29th September 2009 - Prof Frazer awarded Honda Prize
UQ’s Professor Ian Frazer has been awarded the 2009 Honda Prize for his contribution to the development of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccines. Professor Frazer, director of UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine is the 30th laureate of the prize, and will donate the 10 million yen (approximately AU$125,000) prize money to UQ research.
Fatalities from cervical cancer are second only to breast cancer, with 500,000 women developing the disease and 270,000 losing their lives each year. Eighty percent of deaths occur in developing countries where regular health checks are not systematically available.
The cervical cancer prevention vaccines developed by Professor Frazer and the late Dr Jian Zhou are now approved in 100 countries, with government sponsored immunisation programs for young women in place in the USA and Australia since 2007. Recently, the Japanese government approved the vaccines for use. The vaccines prevent four of dozens of strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) which cause genital warts and cervical cancer. Merck & Co., Inc., N.J. USA and GlaxoSmithKline, UK adopted Professor Frazer’s basic technique and now produce the vaccines on a large scale.
Wide application of the vaccines will prevent tens of thousands of cases of cervical cancer each year – a massive contribution towards the health and well being of women across the world, both now and for future generations.
The 30th award ceremony for the Honda Prize will be held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on November 17, 2009. The Honda foundation was co-founded by Soichiro Honda and his younger brother Benjiro, and is currently headed by Hiromori Kawashima. The Honda prize is awarded annually to an individual or group in recognition of the recipient’s remarkable achievement in the field of ecotechnology – a concept that calls for harmonious development and use of technology with human beings and their environment.
For further information, please visit www.hondafoundation.jp.
Professor Frazer won the 2005 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science, was named Australian of the Year for 2006, won the Howard Florey Medal for Medical Research in 2007, was recently made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and was the recipient of the 2008 Prime Minister's Prize for Science.
Media: Honda Australia’s Public Relations (03 9285 5640 or 03 9285 5626).
27th July 2009 - Translational Research Institute Queensland receives record $50M gift 
Australia will have a stronger role in global efforts to address major diseases like cancer and diabetes following a $50 million gift, the biggest donation of its kind in the nation’s history.
The gift, announced today by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, is a Founding Chairman’s grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to the $354 million Translational Research Institute Queensland, in Brisbane. The institute will enhance and accelerate the translation of medical research breakthroughs into better patient care.
TRI Queensland Chairman, Dr David Watson, was effusive in his praise for the latest round of fundraising, particularly Atlantic’s historic gift. “It’s amazing, really. We’ve been working on this plan for years. We’ve always had the support of the Queensland Government. And in 2007, we knew we were well and truly on our way when the Australian Government backed us with $100 million. But we’ve been sitting at $254 million for a long time, and still needed another $100 million to get this project started. Since May 12, we’ve raised that $100 million: $40 million from the Australian Government, $10 million from The University of Queensland (UQ), and this unprecedented gift of $50 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies. This is a great day for Queensland and a great day for Australia.”
TRI Queensland will augment the role of Queensland-based scientists - including the co-inventor of the technology for the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine, Professor Ian Frazer – in the delivery of therapeutics to benefit people worldwide.
The gift is the largest ever from a non-government source to a single Australian medical research/higher education institute. It was triggered by a series of grants from the Queensland and Australian governments, most recently $40 million from the Australian Government’s Health and Hospitals Fund, pledged in the May 12 Federal Budget. Atlantic’s founder, Mr Charles F. Feeney, was instrumental in encouraging a co-ordinated funding approach.
TRI Queensland will be an Australian first. At 32,000 square metres it will be one of the southern hemisphere’s largest facilities of its kind, and one of only a few places in the world where new biopharmaceuticals and treatments can be discovered, produced, clinically tested, and manufactured in one location. Its clinically focused research activity will be comparable in scope to the world renowned National Institute of Medical Research at Mill Hill in London and the Intramural division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in the USA.
It will be built at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), by a joint venture comprising UQ, The Queensland University of Technology (QUT), PAH, Mater Medical Research Institute (MMRI) and the Queensland Government.
Professor Frazer, who was made Australian of the Year in 2006 for his role in the cervical cancer vaccine, said: “The incredibly generous gift by The Atlantic Philanthropies will enable several research groups to work together to prevent and control major health problems in Australia and in our region, including infectious disease, cancer, and diabetes.
“Innovative building design and state of the art equipment will maximise the opportunity for interactions and accelerate progress towards solutions for these common and serious disorders,” said Professor Frazer, who heads UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine.
One of the leaders in the TRI Queensland initiative, former Director of MMRI, Professor Derek Hart, said it would help attract the most brilliant scientific minds from around the world to Queensland to join the research revolution.
“By virtue of its facilities and connectivity the TRI Queensland will create a virtual explosion of knowledge, creativity and innovation in our health and medical research,” Professor Hart said.
Professor Ian Zimmer, Chair of the MMRI, attests: “The MMRI will link the TRI Queensland to the world-class health care facilities and medical staff treating adults, women and children at the Mater campus, a vital element for converting scientific discovery into treatment innovation.”
Being located at Queensland’s second largest hospital, it will combine academic medicine and translational research, in order to minimise the time between a laboratory discovery and its effective application in the clinic and the community.
It will also produce, for early stage clinical trials, biopharmaceuticals that are of high clinical value. They might not otherwise see the light of day due to insufficient commercial interest from for-profit manufacturers, deterred by financial risks inherent in the testing, manufacturing, and distribution processes.
TRI Queensland will eventually house more than 700 researchers from PAH, UQ’s Diamantina Institute, QUT and MMRI, along with Biopharmaceuticals Australia (a Queensland Government production facility).
Approximately 2000 jobs will be supported by the construction phase.
Scientists from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) will be part of TRI Queensland and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the TRI Queensland would advance the capacity of QUT’s innovative health and biomedical research program.
“TRI Queensland will allow QUT to form even stronger clinical links with our colleagues at Princess Alexandra Hospital to make a real difference in the treatment of patients in the areas of cancer, traumatic injury and wound healing,” Professor Coaldrake said.
UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said it would fill an infrastructure gap that had allowed significant earnings from inventions such as the cervical cancer vaccine to haemorrhage out of Australia.
“The cervical cancer vaccine originated in Queensland, but Australia is foregoing as much as $300 million per annum because we had no capacity to fully trial and commercialise the drug. TRI Queensland will fix that problem for future discoveries,” Professor Greenfield said.
The Atlantic Philanthropies’ gift adds to:
• $140 million from the Australian Government;
• $100 million from the Queensland Government;
• $25 million from QUT;
• $10 million from UQ;
• Other public funding totalling $17 million for Biopharmaceuticals Australia; And
• $12 million (estimate) interest from Australian Government funding.
The project has in-kind contributions of land from the Queensland Government, and of foregone laboratory and teaching space from the MMRI, the PAH Collaborative Centres for Health Research and Education, and UQ.
TRI Queensland will be integral to an emerging health research precinct that includes UQ’s Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, which is being built next door.
Prior to this donation, Atlantic’s contributions to Brisbane-based research had led to the completion of research facilities with a total value approaching $1 billion.
Atlantic’s earlier donations to TRI Queensland joint venture partners for medical research facilities include:
• $22.5 million for QUT’s IHBI;
• $20 million for QUT’s Centre for Physical Activity, Health and Clinical Education;
• $10 million for UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience;
• $17.5 million for UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology;
• $20 million for UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute; and
• $20 million for UQ’s Centre for Clinical Research.
About Translational Research Institute Queensland
The AU$354 million TRI Queensland will be one of the largest medical research institutes in the southern hemisphere integrated into a clinical campus and focused on translational research. It will be one of the few facilities in the world that will have the capacity to discover, produce, clinically test, and manufacture new biopharmaceuticals and treatments all in one place.
Its focus will include cancers, diabetes, inflammatory diseases, bone and joint diseases, and obesity.
It will be located at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, the second-largest hospital in Queensland, Australia, and will link to a clinical research node at the nearby Mater Hospital campus. The TRI Queensland building will include Biopharmaceuticals Australia (a Queensland Government facility to produce material for clinical trials).
TRI Queensland is a joint venture involving The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Mater Medical Research Institute and the Queensland Government.
About The Atlantic Philanthropies
The Atlantic Philanthropies is dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic focuses on four critical social problems — Aging, Disadvantaged Children and Youth, Population Health, and Reconciliation and Human Rights. Programs funded by Atlantic operate in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United States and Viet Nam. To learn more, please visit http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/
Contacts for media:
QUT: Janne Rayner: 07 3138 3026/ 0407 585 901
MMRI: Topaz Conway: 07 3163 3888/ 0432 632 388
UQ: Fiona Kennedy: 07 3365 1384/0413 380 012
1st July 09 - Ian Frazer to inspire new generation of researchers
The future of Australian medical research is looking bright thanks to a new initiative giving Queensland secondary students the chance to complete a unique research immersion program.
Launched today and led by Professor Ian Frazer, SPARQ-ed (Students Performing Advanced Research Queensland) is the first of its kind in Queensland and is an initiative of UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine and the Queensland Government’s Department of Education and Training (DET).
The program brings together leading biomedical researchers with senior high school students and teachers to participate in week-long programs where real research is done by students and fed back into UQ projects. The program has been developed by an experienced science teacher employed by DET in order to ensure it is compatible with the Queensland curriculum. Once the program is fully up and running early next year, SPARQ-ed will host around 300 students annually from all over Queensland.
Two years ago the ball was set in motion to develop an educational learning centre that would be unlike any other in Australia. “Biomedical research in Queensland is world class, and yet students are reluctant to consider research as a career option,” the 2006 Australian of the Year said. “By giving students a hands on introduction to biomedical research, mentored jointly by their science teachers and leading research staff, this unique facility would provide Queensland with a more scientifically literate community.”
Apart from the research immersion program, SPARQ-ed will also include a professional development program for high school science teachers, ensuring that the latest techniques and developments in the biomedical sciences are reaching students. An outreach program is also being developed for primary and lower secondary schools and a specialised web-portal.
The SPARQ-ed laboratories are based on the Princess Alexandra Hospital Campus and kindly provided by Queensland Health. The new Translational Research Institute (TRI) building, due for completion in 2012, will include purpose-built facilities for SPARQ-ed, including teaching laboratories and a classroom. Suitable corporate partners are being sought to help maximise the program’s potential.
SPARQ-ed was launched today by the Minister for Education and Training, The Honourable Geoff Wilson MP at the Diamantina Institute.
15 June 2009 - Queensland researchers help unlock genetic keys to MS
New genes discovered by Australian and New Zealand researchers may hold the key to new treatments for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Queensland scientists are part of a consortium that has discovered two genetic variants which increase the risk of MS and reveal links to other autoimmune disease. The study was published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Professor Matthew Brown, from The University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, said a gene identified by the research consortium could lead to simple preventative treatments for MS.
“One of the two genes is most likely a gene which control metabolism of vitamin D,” Professor Brown said. “Previous research has already shown that levels of vitamin D influence the risk of people contracting MS. For example, people have a higher risk the further they live from the Equator. This instantly suggests that a possible preventative treatment for MS is vitamin D. This may lead to new types of therapeutics down the track.”
Associate Professor Simon Broadley, senior staff specialist in neurology at the Gold Coast Hospital and Acting Head of Medicine at Griffith University, said the gradual physical deterioration associated with MS severely limits social and employment opportunities for those affected. “The frustration of watching young people lose their independence because of this disease, is a compelling enough reason for my involvement in research that offers new hope,” Dr Broadley said. “I am very optimistic that this advance in our understanding of the genes involved in MS will eventually lead to more effective treatments. The next step in the research is to pinpoint the exact genetic mutations and the functional differences they are responsible for.”
Together with over 40 investigators from 11 institutions within the Australian and New Zealand Multiple Sclerosis Genetics (ANZgene) consortium, the team investigated genes that increase a person’s risk of developing MS. MS affects some 2.5 million people worldwide and almost 20,000 in Australia. It is a devastating autoimmune disease as it occurs at the prime of life and mostly in young Caucasian women.
The three year study involved scanning the DNA of 1,618 people with MS and 3,413 people without MS. Professor Brown’s group was instrumental in performing the genome-wide screening process which allows the entire human genome to be scanned in broad brushstrokes. Researchers were looking at genetic landmarks in the genome called SNPs and then progressively narrowing down their search to individual genes. After comparing over 300,000 SNPs, two genetic regions on chromosome 12 and 20 showed significant differences. Changes in the region on chromosome 12 were discovered to coincide with an increased susceptibility to type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, whereas the region identified on chromosome 20 also coincides with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis and Graves’ disease. In addition, chromosome 12 encodes the enzyme that converts vitamin D, which we obtain mainly through sunlight, but also our diet, into an active form that our body can use.
“It is the first such large scale human genetics project done completely in Australasia and so is a real milestone for the Australian scientific community,” Professor Brown said. He said it also highlighted the potential of genetics research to make really major breakthroughs in understanding what causes common diseases like MS.
The research was coordinated by Professor Trevor Kilpatrick, Director of the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne, and Dr Justin Rubio, Senior Research Fellow of the Florey Neuroscience Institutes based in Melbourne.
The research has been funded in part by MS Research Australia, The National Health & Medical Council and the Australian Research Council.
Media: Professor Matthew Brown (07 3240 2870) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802 or 0433 364 181).
4 June 2009 - One step closer to turning off cancer genes with gene-silencing
Researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have developed a way to deliver drugs which can specifically shut down cancer-causing genes in tumour cells while sparing normal healthy tissues.
They are currently looking at cervical cancer. While cervical cancer vaccines – co-developed by Professor Ian Frazer – are reducing the chances of infection with the virus that causes the cancer, many thousands of women worldwide are likely to contract cervical cancer in the next few decades.
Fresh Scientist Ms Sherry Wu hopes the new technique, which involves the use of coatings rich in fats, will hasten the application of RNA interference or gene-silencing, a technology which can inactivate individual genes. Using this technology, she and her colleagues observed a 70% reduction in tumour size in a cervical cancer mouse model.
“The traditional ways of packaging these drugs into suitable carriers are often complex and labour-intensive. The resulting products are also unstable at room temperature which is obviously not ideal for their clinical use,” says Sherry, a PhD student at the UQ Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine and one of the 2009 Fresh Scientists. Sherry is one of 15 early-career scientists presenting their research to the public for the first time thanks to Fresh Science, a national program sponsored by the Federal Government.
Until now, she says, treatment of cancer has relied mainly on surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Though these strategies have benefited millions of cancer patients to date, the lack of tumour specificity of some of these agents often make patients feel sick or result in significant hair loss. RNA interference, a Nobel-prize winning technology discovered in late 90s, may be a way to solve this problem. It allows highly-specific silencing of cancer-causing genes in tumour cells.
But there are problems to solve before its use can be realised in clinics. These gene-silencing drugs are hard to deliver due to their instability as well as the lack of means for their efficient cell entry. “In order to deliver these gene-silencing drugs safely and efficiently into tumour tissues in the body, we have to package them in lipid-rich carriers,” Sherry said.
The packaging method developed jointed by Sherry and Dr Lisa Putral shows promise in bringing the technology to clinics. The two researchers have been assisted by Dr Nigel Davies, an expert in drug delivery.
“We are excited about our findings and we are currently investigating the feasibility of combining this gene-silencing technology with low dose chemotherapeutic agents in cancer treatments,” says Associate Professor Nigel McMillan, of the Diamantina Institute, who supervised the work.
With cancer currently affecting more than 20 million people worldwide, the researchers believe that this latest development has made RNAi therapy for cancer treatment one step closer to reality. “We are also currently looking into its potential use in other forms of cancer,” Nigel said.
Sherry Wu is one of 15 early-career scientists presenting their research to the public for the first time thanks to Fresh Science, a national program sponsored by the Federal Government.
Media contacts: Sherry Wu on 0427 743 779 or s.wu2"at"uq.edu.au and Nigel McMillan on 0413 730 894 or n.mcmillan"at"uq.edu.au. For Fresh Science contact: Sarah Brooker on 0413 332 489 and Niall Byrne on 0417 131 977 or niall@freshscience.org.
Background information
RNA interference is a naturally-occurring mechanism for gene regulation and it has been established that the introduction of short double-stranded RNA molecules into cells can efficiently trigger this mechanism thereby permitting their use as pharmacological agents. These RNA molecules are termed small interfering RNA or siRNA. Once inside the cell, they can induce efficient sequence-specific silencing of target genes.
To date, numerous siRNA targets have been identified in various disease models ranging from cancer, to infectious or neurodegenerative diseases. There are also several siRNA molecules currently being investigated in clinical trials for the local treatments of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) or respiratory tract infections.
Despite these successes, the lack of suitable delivery carriers for these siRNA molecules has been the major obstacle for their systemic applications. The research team, led by Associate Professor Nigel McMillan at The University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute, has been working on solving this problem by packaging these molecules in lipid-rich vesicles.
They have demonstrated that this packaging process allows protection of siRNA molecules from enzyme degradation and also facilitate their delivery to tumours after systemic administration. Their newly developed formulation procedure also ensures product stability, a feature that is vital for the translation of RNAi technology from the laboratory to clinic.
The team uses cervical cancer as the model system to test the delivery efficiency of these lipid-entrapped siRNA molecules. They use siRNA to target two essential viral cancer-causing genes, E6 and E7, in cervical cancer cells. Given that the cervical cancer vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, will not decrease the number of new cases for another 15-20 years, this development will be beneficial for current and future sufferers of the disease.
31 May 2009 - Professor Frazer Wins AMA Gold Medal for work on cervical cancer vaccines
Professor Ian Frazer, director of The University of Queensland's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, has been named the winner of the prestigious Australian Medical Association (AMA) Gold Medal.
Professor Frazer, who co-developed human papillomavirus cervical cancer vaccines, was honoured at the AMA National Conference dinner last night.
“The Gold Medal is the highest award the AMA can bestow,” the Association’s President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua said. “Through the development of vaccines Ian has helped protect the lives of countless women and he is truly deserving of this honour.”
Professor Frazer was unable to be present at the ceremony last night.
He won the 2005 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science, was named Australian of the Year for 2006, won the Howard Florey Medal for Medical Research in 2007 and was recently made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
13 May 2009 - Professor Frazer welcome's Budget of $40M
The University of Queensland (UQ) and Professor Ian Frazer have applauded the Australian Government for pledging $40 million towards a "missing link" medical research and development facility. Professor Frazer, who was made Australian of the Year in 2006 for co-inventing the world's first cervical cancer vaccine, said the Budget contribution to the Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Brisbane would help fill a crucial gap in the nation's medical research capacity.
"This is an investment in the future of Australian medical science, giving the nation a new capacity to address major health issues including cancers, diabetes, inflammatory diseases, bone and joint diseases, and obesity," said Professor Frazer, who heads UQ's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine. "Giving teams of researchers new opportunities to collaborate in a purpose-designed and built facility with the latest equipment, the TRI will accelerate progress towards solutions for common and serious disorders. It will enable us to more effectively translate laboratory success into benefits for patients, and will help Australians gain economic as well as health benefits when our researchers invent drugs of global importance," Professor Frazer said.
A first for Australia, the $340 million TRI is a joint venture between UQ, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Mater Medical Research Institute and the Queensland Government.
On behalf of the consortium, UQ led a submission to the Australian Government, which was revealed as successful in today's (May 12) Budget. Construction is due to start this year and finish in 2012. The location is the Princess Alexandra Hospital, a UQ teaching hospital close to Brisbane's CBD and within a precinct that is becoming known as a "Silicon Valley" for medical and pharmaceutical research and development. The building project is expected to support approximately 2000 jobs in construction and related industries. The completed TRI will accommodate about 900 people - one third of them in new jobs - including about 650 scientists.
UQ Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Greenfield, said it is estimated that Australia foregoes up to $300 million per annum from the vaccine co-invented by Professor Frazer, because the nation has no TRI or equivalent. "The TRI is a missing link in the chain that delivers drugs from the laboratory to patients, via clinical trials and a complex commercialisation process," Professor Greenfield said. "It will bring together staff and research students from UQ's Diamantina Institute, the Princess Alexandra Hospital, QUT and the Mater Medical Research Institute, alongside personnel from Biopharmaceuticals Australia (a Queensland Government pharmaceutical production facility). It will also attract talented research staff and students from overseas."
The new grant adds to existing funds from the Australian Government, the Queensland Government and QUT, plus in-kind contributions from the Queensland Government, the Mater Medical Research Institute, the Princess Alexandra Hospital and UQ.
April 2009 - Cervical cancer vaccine reaches Vanuatu
A team from Brisbane are working closely with the Vanuatu Government to trial a program for effective delivery of cervical cancer vaccines to schoolgirls in resource poor settings. Headed by cervical cancer vaccine pioneer, Professor Ian Frazer from The University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, the team is aiming during 2009 to vaccinate and educate 1000 girls aged 10 to 12 years of age in Vanuatu to help protect them against cervical cancer.
“Having helped to develop the vaccine technology, I now feel a responsibility to help ensure that the vaccine gets where it’s most needed.” Professor Ian Frazer said. “Clearly it would be a great shame if we have a vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer and it could only be used effectively in the countries that can afford sophisticated vaccine delivery programs.”
Cervical cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), kills around 270,000 women worldwide each year, and over 80% of those are from developing countries such as Vanuatu. Cervical cancer is anecdotally very common in Vanuatu, with most patients presenting with a late-stage untreatable disease. Health treatment facilities are limited to simple surgery in the capital Port Vila, and hence there is a desire from the country’s health ministry to do something to control cervical cancer development in the longer term. The cervical cancer vaccines currently available protect women against about 70% of infections that cause cervical cancers.
After conducting a series of focus group meetings in Vanuatu amongst health officials and district nurses in late 2008, the team ascertained the attitudes towards healthcare and the challenges they would have to overcome. A major challenge for effective vaccination is to ensure that girls return for the essential second and third doses of the vaccine.
The team travelled over to Vanuatu in March to commence their pilot study. Cervical cancer vaccine, generously donated by GlaxoSmithKline, is being administered to young girls by a district nurse through school and community groups in rural villages and urban centres in Vanuatu. Cervical cancer screening is also being offered to their mothers, if over 30 years of age, as part of a separate program
The vaccination program is being promoted in local newspapers and through radio programs. In addition, the girls are given a photo ID card with their first vaccine, and some are additionally given a coloured silicone wristband as a visible reminder to follow up with their second and third shots, with the writing “Don’t forget your next HPV vaccine” written in English and Bislama, the native language of Vanuatu. The study will help determine the efficacy of different strategies for reminding young girls to come back for their second and third doses, and will help the Vanuatu Health Ministry develop an effective program for cervical cancer control for Vanuatu. The results may also guide HPV vaccine introduction in other resource poor settings.
This study is assisted by donations from the Zonta Club of Brisbane and GlaxoSmithKline Australia, and support from the Vanuatu Ministry of Health.
A documentary, called Catching Cancer, highlighting the work of Professor Frazer, will be shown on ABC1 on Thursday 22nd October at 8.30pm and National Geographic International later this year.
Friday 6th February 2009 - Diamantina researchers receive highly-sought after research grant
Professor Ranjeny Thomas's team at the UQ Diamantina Institute will receive $10.13m in a National Health and Medical Research Council 2010 Program Grants. The five-year grants are highly prized because they enable research teams to pursue the best research options in their field, knowing they have the time, funds and flexibility to respond to unexpected findings and opportunities.
The Rudd Government have committed to more than $108 million for the grant, which will be distributed among fifteen of Australia’s leading health and medical research teams. Three research teams from The University of Queensland, including Professor Thomas, will receive almost $22 million in funding. The funding is an essential part of the government’s plans to bolster health and medical research to improve the wellbeing of all Australians.
Professor Thomas and her team, including 2006 Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, and Professor Matthew Brown, will investigate the role of the immune system in cancers, chronic viral infections and autoimmune diseases, and develop novel vaccines to treat these infections and diseases. “There is a large unmet need for effective solutions with fewer side effects in these diseases, which cause a high disease burden in our society,” Professor Thomas said.
All of the grants were awarded through an open competitive process carried out according to the NHMRC Act, subjected to rigorous peer review and approved by NHMRC’s Research Committee and Council. For more information, visit the NHMRC website.
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