRNA profile of stroke have diagnostic potential?
Dr Gemma Cadby Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease	Understanding the genetics of mesothelioma susceptibility and Prognosis
Dr Dick Chan School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Postprandial Lipoprotein(a) Transport in Subjects at High Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
A/Professor Kay Cox School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Can a 6-month physical activity intervention in individuals at risk of Alzheimer’s disease impact on cognition, physical activity, mental health, quality of like and utilisation of health services in the long-term?
Dr Sonia Fernandez School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine	The effects of IFN-α on B cells and the induction of humoral immune responses in HIV disease
Dr Dagmara Hering Dobney Hypertension Centre	Is Chemoreflex Sensitivity a Major Contributor to Sympathetic Activation in Chronic Kidney Disease?
Dr Jeanie Leong Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine	Towards improving integration between specialist and primary care for people diagnosed with lung cancer
Dr Stephen Macdonald Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine	The role of Resistin in endothelial cell activation in human sepsis
Dr Vance Matthews School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Determining the impact of renal or hepatic denervation on insulin resistance and liver injury
Professor Vera Morgan School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences	Developmental lifecourse trajectories and schizophrenia: Clinical validation of register-derived constructs
Professor Markus Schlaich Dobney Hypertension Centre	Role of sympathetic nervous system activation in fatty liver disease
Dr Lisa Smart Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine	The effect of 4% succinylated gelatine on acute kidney injury in patients with critical illness
Dr Jong Song Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease	Molecular mechanisms of preterm birth induced childhood asthma
Dr Jennifer Stone Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease	Mammographic density in families with high-risk of breast cancer
Dr Dino Bee Aik Tan School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Characterisation of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid-derived exosomes as a target for diagnosis and new treatment strategies for COPD
Dr Natalie Ward School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Dietary flavonoids and fibre: synergistic beneficial effects on the development of atherosclerosis
Associate Professor Guicheng Zhang Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease	Using whole genome sequencing to identify pathogenic copy number variants in children with congenital heart defects

2016 Medical Research Foundation (MRF) grants

Hospital recipients

Associate Professor Damon Bell	Neuropsychological and neurophysiological indicators of brain impairment in adults with phenylketonuria (PKU)
Clinical Professor John Burnett	Development of a clinical registry for the management of abetalipoproteinaemia and familial hypobetalipoproteinaemia
Dr Melita Cirillo	Mesenchymal Stromal Cell (MSC) Immunological Therapy for Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Associate Professor Christopher Etherton Beer	Tops: tDSC to optimise participation in stroke rehabilitation – a sham controlled cross over study
Dr Meg Harrold	Frailty in ICU trauma patients: a prospective observational study
Clinical Professor Graham Hillis	The Low Dose Colchicine After Acute Myocardial Infraction study
Associate Professor Kwok Ming Ho	Preventing venous thromboembolism in critically ill or injured patients using advanced laboratory tests a pilot exploratory study
Dr ALan Kop	Investigation and evaulation of 3D printed tissue engineered bone scaffolds inoculated with adult mesenchymal stem cell spheriods and culured in the RPH bioreactor
Clinical Professor Phillipa Lamont	Conversation of a PC based mitochondrial disease registry to an open source, Australia - wide patient registry framework
Dr Jacqui Saw	Prognosis after first - ever seizure a prospective hospital - based study
Dr Marian Sturm	Expansion of Cord Blood Stem Cell Grafts using Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
Clinical Associate Professor Donna	A feasibility study to evaluate whether the addition of Contrast Enhanced Mammography to tomosynthesis for diagnostic assessment of non-calcified lesions can improve diagnostic work-up

UWA recipients

Professor Anne Barden	The effect of alcohol on resolution of inflammation in healthy men and patients with Type 2 diabetes
Professor Kevin Croft	Dietary nitrate benefical effects on obesity and development of metabolic syndrome
Dr Katrina Ellis	Investigation of Polygenic Familial Hypercholestrolaemia and Related Lipid Disorders
Dr Dagmara Hering	Effect of renal denveration on sympathetic and neural reflex mechanisms in patients with resistant hypertension
Dr Vance Matthews	Potential role of the sympathetic nervious system in regulation of the sodium glucose co-transporter-2 in Amerindians
Dr Esther Ooi	Lipoprotein (a) a new risk factor of premature coronary artery disease in an Australian population
Dr Dino Tan	Novel approaches to treating bacterial infection in COPD by blocking inhibitory T-cell receptors
Dr Sarah Ward	Identification of gene-environment interactions associated with multiple primary melanoma
Dr Andrew Woo	Functional examination of the ZBP family of transcription factors in cancer metastasis

2014 Diabetes Grants

Dr Johnathan Hodgson	Effects of Lupin-containing foods on glycaemic control and blood pressure in Type 2 Diabetes.
Winthrop Prof Carl Schultz	A double blind randomized placebo controlled 2x2 factorial trial of the effect of vitamin K and colchicine on vascular calcification activity in subject with diabetes mellitus: The ViKCoVaC Diabetes Study.
A/Prof Seng Khee Gan	Genetic and metabolomic predictors of outcomes and complications of diabetes.
A/Prof Gerard Chew	Comparison of the effect of an early transition to oral versus prolonged intravenous antibiotic treatment strategy on clinical outcomes in diabetic foot infections with osteomyelitis: a randomised open-label pilot study.
Clinical Prof Thomas	The perioperative administration of Dexamethasone and blood glucose concentrations – The PADDAG trial.

Australian Research Council (ARC)

2013 Discovery Projects

Associate Professor O Rackham
Associate Professor A Filipovska

Sythetic regulators of gene expression

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

2013 Project Grants

Associate Professor J Hamzah	Targeting inflammatory macrophages and blood vessels in atheroslerotic plaques for imaging and therapy
Dr E Ooi Professor H Barrett Professor G Watts Dr D Chan	Lipoprotein metabolism in subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease
Professor R Ganss	Molecular mechanisms in pregnancy-induced hypertension
Professor O Almeida Professor L Flicker	An Australasian, multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy of fluoxetine in improving functional recovery after acute stroke
Associate Professor R Huang Emeritus Professor L Beilin Professor T Mori	The cyle of obesity: Two generations of a pregnancy cohort to investigate obesity epigenetics
Professor L Flicker	Trajectories of circulating testosterone and estradiol and implications for the health of aging men
Professor A Jablensky Professor V Morgan	Schizophrenia under the genomic lens: next generation sequencing of Western Australian families with schizophrenia
Professor J Hodgson Professor K Croft Associate Professor R Woodman Dr N Ward	Nitrate: studies of metabolism and effects on blood pressure
Dr J Rankin	Long-term use and cost-effectiveness of secondary preventation medications for heart disease in Western Australian seniors
Dr D Nolan	Narrow band UVB phototherapy for patients with clinically isolated syndrome
Professor P Price Associate Professor C Witt Professor A Irish Associate Professor R Allcock Dr S Lee	Do NK cells limit the long-term burden of CMV in older Australians and transplant recipients?
Professor G Morahan	Discovery of genes that protect against tau-induced neuropathology
Professor P Leedman	Role of SLIRP in colorectal cancer
Associate Professor A Filipovska	Research Fellowships (Senior Research Fellowship B)
Professor S Webb	Platform for European preparedness against emerging epidemics