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NHMRC Enabling Grants Round 3 Special Facilities
Enabling grants assist Australian researchers to undertake high quality, world-class research by providing support for specific facilities and/or activities that will enhance the national health and medical research effort. Enabling grants are subject to the principles of excellence, an open and competitive application process, time-limited support and the potential for self-sustainability over the longer term.
This third round of the Enabling Grants funding scheme is supporting special facilities including carefully assembled, high quality DNA, cell, tissue, organ banks, computer networks, specialised registers and databases which are becoming an increasingly important tool in health and medical research.
The third round of Enabling Grants was advertised in April 2005 resulting in 46 expressions of interest being submitted. After assessment by the Enabling Grants Panel, 15 applicants were invited to submit a full application.
After a full peer review, including external assessment, 12 applications have been successful.
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Details of Recommended Enabling Grants for Funding to Commence in 2006
New South Wales
1. Title of Project: Australian Motor Neuron Disease dna Bank
Chief Investigator : Dr Roger Pamphlett
Institute: University of Sydney
Funding: $750,000over 5 years
Project description:
The Motor Neuron Disease (MND) affects many Australians, one Australian dies of MND every day. MND is likely to be due to a genetic susceptibility to an environmental agent such as a toxin or a virus. Recent advances in gene therapy have emphasised the urgent need to find the gene abnormalities in MND. We propose to set up an Australia-wide DNA Bank for MND to allow researchers to look for genetic abnormalities and environmental influences in this disease.
2. Title of Project: Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit: A collaborative network for child health research.
Chief Investigator: Associate Professor Elizabeth Elliott
Institute: University of Sydney
Funding: $1,000,000over 5 years
Project description:
The proposed Facility will formalise a collaborative, national network of organisations to enable the conduct and dissemination of research on serious child health conditions. The Facility will provide a reliable, accessible, unique mechanism for national research that is aligned with national priorities and addresses knowledge gaps. It will disseminate that research widely to inform clinical practice, policy, prevention programs, resource allocation, the community and health professionals.
3. Title of Project: Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank
Chief Investigator: Professor Vaughan Carr
Institute: Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia & Allied Disorders
Funding: $1,750,000over 5 years
Project description:
Schizophrenia research is constrained by difficulty in achieving large samples for research into the causal role of genetic factors in this complex disease. The Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank will comprise a large sample of schizophrenia probands (N=1000 initially) and their first-degree relatives (N=2 per proband) with linked clinical, cognitive, neuroanatomical and genetic data. These data will be available to Australian researchers to study the genetic underpinnings of this disease and its subtypes, leading to improved treatments and preventative strategies.
4. Title of Project: Genetic Repositories Australia
Chief Investigator : Professor Peter Schofield
Institute: University of New South Wales
Funding: $2,000,000over 5 years
Project description:
Genetic Repositories Australia (GRA) will provide a central national facility for establishing, distributing and maintaining the long-term secure storage of human genetic samples (cell lines and DNA) from a variety of sources. No facility exists in Australia to provide these services yet they form a vital part of genetic and epidemiological studies. GRA will fill an essential ‘missing link’ in the translation of population and family-based research into genetic and genomic studies. This will deliver new knowledge in health and disease and lead to improved health care outcomes.
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Queensland
5. Title of Project: National Leukaemia and Lymphoma Tissue Bank
Chief Investigator : Dr Paula Marlton
Institute: Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Funding: $1,500,000 over 5 years
Project description:
Recent advances in knowledge about how cancer differ from normal cells, why some people are susceptible to cancer, and how new treatments can target cancer have all occurred through research on cancer cells from patients. To benefit patients with cancers of the blood and the immune system, we established a National Leukaemia and Lymphoma Tissue Bank in 2002. It is proposed to dramatically expand its size, add relevant clinical data, and streamline access and utility for Australian researchers. Ultimately, this will lead to better treatment and prevention of blood cancers.
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Victoria
6. Title of Project: Australian Ovarian Cancer Study: A multidisciplinary ovarian cancer resource for the genomic era.
Chief Investigator: Professor David Bowtell
Institute: University of Melbourne
Funding: $1,000,000over 5 years
Project description:
Ovarian cancer is relatively uncommon and is histologically very diverse, making it difficult to analyse ovarian cancer at a molecular level, to identify genetic risk factors, or to understand the interaction of genes and environment. Recognizing that a large collaborative study was the only way to achieve sufficient power to address major translational questions in ovarian cancer, the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study was established and is now the largest study of its kind in the world. This proposal aims to maintain and add value to this unique resource for ovarian cancer research.
7. Title of Project: Australian Proteomics Computational Facility
Chief Investigator: Professor Antony Burgess
Institute: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Funding: $2,000,000 over 5 years
Project description:
In recent years, Australia has invested in the equipment capable of identifying proteins important in health and medicine. This sophisticated equipment requires high capacity computing support. The Australian Proteomics Computational Facility will establish a single advanced computing cluster accessible to scientists at proteomics centres all over the country. This integrated approach to proteomics computing and the sharing of databases will put Australia at the forefront of the world’s efforts to identify the proteins associated with the early detection of our major diseases
8. Title of Project: Australian Rheumatology Association Database
Chief Investigator : Associate Professor Rachelle Buchbinder
Institute: Monash University
Funding: $1,250,000 over 5 years
Project description:
We plan to collect health information from Australian patients with arthritis to monitor the benefits and safety of new treatments. All patients being treated with the new injectable biologic agents and other patients taking conventional drugs will be invited to take part in the follow up program. We will measure the impact of arthritis on quality of life and physical function and the long-term effects of all arthritis drugs. This will be of immense value to the Australian community as this data are not routinely available from any other source. It will help rheumatologists and patients make the best decisions regarding long-term arthritis treatments.
9. Title of Project: kConFab - Kathleen Cuningham Foundation Consortium for Research into Familial Breast Cancer
Chief Investigator : Professor Joe Sambrook
Institute: University of Melbourne
Funding: $1,550,000over 5 years
Project description:
Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease of women. In families with an inherited form of breast cancer, nearly half the women in every generation can develop the disease. The aim of this Australasian-wide study is to complete collection of clinical, epidemiological and genetic data on 1,600 of these severely-affected families. The national resource is, and will continue to be, of great value for researchers who want to identify and characterize the genetic and life style factors that affect onset and progression of the disease.
10. Title of Project: The Health 2020 Cohort Study (Health 2020)
Chief Investigator : Professor Graham Giles
Institute: Cancer Council of Victoria
Funding: $1,500,000over 5 years
Project description:
The project is to develop appropriate infrastructures necessary to facilitate access by researchers to the accumulated data, including questionnaires, direct physical measurements, blood, DNA and other tissues collected on over 40,000 people in the Health 2020 Cohort Study (Health 2020) and, subject to proposals being judged sufficiently meritorious by an approved peer review process and gaining HREC approval, to facilitate supervised access to participants as required.
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Western Australia
11. Title of Project: Australian Childhood Diabetes dna Repository
Chief Investigator: Professor Grant Morahan
Institute: University Of Western Australia
Funding: $1,750,000 over 5 years
Project description:
Childhood diabetes [both type 1- and young type 2-] is increasing alarmingly. Diabetes prevention will be a great benefit via both a healthier population and relief to the national health budget. To develop targeted preventive treatments we first need to identify genetic risk factors, requiring access to a large number of samples. We will establish a national Repository which will make DNA available to all qualified Australian researchers enhancing their ability to identify causes of diabetes.
12. Title of Project: The Western Australian dna Bank
Chief Investigator : Professor Lyle J Palmer
Institute: University of Western Australia
Funding: $1,375,000 over 5 years
Project description:
This proposal is to build a new national resource for medical research that will both underpin and enhance the national health and medical research effort in Australia by systematically enabling world-class biobanking capacities and hence the population-based resources in WA for genetics epidemiological research. The WA DNA Bank will also provide national access to WA biospecimen resources, and will facilitate collaboration and research into national priority diseases of childhood and adulthood.
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