ANU receives 8 grants for ACT

The Australian National University received all eight of the National Health and Medical Research Council's recently announced ACT Project Grants, worth $3,195,000.

Professor Philip Board from the John Curtin School of Medical Research Division of Molecular Medicine will receive $480,000 for studies into the role of enzymes called Zeta- and Omega-class glutathione transferases. These enzymes help the body to detoxify a range of chemicals, including carcinogens.

Dr Frances Shannon in the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was awarded $450,000 for her work on how the body deals with infection and inflammation. Her research group studies how the immune system detects assaults on the body, in particular proteins called cytokines that are rapidly switched on when infection occurs.

Dr David Tremethick also of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Division was granted $435,000 for research into the function of a type of protein, a histone, that is essential during early development. Histones are proteins that organise and pack DNA into the tight chromosome bundles in the nucleus of cells.

Dr Catherine Morgans from the Neuroscience Division will receive $420,000 for work on the basic processes of vision. She is investigating the role of specific proteins that allow communication between nerves in the eye.

Professor Peter Gage of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Division has been awarded $405,000 for work on factors that affect GABA (A) (gamma-aminobutyric acid), a protein that inhibits nerve impulses in the brain. This is important because is has a role in the action of clinical drugs such as tranquillisers and some general anaesthetics.

Dr Rowland Taylor from the Neuroscience Division has been awarded $375,000 for research on how the eye is able to determine the direction in which an object is moving. The retina is believed to be responsible for this but Dr Taylor's research team will investigate how neurons within the brain then direct the eye.

Dr Anna Hammarstrom in the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology it to receive $337,500 for her research on minimising the damage caused by stroke and heart attack. She is studying the sequence of events leading to oxygen starvation and brain damage or death.

Professor Kiaran Kirk also from the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will receive $210,000 for research into the process by which the malaria parasite consumes and digests the contents of the red blood cells of its victim, focusing in particular on specialised acidic compartments within the parasite.

Item provided courtesy of the Australian National University.